An assertive, endearingly deranged take on the well-known tale from a writer-artist duo readers will want to keep their eyes...
In Fuller and Baijnath’s debut graphic-novel reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic, Dorothy returns to an Oz corrupted by evil in a tale of bloody retribution.
Dorothy Gale returns home to find Uncle Henry and Aunt Em dead, their hearts cut from their chests. She clicks her silver shoes together, grabs an ax, and rides a tornado back to the land of Oz for vengeance. But something’s terribly wrong in Oz: the Munchkins have turned into vicious creatures with sharp teeth, and Dorothy’s friends, including the Tin Man, aren’t quite as genial as they once were. It seems that Glinda the Good Witch, who’s taken over the Emerald Throne, is no longer good and has allowed Oz to fall into ruin. Dorothy, the self-proclaimed “Witchkiller,” follows the yellow brick road to stop Glinda’s reign and find her loved ones’ murderer. Writer Fuller and artist Baijnath’s collaboration is unquestionably adult, opening with cops at a bloody crime scene. The bare-bones story focuses mostly on Dorothy’s revenge, leading to pages of nothing but action; Dorothy’s fighting off aggressive Munchkins (who literally munch) is essentially a massacre. Fuller, however, does ensure that readers see recognizable faces, including the Wizard, as well as unexpected consequences of Dorothy’s first visit, like the Cowardly Lion’s no longer having fear and becoming a beast. Baijnath’s bold artwork is impressive: images are full of atmospheric swirls, including the incessantly curving yellow brick road, as if characters are caught inside a cyclone. There are also plenty of flying body parts and loads of blood, so much that Dorothy’s silver shoes resemble the more popular shade of ruby. But Baijnath’s best visuals are the story’s calmer moments, as in the unmistakable elegance of Dorothy’s wordlessly trekking through the rain in a desolate Oz and approaching the blinding light of the Bright City. The writer and author take the story seriously, none of it tongue-in-cheek. Still, it’s hard not to smile when Dorothy declares, “I will not leave until the yellow brick road runs red with the blood of my enemies.”
An assertive, endearingly deranged take on the well-known tale from a writer-artist duo readers will want to keep their eyes on.Pub Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4935-1704-6
Page Count: 108
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
