Shanower first major published works were the
Oz graphic novels, which are
The Enchanted Apples of Oz,
The Secret Island of Oz,
The Ice King of Oz,
The Forgotten Forest of Oz, and
The Blue Witch of Oz released by First Comics and Dark Horse Comics between 1986 and 1992. They are collected in a single large volume titled
Adventures in Oz, published by IDW.
He has also written and illustrated a full-length Oz novel,
The Giant Garden of Oz, and a collection of short Oz stories,
The Salt Sorcerer of Oz. As an illustrator, he has worked on books by Oz historians, including
The Wicked Witch of Oz by Rachel Cosgrove Payes,
The Rundelstone of Oz by Eloise Jarvis McGraw,
The Runaway in Oz by John R. Neill, and
The Third Book of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Other Oz projects include his illustrations for
Paradox in Oz and
The Living House of Oz by Edward Einhorn.
He is currently writing adaptations of L. Frank Baum's original Oz novels for Marvel Comics, illustrated by artist Skottie Young. The first,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was released in a hardcover collection on September 2, 2009. The follow-up,
The Marvelous Land of Oz began in November 2009 as an 8 issue monthly comic series.
Age of Bronze
In February 1991, Shanower "conceived the idea to tell the story of the Trojan War in the comics medium," aiming to combine "the myriad versions of the Greek myth with the archaeological record" to showcase the tale in "authentic historical detail." This aim has been manifested in the ongoing comic book
Age of Bronze, debuting in late 1998 from Image Comics. As of 2009, the series has been collected in three (of a projected seven) volumes:
- A Thousand Ships
- Sacrifice
- Betrayal, Part One
The seven volumes in their entirety will cover the complete story of the war. The books contain extensive bibliographies, for the story, the setting and historical Troy, drawing on the excavation work Heinrich Schliemann (et al.) and the publication
Studia Troica.
Other work
Shanower has also drawn a number of one shot comics, such as Ed Brubaker's
Prez "Smells Like Teen President" and An Accidental Death (also written by Brubaker) published by Fantagraphics in 1993. For Marvel's Epic line, he illustrated The Elsewhere Prince (1990), based on characters created by the French cartoonist Moebius. His work has appeared in magazines throughout the USA and Europe as well as in books and on TV.