The Lost Tales of Oz

Joe Bongiorno's Royal Publisher of Oz has a new book out, illustrated by eminent Oz illustrator Eric Shanower. Instead of a single Oz story, it presents seventeen stories by thirteen writers.

I'm one of the writers who contributed to the anthology and thus have some insight into the creation. Each writer was solicited for a story that didn't necessarily have to stick to traditional Oz themes. It didn't need to be “safe for kids,” Joe encouraging us to think of stories that wouldn't be in traditional Oz books. I chronicled the creation of my contribution in one of the appendices.

The book features a framing sequence in which Dorothy, Trot and Betsy Bobbin look through some of the stories that appear in the Royal Library. You could interpret this that not all of the stories are “true,” but the book goes on to consider them so.

Joe runs The Royal Timeline of Oz website and as can be expected, has a big focus on continuity. When he edited the stories, it would sometimes mean that he would add notes to continuity. He might also add other things as well.

The first story is The Great and Terrible Oz Mystery by Michael O. Riley in which Ojo spots some suspicious behavior of the Wizard around the Palace. With some information from Jellia and help from his friends, it's up to Ojo to solve the mystery.

Next is The Witch's Mother of Oz by Paul Dana. This midquel takes place during the final chapters of The Marvelous Land of Oz, introducing the mother of none other than Mombi, who approaches her, revealing some secrets from her past.

The Trade: A Langwidere Story by Mike Conway features a young woman offering her head to Ev's mysterious dignitary. The response reveals that there may be a bit more to explore about the head-swapping princess.

Ojo and the Woozy is J.L. Bell's attempt to create another “Little Wizard Story,” focused on the titular characters. As Ojo meets some new friends, he runs into a situation that the Woozy might be quite suited to handle.

Nathan DeHoff makes the first of three contributions in The Other Searches For The Lost Princess. Taking place during The Lost Princess of Oz, these three short stories follow the other three groups who didn't find Ozma: the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman; Shaggy Man, his brother, Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead; and Ojo, Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt. This one is chock full of puns and Easter Eggs for fans of the Oz series and its adaptations.

Next up is Chop by Eric Shanower. Originally written for an Ozzy horror anthology, it tells how Button-Bright came across the home of Chopfyt and Nimmee Aimee. But this was never a happy home, and it hasn't become any happier... It's probably the darkest story in the collection.

Following is In Flesh Of Burnished Tin by Jeffery Rester, a short piece depicting the relationship of Nimmee Aimee and the Wicked Witch of the East.

David Tai's Diplomatic Immunity comes next, revealing Trot and Betsy investigating an island that has descended on Oz from the sky. It is—in fact—Sky Island, and as Trot is the ruler she has to make the choice whether to enforce Ozma's rule or help her people.

The late M.A. Berg offers The Scrap Bag Circus of Oz, in which Scraps comes across a small circus of plush people and animals, who it turns out where made from the cloths that were also used in the crazy quilt that made up Scraps' body.

Following this is a pair of stories by the late Sam Sackett with Joe helping out. In The Wizard in New York, the Wizard goes to check out the 1939 World's Fair. It's not a majorly eventful story, mostly the Wizard reacting to the state of the world he left behind several years before, including going to see MGM's The Wizard of Oz. But he does pick up a stray cat he names Ali, who features in Ali Cat in Oz, which follows the adventures of the Wizard's new pet cat as it travels through the palace, then the Ozian countryside.

Joe then presents an unusual Oz story in Lurline and the Talking Animals of Oz, which follows the diaries of a resident of Oz who lived through Oz becoming a fairyland and animals beginning to talk and asserting their own place in Oz. It further addresses how Lurline had to intervene to maintain the peace.

Then comes the story from yours truly: Tommy Kwikstep and the Magpie. Journeying to a Gillikin village with Corina the Magpie, Tommy Kwikstep discovers what became of the Good Witch of the North before making a new acquaintance in Perry, the son of the ex-General Jinjur. It's very much a story about relationships, from the families we are born into to the ones we choose.

Up next is Nathan DeHoff's Ozma and the Orange Ogres of Oz, which follows the conquest of the Emerald City of a group of orange ogres and how it was resolved. If you thought it might be a timely political allegory, Nathan actually wrote it over two decades ago and it was revised heavily by Joe for publication.

Marcus Mebes offers Quiet Victory which reveals how Victor Columbia Edison, the talking phonograph, came to live with Allegro De Capo, the Musicker. Perhaps these two were made for each other.

Nathan's final offering in the collection is Vaneeda in Oz, which I admit I had a hand in. Not a big one, but I told Nathan that as I'd written a story featuring Jinjur's son—who was a twin—perhaps he might write a story featuring the other one, Winnie. (As they're Munchkin-born, their names are similar to perriwinkle, a blue flower.) Anyway, Winnie and her friends Henrietta and Paella the Cookywitch decide to investigate the claim that Vaneeda, daughter of the Wicked Witch of the East (name and identity suggested by a never completed story by Ruth Plumly Thompson), has turned the Munchkin Royal Family into glass.

The final story is The Puppet-Mistress of Oz by Andrew Heller. As Dorothy relates her first adventure in Oz, Trot begins to think some things added up too well. Suspicions are raised and questions are answered. And if you've thought about Oz history, it's exactly who you think it is.

Each story is introduced by an opening page that features an introduction written in character by Dorothy, Trot or Betsy. A small illustration by Eric Shanower also tops this page. With the exception of The Trade, there's two illustrations by Eric per story: the small one on the introductory page and a full page illustration. It's all right for some stories, but this means many characters will only be seen in your imagination.



What a lot of Oz fans love about Shanower's artwork is that it's finely detailed and drafted. His human characters look human, and the characters of Oz are designed after John R. Neill's illustrations. He also adds well-proportioned design work to scenery and animals and other creatures so it adds a believable look to the world of Oz, even when completely unreal creatures such as the Woozy are being depicted. I had to admit, I only had a determined visual for Corina when it came to creating my story as she is a Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, also known as a Ceylon Magpie, specifically. Perry I had decided to let the illustrator handle. While Eric did draw Perry and I was pleased with it, what impressed me was that he drew a lot of birds I'd described in the story. That I was not expecting at all!

The book also features notes on the stories that tell how they came to be written, as well as continuity notes by Joe, and then biographies of the authors are given. Mine sadly dated quickly as it mentions that I live with my two cats when that's no longer the case. But I don't think I'll request it to be revised.

The book is laid out in classic Oz book style with the text set in the Schoolbook font with the title of the book being at the top of left hand pages over a line with the title of the chapter being on the right hand page over another line.

With the exception of Chop and moments in Lurline and the Talking Animals, most of these stories fit the traditional Oz style of being fun adventures for all ages with some strange twists. The Oz stories have always toed that line between whimsical and macabre, though. One might want to be a little wary about giving this one to children without some supervision, though. Literature provides a good way for readers to learn about certain concepts, but in the form of fantasy and fiction, it might be best to discuss these stories with young readers.

Oziana 2012 is out!

After a long wait, Oziana 2012 is finally here!

Normally, Oziana consists of short pieces of work by members of the International Wizard of Oz Club. This year, editor Marcus Mebes decided to do something a little different: do an issue-length Oz story, Round Robin style. Appropriately enough, the person starting the story would be none other than L. Frank Baum himself!

You remember the unfinished Oz story fragment (which might not be by Baum) that features Ozma ice-skating? That was the launching point. And to further help, Robert Baum supplied an introduction and afterword, in which he supplies all the information he knows about the fragment.

Fifteen Oz fans wrote fourteen new chapters: Marcus Mebes, S.P. Maldonado, Jared Davis (yours truly), Kim McFarland, Sam Milazzo, Chris Dulabone, Jeff Rester, Dennis Anfuso, Mycroft Mason, Nathan DeHoff, Paul Ritz, Mike Conway and Nicki Haladay, Paul Dana, and Atticus Gannaway. In addition, S.P. Maldonado, Dennis Anfuso and Kim McFarland all provided artwork to illustrate the story.

Ozma's outing to go ice-skating is interrupted by the appearance of two visitors from Hiland and the Nome Kingdom, who tell her how their respective kings have been acting strangely. Glinda soon discovers that a cruel and powerful witch is at work, making people all over Oz do and believe peculiar things. Can our friends in Oz (including the Wizard, Scraps, Percy, Kabumpo, Jinnicky, the Scarecrow, and of course Dorothy) discover the witch's plot and stop her, or has she sunk her claws into Oz too deeply?

I was one of the early writers who helped the story get rolling by setting up the villain, allowing the remaining writers to work with and deal with her. (My chapter is also the shortest.) While the story didn't reach its fullest possible potential, the story does not disappoint in the least! And also, almost everyone in the blog team contributed to it as well.

One might think the nature of the story's writing might lead to an uneven pace and jarring writing styles, but while some writers can't help but put on their little flourishes, the editors made sure the narrative flowed very well.

This one's an exciting story with some great twists and turns and quite a formidable new foe! Add it to your collection!

Your traditional-style Oziana will resume in 2013.

Two short books of Oz

 And I read both of these in 24 hours.

Up first is the privately printed picture book Dreaming in a Scarlet Slumber by Jeffrey Rester, with artwork by Denslow, Neill, Milt Youngren (The Laughing Dragon of Oz) and some original art by Luciano Vecchio.

The story takes place during The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, revealing a dream Dorothy had while in the Deadly Poppy Field. It gives her a peek into the future of Oz, some we've seen, and some we've yet to see. (And maybe we'll never see it.)
The story is short, thought-provoking and a little disturbing. Overall, it's an interesting side-piece to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and when read in the story, helps it feel more like the beginning of the great adventure series it developed into.

If you want to get a copy, contact Jeff at ozmusofoz@gmail.com

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Next up is The Bouncy Bunnies in Oz by Marin Xiques and illustrated by Ashley Akers.

This seems to be a follow up to a previous story with the Thists from The Lost Princess of Oz. I wasn't really sure exactly who the characters were, but I didn't get lost. Apparently a dignitary named Thora is vacationing outside of Thi, and taking care of her is Thornton, who has three adopted rabbit children: Jodie, Risa, and Amanda.

Thornton gets digestive troubles and is forced to stay in bed, so Thora must take care of him, but the rabbits are quite a handful! They try to help with the limited food source and are soon aided by none other than the Cowardly Lion.

However, Jodie runs away and visits with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. Thornton and Thora soon have to go off after her and have a short adventure of their own, but don't worry. There aren't any big baddies wanting to prevent a happy ending for anyone here.

In addition to the main story, Marin retells myths and legends through books the rabbits have access to. She tells them in a very engaging fashion, and I quite enjoyed the little book.

You can get a copy here.

Nathan's Thoughts on the 2011 Oziana

The theme of the 2011 Oziana is possible explanations for mysteries in the Oz series. We begin with David Tai's "Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought, Alone," which gives the Glass Cat's inner monologue upon having her pink brains replaced with clear ones and then her original brains restored.

Justice C.S. Fischer's "Blinkie of Oz" presents the possibility that Blinkie from The Scarecrow of Oz is a reconstituted Wicked Witch of the West, a theory I'd come across before. Blinkie is an odd character, first appearing in the film His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. Here, her name was Mombi, but her appearance was that of the WWW. When L. Frank Baum made the story into a novel, he renamed the character Blinkie. In my own story "Reddy and Willing," Blinkie was active during the Wicked Witch's lifetime, so I guess I don't go by the theory that they're the same. I do think the two of them might have ended up one-eyed in a similar manner, though. Odin's giving up one eye for wisdom comes to mind here, especially as Odin is mentioned explicitly in another story in this issue.

Kass Stone's "Jenny Everywhere in Oz" introduces a character who can travel between different fictional universes, an idea I've always liked. Xornom, a character who briefly appears in one of my Oz manuscripts, is of the same basic sort, although quite different in personality. "Jenny Everywhere" also deals with the popular subject of alternate versions of Oz, including ones where the Wicked Witch of the East was actually good. It features the Legion of Glindas, made up of Glindas from throughout the Ozziverse.

I've looked at Mycroft Mason's "The Solitary Sorceress of Oz" before, and think it's an interesting origin story for Glinda, although it doesn't fit with everything we've read about the sorceress' past in other tales.

Admittedly, these are apocryphal stories; there's nothing in it that contradicts the canon, as far as I can tell.

Finally, Jeffrey Rester's "Cryptic Conversations in a Cornfield" presents a take on the Scarecrow's origins that fills in some of the gaps in Ruth Plumly Thompson's Royal Book account. According to Rester's narrative, the Wicked Witch of the East used the Powder of Life on the Scarecrow before the spirit of the Emperor entered his body, but he showed no signs of life because he hadn't had his face painted on yet. I'd say this makes more sense than assuming that the spirit entered a totally lifeless body. In order to reconcile different accounts of the straw man's origin, Rester's story has the Scarecrow assembled in stages, which gets a little awkward. I suppose that's what he had to work with, though, and I appreciate the desire for consistency. The tale gives us a look into the character of the Wicked Witch of the East, who hasn't appeared in that many Oz stories due to her having died right when Dorothy first arrived in the magical land. This is also the one in which Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin make an appearance.

Oziana 2011

I have only gotten a handful of Oziana issues since I first joined the International Wizard of Oz Club some years ago, but I think the latest issue printed is my most favourite.

Okay maybe contributing to the cover has something to do with it, but even without that I feel like the stories in this issue are the Best!

What I really like about this issue is the subtitle on the first page: "Origins and Explanations . . . maaaaaybe."
Usually some Oz Books suggest that their stories actually happened and should be taken as fact. And while we fans can choose to believe what is canon and what is not of Oz, that term " . . . maaaaaybe" offers us even more fun and a lighter approach to reading these stories, in that they are saying they should be believed only if we choose to accept them - and they are actually good stories coming up.

Something else that is quite interesting is how almost all the stories focus on (aside from POSSIBLE explanations and origins) how these selected characters were one thing then became another.

First up is David Tai's "Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought, Alone". It's almost like a poem, but more like a collection of thoughts, a list of words, of expressions and a lack of clarity. At first it does seem vague, but then it appears to hint on how the Glass Cat known as Bungle got her pink brains restored as well as her sassy vanity (another explanation was approached in the 2004 Oziana story "A Bungled Kidnapping in Oz" written by David Hulan and illustrated by John Mundt, Esq.). Here Kim MacFarland does a nice lined drawing of the protagonist. This story lasts about 2 pages.

Following this is a 5-page story written by Justice C. S. Fischer addressing the possibility of how after being melted, the Wicked Witch of the West became "Blinkie of Oz" and how the Oz characters dealt with this situation when it was brought to their attention. While Dorothy looks more like a six-year old Judy Garland, I did like how Dennis Anfuso illustrated the Tin Woodman.

I've sometimes wondered if it is possible for you to write a new character for a story and then actually say that anybody else could use that person if they so wished . . . well, my curious thought was addressed with Kass Stone's "Jenny Everywhere in Oz" (How, exactly, I will leave for you to discover for yourself). Jenny's encounters also make homages or allusions to things like "Transformers", "Narnia" and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. When Jenny does get to a certain place, we have another 'human from outside world finally coming to and saving Oz' story, but this one is definitely one to enjoy reading with the little jokes, descriptions and events in this story. Old friends Jack Pumpkinhead and the Saw-Horse join her to meet Glinda and the villain is somehow related to the Wicked Witch of the East, a new character Baum would probably have enjoyed reading about. My most favourite part of this story is the inclusion of different and alternate universe versions of Glinda (though it may not be exactly as you expect). In this 9-11 page story, Alejandro Garcia does only three drawings, but the double-page spread of 'the Legion of Glindas' makes up for that (I must confess, having been so used to seeing how Eric Shanower illustrated Glinda, it took me a while to spot our Glinda in Alejandro's style). I do wish there had been another set of drawings for this story across the double-page spreads of text.

Next up, Mycroft Mason asks some of Trot's questions as she attempts to know more about "The Solitary Sorceress of Oz", otherwise our wise and often taken for granted friend, Glinda. Yep, our favourite Good Witch/Sorceress of the South's identity is questioned, approached and . . . MAAAAAYBE answered, across 7 pages (with Chapters + Titles). I won't say anything much else about this story either, as you will have to discover out the fun for yourself as well. And wherever Trot is, you can be sure Cap'n Bill will also make an appearance, but no longer than necessary (but I must admit I didn't recognize him at first, though Trot looks interesting and nice, as does Glinda especially!) I will say how refreshing it was to actually got closer and a bit more personal with Glinda and her life, or rather some of it, as we always see her as a powerful figure in red and white with blue eyes and an "all-seeing" Book, without ever really thinking about her needs and maybe wishes, or how her life was like growing up. I do wish this story had been longer, however. Isabelle Melancon does great work here illustrating Trot and Glinda, especially in their touching moment at the end.
What, you don't recognize the name Isabelle Melancon? Well, here's a little hint: Namesake.

Last up we have "Cryptic Conversations in a Cornfield (a prolusio in umbra)" by Jeffrey Rester. To put it simply, the Origins of Scarecrow. Yes, originS. We all know L. Frank Baum's simple yet mysterious and gap-holed recollection from Scarecrow about how he was made. But Scarecrow says himself how with his life being so short he knows nothing whatever:

"I was only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before that time is all unknown to me."

And we all know, though many reject, Ruth Plumly Thompson's "reincarnation" approach. But here that consideration is mentioned briefly while other approaches take up the story. Scarecrow's Farmer is given the name Pax and his friend Lix. Ruled by the Wicked Witch of the East, the Munchkins are terrorized and teased by pesky crows and ravens, who sometimes appear supernatural, until the two Farmers decide to try and get rid of the birds from their crops. Their first Scarecrow is left alone, face untouched (no paint) and the Witch attempts to use some certain powder on it which doesn't work (you can probably guess why if you read it) so she demolishes it, the birds taking the blame when the Farmers return. Their next attempt is more successful and complete (I loved how Jeffrey took to quoting, with slight adjustments, L. Frank Baum's original writings for this part) and hung up left alone, despite the odd feeling Pax has of a beanpole in the field. After a little encounter with an owl, it is not too long before the Scarecrow is a failure at protecting the corn. But one crow, Solomon, befriends the straw man (I thought this was a Good point, as this not only reforms the black birds and makes them seem a bit better than earlier introduced, but it also teaches Scarecrow speech, which he wouldn't have much practice at or knowledge to do when Dorothy came). A Pair of Ravens recites some form of prophecy to the Scarecrow concerning the lost emperor Chang Wang Woe, which would be forgotten upon their passing. But the Witch of the East makes her second encounter with the Scarecrow and it is here that he learns about his fear of fire and its danger, only to be saved from certain destruction by some windy clouds bringing a storm. The next day, the Scarecrow sees the Silver Shoes making their way towards him again, only now worn by a little girl with her little black dog beside her, bringing him hope . . .

Although a long read of 20 pages, the expanded origin of our favourite straw-stuffed thinker is a highly enjoyable and fun read once you actually get into it, with a few Latin words thrown in (I can't say I know what they mean). And Luciano Vecchio helps us get through the story with his excellent pictures, stylistically lined in shading and lighting and other details, among them the Witch's look: she is portrayed as 'eldritch' (I thought more like a Native American/Indian shaman, with her hair partly tied in a braid with a tiny dreamcatcher, a wooden cane and shawl, her face in close-up is effectively shown in hideous glory), Scarecrow has bells on his hat like all the fellow Munchkins are described and the brief glimpses of Oz scenery are whimsical. Luciano Vecchio also contributes to the back cover art by showing the Dorothy-perspective of Scarecrow, while the story ends with HIS perspective of his coming friend.
The only thing I didn't quite like about the story was the Witch's occasional, slight, obsession with the scarecrow, thinking a big deal out of something so simple. Nor did I like the idea of the Witch of the EAST being afraid of water, but considering it saved scarecrow I can let that go. And though there are two times when we get double-pages of text, I would have liked an extra drawing or few by Lucian. But I suppose "Jenny Everywhere" would actually need that more.

Finally, we have another drawing of Bungle "The Glass LOLCat of Oz" by Kim McFarland, only this time it is a colour painting, printed in black-and-white, with "I Can Has CheezBurger" text.

While I may sound a bit biased, I am happy to say that this is definitely the Best Issue (and maybe slightly longest - it feels thicker than past issues) of Oziana I have ever received and read, with stories that do not have to be taken as complete canon unless you choose to.

I hope to contribute to other issues of Oziana soon, especially in working on stories!

Autumn 2011 Bugle and Oziana 38

Cross-posted from my WordPress.

Since I just recently received my copies of the Autumn 2011 Baum Bugle and Oziana 38, I might as well say a bit about them. First, the Bugle. This issue includes an article by Ruth Berman about mermaids, focusing on the ones in L. Frank Baum's fantasies, but also mentioning some literary antecedents. The idea of a being part human and part fish goes back to ancient mythology, with the Greek Triton having that form, and some suspecting the Phoenician Dagon did as well. As Ruth indicates, however, mermaid literature didn't really become prominent until the nineteenth century, and Baum plays on the idea of mermaids as beautiful but vicious creatures who cause hapless people to drown by having his benevolent sea fairies correct Cap'n Bill on this point. The article also mentions that Davy Jones and his staff from Hugh Pendexter's Wooglet in Oz were actually a callback to W.W. Denslow's The Pearl and the Pumpkin. I was not aware. There are also some reviews of The Sea Fairies from when it first came out, most of them being quite positive. As it turned out, though, this and its successor Sky Island didn't sell anywhere near as well as the Oz books, so Baum had to return to his cash cow a few years later. Another interesting article is Richard Tuerk's "Head Versus Heart in The Tin Woodman of Oz," which demonstrates that, for all his talking about his heart, the Tin Woodman actually focuses more on his head (at one point literally) during his own book. I think it might be interesting to examine Nick Chopper's other appearances with this in mind, and see how much he really is led by his heart. Tuerk makes the point that Nick is motivated by duty in Tin Woodman, and it seems to me this is a major character trait of the Tin Man's in other books as well, perhaps sometimes more significant than his kind heart.

Regarding Oziana, I have been in communication with most of the authors involved at some point or other. The Oz community has always been rather small, and now with the Internet, it's not too unlikely that anyone involved in Oz fandom knows a lot of the other participants as well. It makes it difficult to get unbiased reviews of Oz material, but I tend to be pretty biased when it comes to Oz anyway. There's also more of a link between the different stories than is common for Oziana, probably due to intentional effort on editor Marcus Mebes' part. David Tai's "Executive Decisions" deals with what really happened when Ozma supposedly had Mombi executed at the end of the Lost King, making the valid point that she promised to care for the former Wicked Witch of the North in her old age. Mind you, this contradicts the also excellent Bucketheads in Oz, which I just finished scanning for characters and hence is on my mind, but it's hard to achieve total consistency with everything even if you want to. Jared Davis' "Bud and the Red Jinn, or Don'tAlways Look a Gift HorseGoat in the Mouth" has Prince Bobo of Boboland pay a visit to Queen Zixi of Ix, and his stubbornness almost causes an international incident. When I tried to write a story featuring the disenchanted Bobo, I made him kindly and not all that interesting, building on the statement in Chapter 22 of Rinkitink that "Prince Bobo humbly begged Rinkitink's forgiveness for having been so disagreeable to him, at times, saying that the nature of a goat had influenced him and the surly disposition he had shown was a part of his enchantment." Jared makes Bobo retain some of his stubborn personality, and I must say I prefer his characterization. Then again, I WAS in high school when I wrote my story. "Polychrome Visits the Sea Fairies" is a tale by Gina Wickwar, author of The Hidden Prince of Oz and Toto of Oz, which is basically a sequel to The Sea Fairies. It returns to the island of seals that played a small part in that book, and says a bit about what happened to the devilfish after the death of Zog. Technically speaking, it's really not so much an Oz story as a Borderlands one. Even Polychrome, who was introduced in Road, also appeared in Sky Island, so she's not strictly an Oz character. Not that it makes a whole lot of difference anyway, since Baum eventually tied most of his fantasy lands together, but it's interesting. "Thy Fearful Symmetry," by Jeff Rester, features the Hungry Tiger, his past dealings with Mombi, and how his main character trait developed. Finally, "The Bashful Baker's Honeymoon" is a follow-up to Marcus Mebes' earlier Bashful Baker and Shipwrecked, bringing Maria and Derek to Captain Salt's ship in the Nonestic Ocean. All are worth reading, and the illustrations are also excellent. I still need to get the double issue, 39/40, which contrary to all reason was actually published before this one.

Oziana #38

Hmmm... Is it fair for me to talk about Oziana #38? I mean... I have a story in it, helped with another, then checked half the issue for typos. So... Hmmm... How to tackle this?

So, Oziana is the creative magazine of The International Wizard of Oz Club. It began in 1971 and has been published by the Club until now. #38 (which is retroactively numbered, since we had an issue for 2007, then a double issue for 2009 and 2010, so #38 is meant to fill in for 2008, with a new issue coming later this year for 2011 and one already in editing stages for 2012) is the first issue to be hosted on Lulu.com, meaning the Club is free from paying for a print run, while at the same time offering a high-quality printed magazine. By permission of Reilly & Lee, Oziana stories are allowed to freely reference any books and characters from the Famous Forty. A number of Oz writers who are well known today got their start in Oziana.

Alex Garcia of Spain illustrates the cover of #38 as well as two stories. The cover shows a variety of characters from the story in a welcoming and exciting pose against the Emerald City.

The first story is "Executive Decisions" by new Oz writer David Tai. And this is the story I claim I helped with, though really, David did just well on his own. David served as editor on my upcoming book Outsiders from Oz, and there is a part in the book in which Dorothy is left to manage affairs of state in the Emerald City while Ozma is away. David thought I should tell about what Dorothy would do, but I was too busy writing everything else to throw in another subplot, so I decided not to visit this.

Another thing that happened was my blog about The Lost King of Oz and the surprising responses to it. David decided to tie these together into his first Oz short story.

"Executive Decisions" finds Dorothy fulfilling the duty of holding court so the people of Oz can air their grievances. When Mombi enters the throne room complaining about mushroom people building a tunnel under her house, Dorothy, Trot, and Betsy are surprised to see Mombi alive. They begin investigating Mombi's execution, and begin to find many questions before they finally get the answer.

Not only does David tell a good, compelling story and keep the characters in character, he manages to make Dorothy, Trot, and Betsy sound like different characters. (Let's face it, some stories feel like they used Betsy or Trot to avoid overusing Dorothy. Yes, Thompson, I'm looking at you.) Kim McFarland, author and illustrator of A Refugee in Oz, illustrates the story, with wonderfully done depictions of the characters taking cue from Neill, while mixed with Kim's own style.

And then we come to "Bud and the Red Jinn" by Jared Davis. I was commissioned to write the story simply because King Bud of Noland and Jinnicky the Red Jinn of Ev were on the cover but were not in any of the stories. Since I was still at work on Outsiders at the time, I got help coming up with the plot. As it is, the story is only three pages long, stretched to four with a couple of beautiful illustrations by Anna-Maria Cool.

Writing this story was fun. When I was asked to write about Jinnicky, I had to admit that I'd read nothing substantial featuring the character. I quickly got a copy of The Silver Princess in Oz. This way, if for some reason we couldn't be cleared by Oziana's Famous Forty permissions, I could claim the character's depiction was based solely on public domain material. I had read Queen Zixi of Ix many times, so I was familiar with Bud and other characters that I might reference. (And we managed to get Anna-Maria to base her Zixi on Fredric Richardson's instead of Neill.)

The story simply has Bud and Fluff making a formal visit to Zixi for her Queen's Festival, where Bud meets Jinnicky for the first time. (Since Ix is bordered by Ev, it made sense that he might be invited as well.) The two become friends and head outside, where they intercept a surprise visit by Prince Bobo of Boboland, who is about to make a very serious mistake.

I came up with the idea that Bobo has been sailing around the Ozian continent to make peaceful connections with all countries, and I'll tease you now that what I wrote for him in Ix is only a very small part of that adventure!

As for how good "Bud and the Red Jinn" is, I couldn't say. I don't think I'm qualified to as the writer. But I will say that I don't overindulge in details. It's a very quick read, and I got to read it to my parents a while back in the course of ten minutes. (So it's not boring either, it seems. They stayed awake.)

Next up is Gina Wickwar's wonderful "Polychrome Visits The Sea Fairies," again exquisitely illustrated by Alex Garcia. Polychrome meets Merla and Clia (mermaids from The Sea Fairies) and is allowed to have a mermaid's tail herself as she goes underwater, where she assists Queen Aquareine and King Anko in dealing with some of the last of Zog's devil fish.

While Gina's story isn't very long, it does give us a welcome revisit to the Sea Fairies, very much in character.

Gina's Polychrome story is complemented by a full page illustration of Polly by Marcus Mebes, accompanied with a poem.

Following this is Jeff Rester's "Thy Fearful Symmetry," another story involving Mombi, this time explaining how she's wrapped up with the Hungry Tiger. It's illustrated well by Dennis Anfuso.

To be honest, of all the stories in #38, Jeff's was the one I liked least. There isn't much humor, and at times I thought of Kipling rather than Baum, and not in a good way. And the use of old English and the Tiger even quoting a bit of scripture threw me off a bit. However, the concept and plot are good, so I still enjoyed it.

Finishing off the issue is "The Bashful Baker's Honeymoon" by Marcus Mebes, again elegantly illustrated by Alex Garcia. The story follows up with Maria and Derek from "The Bashful Baker of Oz" from Oziana 2003, sending them on a much postponed honeymoon aboard the Crescent Moon with Captain Salt, Ato, Tandy, Roger the Read Bird, Trot, Cap'n Bill, and a couple old friends from Shipwrecked in Oz, another previous Oz story by Marcus. Oh, and we might have a visit from a certain prince in here as well.

"Honeymoon" is just a honeymoon, a travelogue taking us around the coasts of the continent where Oz lies, and for what it is, it reads quite well.

So, overall, Oziana is back in the 21st Century and in good hands. #38 is a strong start, let's hope all of the creative Oz fans can keep it up.

Buy Oziana #38 here.

Oziana #37

Okay, so I got a copy of Oziana #37, the magazine of fiction from the International Wizard of Oz Club, and seemingly, also the last.

The first thing you'll see is the cover, which is by Oz fan and artist Kevenn T. Smith. It doesn't illustrate any of the stories, but rather uses characters from all of the stories to create a "Battle in the Emerald City," The wraparound cover shows mostly familiar faces in Polychrome, the Glass Cat, Ozma, and the Wizard, but there's a couple other characters on the front and all the characters on the back will be new characters to most Oz fans.

There are only three stories inside. The first is the shortest, running for three pages, and it has two beautiful illustrations by Melody Grandy. "As The Rainbow Follows The Rain" by Jeff Rester isn't much of a story, as very much, it is Polychrome telling new character Hyetal (a rain spirit, it seems) about her family as the Rainbow makes a customary appearance after a shower. As I said, there's not much to the story, but it is well-told and imaginative, and tells us some fascinating things about the Rainbow and the family. Worth reading, especially if you like Polychrome.

The next story is "The Magic Door to Oz" by Paul Ritz and Johanna Buchner. An unnamed protagonist finds a door to Oz and discovers the Witched Wick has been taking storybook characters from their lands and imprisoning them in a land under Oz. It is up to the hero, with some help from the Glass Cat and Mary Poppins' umbrella, to put an end to the Wick's wicked ways and send everyone home.

This is a more satisfying story than the first one, but even though it takes place in Oz, it didn't feel like an honest-to-goodness Oz story. I guess that's how the story was written to be. The illustrations by F. Kay Baumann are rather well-done and exquisitely so.

The third and longest is a whole book by Sergei Sukhinov, made readable to us English folk by Peter Blystone, and illustrated by Dennis Anfuso. I haven't finished this one yet, but I'm enjoying it. It really isn't an Oz story, but it easily could be. The story is one of the Russian Magic Land tales written after Volkov's original series. It's a prequel to Volshebnik Izumrudnovo Goroda (The Wizard of the Emerald City), and deals with Bastinda, Volkov's version of the Wicked Witch of the West. A lot of English readers should enjoy this one.

Overall, I'd say this is a worthwhile issue. I'm enjoying it, and hope anyone who gets it (and you should) enjoys it, too.