Thoughts on Oziana

So, last night, I finished reading the 2005 issue of Oziana. I'd already read the 2006 issue a while back, and read the 2007 issue when it came out, as well as subsequent issues. So, I've now read the entire run of Oziana, from 1971 to 2012. (I look forward to the forthcoming 2013 issue!)

Oziana contains stories, poems, art, games, and even in one case, sheet music created by Oz fans. The 1971 issue contained a letter from Harvey Plotnik, the then-president of Reilly & Lee, stating that the company had "no objections to the use of any characters and locations in the series." This has allowed Oziana to publish work referencing anything from the Famous Forty Oz books. Basing a work on other copyrighted interpretations of Oz require prior permission. (An as-of-yet unpublished story written for Oziana briefly features Tempus from Paradox in Oz by Edward Einhorn. Einhorn's permission was obtained for using the story in Oziana.)

There's a myriad of stories in Oziana, and when I told the current editor that I finally had a complete set, he informed me that I had some of the best and worst Oz fiction ever published. To be honest, I didn't spot anything that was so horrible that history would be better without it, but there are some tedious stories.

A surprising number of stories fill in gaps between Oz books and explain things. "Mombi's Polka Dot Vest" explains where Mombi got the clothes that Tip used to dress Jack Pumpkinhead. "The Merchant of Oz" explains why there is no money in Oz in The Road to Oz. "Evrob and the Nomes" lets us look at the state of the Nome Kingdom just after The Emerald City of Oz. Unfortunately, some of these stories get too carried away with explaining that they could really only be enjoyed by someone already quite familiar with the series. (Of the ones mentioned, only "Merchant" somewhat suffers from that in my opinion. The other two are fine stories on their own.)

There have been a lot of shifting opinions in Oz fiction. A lot of early Oziana stories played it safe with little new happening in Oz. Eventually, though, people began to write bold new adventures for the Oz characters. The entire 1996 issue was a story that followed up Speedy in Oz. Sometimes, stories offer peeks at the Oz characters. One tale features the Wizard coming up with a potion to turn the Tin Woodman back into flesh, and he must decide if he actually wants it. One story even features the fates of Mr. and Mrs. Yoop.

A number of Oz writers got their start in Oziana. My own story "Bud and the Red Jinn," was my first published work of fiction. I already discussed Eric Shanower's start in Oziana. Among her artwork and stories for Oziana over the years, Melody Grandy published a couple stories that would later become chapters of The Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy. Donald Abbot's first version of How The Wizard Came To Oz was in the 1976 issue of Oziana. Nathan DeHoff has only been published in Oziana, but I hope he will publish some of his Oz stories in book form soon.

Just before this year's Winkie Convention, I discussed with the people at breakfast that it is quite possible that Oz has the most fan fiction ever written for it. Rachel Cosgrove's The Hidden Valley of Oz began as a story that we'd call fan fiction, except she submitted it and got it published. And if she did that, who else did? It was very fortunate that the International Wizard of Oz Club got Oziana going so that some of this could actually be seen and enjoyed by all. The legal clearance from Reilly & Lee was needed in 1971 as only the first two Oz books were public domain at the time.

Today, with people able to put out a book for free using a print-on-demand service or put it online in some form, Oziana can now afford to try to showcase the best results of Oz fan works. Long live Oziana!

To submit work to Oziana, contact current editor Marcus Mebes. You can also submit your work to the International Wizard of Oz Club's research table and possibly win a prize as well as getting your work in Oziana! E-mail the heads of the research table for more information.

Oz comics! August 2013

I reflected last night that I probably should have ordered The Steam Engines of Oz #1 and Zenescope's new Oz comic. Hopefully, I can get them next month.

The Emerald City of Oz #2. Still faithful to Baum, but still quite condensed. The last issue covered six of thirty chapters, this one covers four, though there's a bit from later in the book moved to an earlier point. In this issue, we see the Woggle-Bug's college, the Cuttenclips, and the Growleywogs, all depicted in Skottie Young's wonderfully wacky style. The cover for the next issue shows bunnies, so it looks like it'll cover quite a bit of ground. I'll keep sticking around for the next three issues.

The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #10 finds Tin Man, Tip, Jack, Scarecrow and the Lion head north to Mombi's homestead to look for clues about Ozma's disappearance. Meanwhile, it turns out that Mombi definitely isn't down yet as she presents Scraps with a surprising gift. And we discover exactly what Jinjur has been digging for under the Emerald City. But why exactly?

Shanowerthon! — The Giant Garden of Oz

Way back when I was re-reading the Oz books in the early 2000s (how the time has flown!), I put all of L. Frank Baum's Oz books on hold at the library, and also asked about any titles by Eric Shanower, fondly remembering his Oz graphic novels.

I remember calling them by phone (some of the librarians could identify me by the sound of my voice), and they listed the five graphic novels and a book called The Giant Garden of Oz. At this time, I didn't know Eric had done anything with Oz outside of the graphic novels, so I assumed it was a sixth that hadn't been listed on the previous five books.

When the book arrived at the library and I picked it up, I was surprised to see that it looked like a fairly normal novel. "Oh, cool!" I thought, "It's a really long one like one of those books of manga." Then I opened it up.

It was a regular prose and picture Oz book, but by Eric Shanower.

I discovered later that this was part of a wave of new Oz fiction published by Books of Wonder. Peter Glassman approached many Oz fans about publishing new Oz books. Along with Eric Shanower were books by Eric Gjovaag and Karyl Carlson, Bill Campell and Irwin Terry, Donald Abbot, Robin Hess, David Hulan and others. I have yet to get all of these books.

The story of The Giant Garden of Oz finds Dorothy (accompanied by Toto and Billina) going to visit Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a new farm they've moved to. It's not a farm just like the one back in Kansas, because while Aunt Em and Uncle Henry can work it and grow crops, they also have magical conveniences to help them do their work much more easily. Also, the animals on the farm can talk, making that part easier.
Things are going well on the farm, but the next morning, they discover that the vegetable garden out front has grown to an enormous size, preventing them from easily leaving the farm. Dorothy, Billina and Toto head out alone to get to the Emerald City for help.

What I found impressive is that most would have just had the garden get bigger, but Eric thinks it out logically: the vegetables have grown larger, so they're all squeezed together, a row of carrots even upsetting the house.

Journeying away from the farm, Toto and Billina mysteriously disappear, along with the basket containing Dorothy's food for the trip. Dorothy has to continue on alone. Along the way, she is joined by Imogene, a cow who gives different kinds of milk and other dairy products based on her moods. (A pretty exciting day yields whipped cream, for instance.) They soon run into the Wizard, who has taken up ballooning again.

I rather liked that theme that Uncle Henry and Aunt Em and the Wizard were picking up on their American occupations that they'd previously failed at. As Dorothy explains, "In a land where no one grows older and no one can ever die, I've got all the time in the world."

And yes, Imogene is based on Dorothy's pet cow that replaced Toto in the 1903 Wizard of Oz musical extravaganza. Shanower's Imogene is a very different character, however.

Dorothy, Imogene and the Wizard try to save Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Billina, and Toto, but are beset by a storm and giant moles who pull Dorothy and Imogene underground for a rather spooky experience! And that's not even the biggest thing to happen! (Pun quite intended.)

As I said, Eric takes a very logical and reasonable approach to magic and how things in Oz work. Even though the story has been criticized for having a rather dark tone, at no point does it feel like Eric is being unfaithful to the world that Baum created. Oz, as Baum wrote it, can be a scary place, and Eric embraces it. The Oz characters feel like fully three-dimensional characters, particularly Dorothy, as Eric often tells us what she's thinking. All of this well-done storytelling has led to me actually calling it one of my favorite non-Famous Forty Oz books, a point even Eric has wondered at.


I bought my own copy of Giant Garden eventually and have read it a few times over the years, making sure not to enjoy it too often. I once began to read it in 2011, as I was heading to the Winkie Convention and had it with me for Eric to sign. I wound up not finishing it due to the other Oz books I'd picked up then, but he did autograph it for me!

 Books of Wonder no longer lists The Giant Garden of Oz on their website, so it is currently out of print. But it can be found for a reasonable price on many used book sites.

The Characters of Oz — Billina

Once, a tiny chick was hatched. The boy tending the hens took a liking to it and named it Bill, though he actually wasn't sure if it was a girl or a boy. Well, as Bill grew older, it became clear that it was a girl, but the name was never changed. Eventually Bill was sold and was put on a chicken coop on a ship headed to Australia.

One night, the coop was washed overboard in a terrible storm. All of the other hens scattered away, but Bill stayed right where she was, and noticed a young girl climb aboard the coop.

The next morning, Bill laid an egg and began crowing loudly, waking the girl. When the girl asked what had happened, Bill suddenly began speaking like a human being. The girl soon revealed that she was Dorothy Gale. When Dorothy heard Bill's name, she decided to call Bill "Billina" to feminize the name. Billina didn't much mind, and soon adopted the name.

Dorothy and Billina washed up on the shores of Ev, where they had many amusing conversations, and Billina found a golden key while digging for bugs and other tiny creatures to eat. When Dorothy found the warning "Beware the Wheelers" in the sand, Billina suggested that they were automobiles. However, when the two did meet a Wheeler, it was Billina who correctly identified it and the two fled for safety, where they discovered Tik-Tok, who helped them reach the city of Evna.

When Princess Langwidere decided to punish Dorothy for refusing to surrender her head, she said she would eventually cook Billina. Billina bluffed that her breed was poison to princess, so she was instead kept to lay eggs. (Langwidere added that if Billina didn't do this, she would be drowned in the horse trough.) After Ozma rescued Dorothy, Dorothy set Billina free.

Billina, Dorothy discovered, had been fighting with the rooster. By the state of her, she'd won.

Billina joined Dorothy and Tik-Tok in going with Ozma and her troops to rescue the Queen of Ev and her children from the Nome King. Along the way, Billina had to stop to lay an egg, which the Scarecrow collected.

Upon arriving in the Nome Kingdom, none of the Nomes seemed to notice Billina, but she paid attention to what was going on. After eating some crumbs, she went to sleep under the Nome King's throne, where she managed to overhear the Nome King tell his Steward what he had transformed the Royal Family and the people from Oz into.

The next morning, Billina was discovered when she laid her egg and cackled. The Nome King yelled at her that eggs were poison to Nomes.
 The Scarecrow started to get this egg, but Billina made him refuse to get it unless the Nome King let her guess in the ornament rooms like her friends. He eventually agreed.

Of course, Billina knew what to look for and found and restored everyone (except the Tin Woodman, who they would find on the way back to Evna), but the Nome King was defiant and set his army to attack. Thanks to the Scarecrow hurling Billina's eggs and Billina telling Dorothy to take the Magic Belt, the Nome King was soon subdued and the entire company left the Nome Kingdom.

In Evna, Billina was awarded a necklace of pearls and sapphires by the new King of Ev. She went back to Oz with Ozma, where she decided she would stay, even chiding Dorothy for going back to "that stupid, humdrum world."

In The Road to Oz, Billina reveals that she has been hatching chicks, and she names them all Dorothy after Dorothy. In The Emerald City of Oz, she reveals that when her chicks turn out to be roosters instead of hens, she renames them Daniel. All of her brood wear lockets with the letter "D" and Dorothy's picture inside. The people of Oz are welcome to any of the eggs that Billina and her descendants don't care to hatch.

Billina generally retires to her Emerald City home with her children for the rest of the Oz books, but she does accompany Dorothy on her tour around Oz in The Emerald City of Oz. Surprisingly, she is quite a strong feminist character, even if she is just a chicken.

In The Emerald City of Oz, the Nomes had once believed that there were no chickens in the Land of Oz, but the Nome King says that a goshawk told him of Billina and her brood. However, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, we are told of a rooster and a hen in the Emerald City who just laid an egg. What became of this pair? Did Billina's key role in Ozma of Oz make people forget about them?

Another curious thing: anyone who knows about chickens knows that a hen cannot hatch eggs without being fertilized by a rooster. We are never told of a rooster in Billina's life. Did she somehow just start reproducing asexually? Or is that rooster from Wonderful Wizard getting around?

Some thoughts about the Winkie Convention

The following blog entry is not the work of any planners or staff of the Winkie Convention. I am an attendee, a participant, contributor and volunteer, pure and simple.

In exactly one year, the Winkie Convention will be meeting for its 50th convention in San Diego, California. The move from Pacific Grove was due to some complications and the fact that if you're serious about doing events like this, they need to be booked early. A big plus is that they're able to set this up so that the cost of attending will be much nicer than we had it at Asilomar. This way, it will be less of a kick to the bank balance for a family to attend.

We have been notified of two things: unlike our Asilomar years, the registration doesn't include meals. But more importantly, after 2015, at present, we don't know where Winkies will go. Options for venues are wide open. For those traveling, it'll be quite an adventure. To keep up on Winkies, subscribe to the Winkie Newsletter and keep an eye on the Winkie Facebook page.

But more importantly, a number of people come to Winkies from out of state. I, for one, traveled halfway across the country the past four summers to attend. Sam travels all the way from Australia and has had to deal with jetlag thanks to a 19 hour time zone difference. Other attendees have come from other countries and even further east than me.

So, for us, unlike our dear west coast friends who drive back home after the convention, we wind up expanding our time out in California to justify the time traveled.

My first year, I was quite unseasoned. My travel schedule was so tight, that when I got off my bus, I met my ride to Asilomar, went to Winkies, got registered, experienced the convention, and then had to promptly leave before lunch on Sunday.

The next year (2011), I was a bit looser. Sam and I arranged to meet in Los Angeles and travel the rest of the way together. I'd booked a hotel to stay at since we'd be arriving in Salinas the night before the convention. We stayed the night, had breakfast, then headed over to Asilomar, where we met other early Winkies. After lunch Sunday, we traveled between Pacific Grove and Salinas on the local transport, visiting the Steinbeck Center, having dinner, Sam unsuccessfully trying to call home, and seeing Green Lantern. (Also getting creeped out by what sounded like late night violence. We survived. Kind of.) We caught a 1AM bus out and split up in Los Angeles.

Year three, I set it up so I could arrive early Thursday afternoon and head on to Asilomar. Sam hadn't told me he was going, but the registration desk lady spoiled it. Thursday, I hung out with the fellow Winkies and we went out for pizza, David Maxine and Freddy Fogarty helped me replace some missing toiletries I'd left, and then I helped set up.

Sunday afternoon, I wound up hanging with my new friend Jeff Bjur, and we drove up to Santa Cruz (Goodwill and record store browsing) and Gilroy where we caught the final moments of the Garlic Festival. Then back to Salinas where I caught a film (The Amazing Spider-Man) and then caught the bus home.

That brings us to this year. I arrived in Salinas late Wednesday, where I stayed at the same hotel I did two years ago with Sam. By the time I checked out, I was quite willing to never go back. I browsed a few shops and read an Oz book over some iced tea, then waited to meet up with Sam by the time he arrived. We were picked up by fellow Winkie Tim Tucker, and we all went to In 'N' Out Burger for lunch before heading to Asilomar, where we had dinner and (the next morning) breakfast with fellow Winkies while waiting for the convention to start.

After the convention, Jeff drove Sam and me to Monterey, where we hung out at a bookstore (with fellow Winkies Peter Hanff, Michael Riley, Colin Ayres and Atticus Gannaway), and then we spotted Shawn Maldonado across the street. Jeff wound up dropping all three of us off in Salinas. We hit up the Steinbeck Center again, had dinner, and then Sam and I waited hours to see Man of Steel before heading out to catch our bus back to LA.

For some reason, there is nothing like a superhero movie that you have your reservations about right after an Oz convention.

SO, that leaves me with the question: what am I going to do next year? It'll be a whole new place to visit, so looks as if I'll have many, many options!

The Characters of Oz — Ozma

If there is one character who gets a little difficult to explain the early story of, it's Ozma. In her first appearance in The Marvelous Land of Oz, she is referred to as the daughter of King Pastoria, the king before the Wizard took the throne. In The Tin Woodman of Oz, Baum writes that Queen Lurline left Ozma, a member of her band, to rule Oz.

If you assume that Pastoria had a wife, did Lurline make her carry a baby, similar to how the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus? But the Famous Forty Oz books never mention Pastoria's wife. (Mr. Flint in Oz by Ray Powell introduces Ozette, Ozma's mother, but this is not a Famous Forty book. Nor do I really consider it canon.) From the indications in the Famous Forty, Pastoria was a single father, Lurline providing him with a daughter that he adopted.

In The Marvelous Land of Oz, it is said that the Wizard turned Ozma over to Mombi, but Ozma seems to indicate in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz that Mombi was responsible for her abduction as a baby. In the story Oz and the Three Witches by Hugh Pendexter III, it explains how the Wizard turned Ozma over to Mombi to protect her. That is my general idea as well.

However Mombi got a hold of Ozma, she disguised the princess by turning her into a boy she called Tippetarius, who went by "Tip" for short. Growing up as the working boy on Mombi's farm, Tip had no idea that he was an enchanted princess. He did many typical "boy things," such as fish and play outside in addition to his work, but he resented Mombi.

Finally, Tip decided to scare Mombi one day by building Jack Pumpkinhead. While Mombi was startled, she brought Jack to life. No longer needing Tip's services, she decided to turn him into a marble statue. Tip decided to run away with Jack, taking with him the Powder of Life. Thus, he had the adventures in The Marvelous Land of Oz: how he brought the Sawhorse to life, allied himself with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman against General Jinjur's revolt, met the Woggle-Bug, helped create the flying Gump, and met Glinda who captured Mombi and forced to reveal his true identity.

Tip was hesitant to become a girl, but he eventually agreed to be restored to his true form. Mombi performed the spell to restore Ozma, and soon, she was the princess ruling the Emerald City.

Ozma's transition from Tip is not a major theme in the Famous Forty. Some excellent stories outside the Famous Forty have addressed it, but they all seem to note that the transition was rather smooth. As she herself says, I'm just the same Tip, you know; only—only—" Jack Pumpkinhead concludes this by saying "
Only you're different!" Ozma apparently embraces her full identity.

In Ozma of Oz, Ozma sets out to rescue the Royal Family of Ev from the Nome King, meeting Dorothy for the first time, the two becoming fast friends. But however noble Ozma's intentions were, her actual right to get involved and confiscate the Nome King's magic belt has been questioned. Not to mention that she is quite unprepared to meet the Nome King.

In Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, Ozma welcomes the old ruler of Oz to remain as a permanent citizen and important member of her court. The Road to Oz shows Ozma throwing a grand birthday party, and The Emerald City of Oz features Ozma welcoming Dorothy and her family to Oz to stay for good. However, it also sees Ozma deciding not to defend her fairyland, deciding to reason with invaders set on conquering Oz. She says that no one should have the right to kill another, and she does have a point, but likewise, they do not have a right to invade Oz. (Except that Roquat wants his belt back.) It is the Scarecrow who comes up with a non-violent way to defeat the invaders.

In later Oz books, Ozma generally rules Oz, making several questionable decisions. Seemingly, it was she who abolished currency in Oz and set up a somewhat communist format in which everyone helps each other out by sharing their goods with each other. (Although we frequently meet people in Oz who prefer to keep to themselves.)

Baum allows Ozma to be abducted once in the Oz series in The Lost Princess of Oz. Thompson occasionally had the Emerald City nearly conquered or invaded, but Ozma was really only abducted a couple times, though one of those times involved her being put under an enchantment and almost everyone in Oz forgot about her. (So I guess the Emerald City actually was conquered, but only Dorothy and Pigasus knew it.) While Ozma might not be the wisest ruler and has a lot to learn, she seems very capable. At least she knows when to seek help (usually from Glinda). She may not be a perfect ruler, but she's getting there.

Due to Ozma's seemingly smooth transition from Tip to her true self, Ozma has been viewed as a transgender icon. Some people have even cited Ozma's story as inspiration for their own coming into their own gender identity. In addition, some interpret her relationship with Dorothy as more than just close friends, and see her as a lesbian character as well.

So, Ozma, a girl, rules Oz. Now what? Talking chickens?

Farewell, Margaret Pellegrini

MGM Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini passed away this morning at the age of 89. Margaret was the recipient of the L. Frank Baum award in 2012 and became a fan favorite with her appearances at many Oz events over the years. She will be missed.

Shanowerthon! Eric in Oziana

After Shanower's Oziana debut in 1976, he didn't appear again in the magazine for six years. In Oziana 1983, he provided the front cover and illustrations for the final story. In 1984 and 85, he provided illustrations for one story each (including Fredrick Otto's fine story, Mombi's Pink Polkadot Vest), and also 85's cover.

It was in 1987 that another story by Eric (working on his Oz graphic novel series at the time) appeared in Oziana. Titled "The Two Peters," it features a little boy named Peter being read the end of Pirates in Oz as a bedtime story by his grandfather. The boy wonders if it's a coincidence that the boy in Pirates and himself are both named Peter, and he wonders how he came to have the name. Shanower doesn't say it, but I think that the grandfather might be Peter Brown himself. It's a very short and sweet story.

Eric continued contributing illustrations for stories in 1989, 1992, and 1994. He also contributed covers for 1990 and 1992.

The 1990 issue also contained a new Shanower story: "The Final Fate of the Frogman." In this story, Woot the Wanderer comes across the Truth Pond but is met by the Frogman who has shed his clothes and, retelling the story of his life since The Lost Princess of Oz, reveals that he now guards the Truth Pond so that others may not share his sad fate of being honest all the time. While it's a rather somber story, there is quite a bit of humor in it as well.

Shanower provided a partial story in 1993: "The Silver Jug." The story tells of a servant of Glinda's named Amanda who isn't the best at her job by a long shot. While Glinda is away, she tests Amanda by tasking her to care for a wax-sealed silver jug. If it is opened, it must be sealed again by the time Glinda returns.

The following year found two conclusions to the story being printed in Oziana: one by M.A. Berg and the other by Fredrick Otto. Both involved the jug being opened and Amanda having to get help to take care of the result.

In 2003, "The Final Fate of the Frogman" and "The Silver Jug" were among stories and poems by Shanower collected into the book The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. "Frogman" differed a little from its Oziana publication. In Oziana, the Frogman confronts the Wizard about how he lobotomized Jenny Jump in The Wonder City of Oz. In the collected edition, in regards to copyright, it has been changed to the Glass Cat's change of brains. (Oziana stories are allowed to use anything from the Famous Forty Oz books.)

"The Silver Jug" did not use either Oziana ending, but instead, Eric wrote his own ending. Amanda frees baby dragons from the Jug and they fly across the Deadly Desert, Amanda pursuing in Glinda's swan chariot. However, they are eaten by a much larger dragon and Amanda decides that she has to take the dragon back to Glinda so she can explain what happened. However, the dragon needs to save a friend of hers, and Amanda winds up being the surprising key to the dilemma. Although Berg and Otto's endings to "Jug" were fine, Eric's is excellent!

The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories is still available from Hungry Tiger Press, and several issues of Oziana are available from the International Wizard of Oz Club. (If you can't find the issue you want there, check used book sellers' sites.)

For anyone wondering, "The Two Peters" was reprinted in the 2011 Winkie Convention program book as part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Pirates in Oz. If you want a copy, contact David Maxine to see if he still has any copies left.

The Characters of Oz — The Gump

Once, long ago, a creature called a gump was slain in the Land of Oz. Its head was stuffed and mounted and displayed as a trophy. Somehow, the Wizard got a hold of it and had it put in his palace.

We are never told what a gump was like. Its head resembled that of an elk with large antlers and a long beard on its chin. What its body was like is never revealed in the Famous Forty Oz books.

This trophy remained in the Emerald Palace up through the time of Jinjur's invasion. When the Scarecrow returned to take his throne back from Jinjur, he and his friends found themselves trapped in the palace. To escape, they decided to make a flying machine from what they could find in the palace.

Tip and the Sawhorse brought a sofa (and later fetched a matching one), the Scarecrow brought clothesline, the Tin Woodman brought palm fronds, Jack brought a broom, and the Woggle-Bug brought the gump's head. The Tin Woodman put all these pieces together into an odd flying machine that used the sofas for a body, the broom for a tail, the fronds for wings, and the Gump's head for a head. Tip brought it to life with the Powder of Life, but he didn't have enough for the sofa legs. But as they needed to fly, not walk, they decided it would be all right.

When the creature was brought to life, it immediately flew into the air, but Tip called it back. It remembered being in the forest and hearing a loud noise. Then he was revived as their flying machine. This establishes that the Powder of Life can restore dead matter to life, complete with personality and memories intact. But it must be noted that the Gump was stuffed and had no internal organs. What effect it would have on a dead body with all of its organs still inside was not explored in the Famous Forty. (There is very much an in-canon way to do zombies in Oz.)

The creature was at first called a "thing," but soon was just called "The Gump," even though just part of it was a Gump. (Okay, actually part of it was part of a Gump.) The entire company climbed inside and set off to Glinda's palace. However, it soon became night and the Gump missed Glinda's palace altogether. It crash-landed in a Jackdaw's nest, where it was quite damaged. After an attack by the Jackdaws (which the Gump managed to flop its remains and scare some off), the Woggle-Bug was able to restore it with a Wishing Pill.

After the restoration, the Gump flew back to Oz. They discovered that they were over the Munchkin Country, and then headed on to Glinda's palace. The Gump later flew the Scarecrow and his friends back to the Emerald City instead of them marching with Glinda's guards. Later, it followed Glinda and the Sawhorse as they chased Mombi.

At the climax of The Marvelous Land of Oz, the Gump is used to invade the Emerald City so Jinjur can be captured and Ozma can take the throne. As its reward, it asks to be dismantled and have its restored to its place on the wall.

According to the Famous Forty Oz books, that is where it stays. Dorothy meets it in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and it tells her that it doesn't speak often, and that Ozma doesn't like it to speak much. I suppose having such a character around (a head mounted on a wall) would be unsettling for anyone.

In Baum's Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, the Gump is still a flying machine and it carries the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, the Sawhorse, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Woggle-Bug to America and serves as their official means of transport. In one story, the Gump races Santa Claus' reindeer and loses to them. But overall, the Gump is a very minor character in these stories, which are of debatable continuity.

So yes, somewhere in the Emerald Palace is a living head of an animal mounted on a wall. Quite odd indeed.

The Royal Podcast of Oz: Colin Ayres — Oz Across The Pond

Jared talks with friend and writer of The British Blog of Oz, Colin Ayres. A fan of Oz since childhood, Colin gives his perspective on being a fan of Oz in another country.

As always, you can listen and download on the podcast site or use the player below!

                       

   
   
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