Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Latest Oz Reading

Yup, I've hit my next cycle of Oz reading. So let's take a look:


  • The Wizard of Oz: A Scanimation Book by Rufus Butler Seder. Not much to tell about this one: You open the book, wave the page in front of your eyes a little bit, and pictures from The Movie appear to move. Some of them are mildly clever, and fun if you move the page really fast, but overall not one you need, unless you're a big fan of The Movie.
  • My classic read this time around was The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum. I had another book in mind originally, but I had a thought for a paper about this book and a deadline sort of looming, so I thought I'd better take a look at this. Yup, much of what I thought was confirmed, but mostly in the opening and closing chapters. The story itself is a lot of fun, even if it does read like a series of short stories rather than a unified whole story. I couldn't help thinking that many of Prince Marvel's adventures could make for a fun British pantomime. And that's one thing that really struck me about this book is the humor. There's a lot more silly stuff going on here than I remember.
  • And of course the comics came. Pretty light for Oz stuff this month, however, including no Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. The first "Oz" comic was Fables #113, but there's still no resolution to Blufkin's cliffhanger and no return to Oz, so what's the point? (Fortunately, it looks like that will take care of itself in the next issue.) The other Oz comic was The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #2. Dorothy's now found all of her friends, and the wicked witch is now on her trail. The next issue box promises Kalidahs! This is a very freeform adaptation, as it doesn't much follow the structure of the story at all, but I am enjoying this take. Dorothy as a cowgirl sure has a lot of moxie!

And that's all for now. But there will be some more soon, never fear!

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