The Latest Oz Reading

It's not much, but I do have some new Oz to tell you about.

• The comics order came last week, and I've gotten to my first Oz-related title, which is Fables #140. Briar Rose, Puss in Boots, and a few others conclude their adventure in Ireland. Nope, no Oz characters show up.
• To make up for that, Zenescope was kind enough to send me a preview of another issue, Warlord of Oz #2. Dorothy's back in Oz, but its under attack from an evil from Oz's early history. How bad is it? Glinda sacrifices her own life in an attempt to stop it! The Council in the Emerald City is taking action, but still doesn't know what they're facing yet, so they send out groups to the four corners of Oz to gather intelligence and secure allies. Dorothy now has to get information to Glinda's apprentice. I think I may be enjoying this one more than Zenescope's original Oz series, partly because they don't seem to be restrained by the events of The Wizard of Oz and can tell the story they want. However, it sure isn't the Oz L. Frank Baum created!
• My short story of the week — the next from the anthology Oz Reimagined — is "Blown Away" by Jane Yolen. Yes, that Jane Yolen! In this version of the story, Dorothy is whisked away by a twister, and then Aunt Em and Uncle Henry don't hear from her for years. Finally, after seven years she turns up. It turns out that twister blew her to the Emerald Circus, where she loses her memory. The circus folks take her in, and she eventually becomes part of the high wire act. The fun part of this is that we don't see it from Dorothy's point of view, but from one of the farmhands that occasionally works for the Gales. We as the reader never really leave Kansas, so we find out more about love and loss and regret than we do about Dorothy's adventures. There are a lot of interesting revelations once Dorothy returns, however. Yolen really knows her Oz books (no surprise), and this story has lots of sly references to the original story. I especially liked that the farmer down the road is Old Man Baum.

There are a couple more Oz comics to come (certainly Ozzier than this month's Fables), and I hope another short story next weekend.