Sunday, May 01, 2016

This Week's Oz Short Story

The final story in the 1972 issue of Oziana is "To Oz Through the Mists" by Diane Merryman, with illustrations by Mary Reynolds. This is a charming little tale of Merrilana, a teenaged orphan who is about to age out of the foster home system and be on her own. She stumbles through a mysterious fog and meets the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, and helps them make cookies for Ozma's birthday. In gratitude, our Oz friends figure out how to conjure up more fog so she can get home. To be honest, I'm not sure why Merrilana wants to go home, as there's not a lot there for her, but that's the story. She does at least seem to have made a good impression on Nick and the Lion, who speak highly of her once she's gone.

I may take a week off next week, as it's a busy weekend for me (it's Free Comic Book Day, so Laura and I are heading out to score some swag and visit friends we haven't seen for a while), but when I do return, we'll start looking at 1973!

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