Monday, November 06, 2017

This Week's Oz Short Story

So I finally got to the beginning of the 1985 issue of Oziana, and read "Mombi's Pink Polkadot Vest" by Frederick E. Otto, with illustrations by Eric Shanower. Yes, it is an origin story for the titular garment and the other clothes Tip first dressed Jack Pumpkinhead up in. It turns out that they belonged to Mombi's four-horned cow, who ate some forget-me-nots and remembered just who he (yes, the cow turns out to be a he) is—Phogg, a four-horned Horner wizard! In flashback, he ends up telling Ozma, the Sawhorse, and Jack Pumpkinhead his story about his ambitions to travel and practice real magic out in Oz, only to be foiled by Mombi and the Wicked Witch of the West. It's all perfectly logical and holds together tightly, yet at the same time it has a lot of dark humor, and is just a lot of fun. Mombi and Phogg also end up visiting some iconic sites in Oz, and Mombi's method for dealing with Mr. Yoop foreshadows how she solves many of the problems she faces in The Lost King of Oz. This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest stories Oziana has ever published.

No comments: