The Latest Oz Reading

The penultimate batch of Oz things I've read? Believe it or not, a whole bunch of magazines with major Oz articles, or even an entire issue devoted to Oz, have come out in the last few months.

• I caught word that Cinefex magazine, a trade publication devoted to movie special effects, was shutting down its print edition and rapidly selling off back issues. So I quickly snagged a copy of issue 133, which included a major article on the making of Oz the Great and Powerful. (Good thing I got issue 22 years ago, but if not, I would have gotten it for their Return to Oz article. While I was buying the more recent issue, I also picked up an issue about Aquaman for Laura!) The article was interesting, but definitely aimed at more of an industry audience than to an Oz fan. What surprised me is how much of the effects were practical, and there was a lot less reliance on computer generated imagery than in many other current movies. It's definitely a great addition to my collection, and to the broader knowledge of Oz.
• Illustration Magazine #71 has a major article on W. W. Denslow, focusing on his time in Bermuda. As this was recently covered in a similar article in The Baum Bugle, there wasn't a lot I didn't know. But the overview of his career was thorough and informative, and the reproduction of the illustrations, in full color on high quality glossy paper, is gorgeous.
• American Road Magazine devoted its spring 2021 issue to Oz road tripping. Surprisingly, they filled 128 pages on the topic! To be sure, some of the sites were pretty tangential, but they also found some great sites, some I hadn't even been aware of before. Much to their credit, American Road did a really deep dive into the books for inspiration, even venturing outside of Oz with a profile of the Sunny Jim cave in La Jolla, California, and how it relates to The Sea Fairies. They also have a great write-up on the film version of The Wiz and the locations where it was shot in New York City. (I did not know that they did not shoot the discovery of the Cowardly Lion in front of the New York Public Library, but on a soundstage where the Library was recreated. It makes sense in hindsight, however.) They even have one trip to Alaska! (That's probably a challenge to drive to, however.)
• Finally, I can't seem to find a link to it anywhere outside of ebay, but some outfit called Hollywood Spotlight that puts out magazines devoted to single movies that you see at grocery store checkouts put out The Ultimate Guide to The Wizard of Oz. To their credit, they talk about the story's origins as a book and mention the silent movies as well as some of the more recent film and television adaptations, but this is packed with information about The Movie. There weren't a lot of new revelations, but it was a fun package, and I suspect most other readers will learn something they didn't lready know.

And now I'm caught up—except for one other book. But since I'm doing something special for that, I'll just save that one for the moment and tell you about that when I can.

My Recent Oz Reading: Comics and Magazines

Yup, now that I'm done (for this year) with both school and my other, non-Oz con, I'm free for the next few weeks to catch up on some Oz blogging. Jeopsrdy! clues will be coming soon, but right now, a few Oz things I've read recently:

• The Radioactive Teddy Bear from Hell Destroys Oz. No, really, that's the title of this unusual (to put it mildly), very limited edition comic book. How did I get it? Connections! Why did I get it? The last two letters of the title are O and Z, of course! Pretty much as advertised, an evil radioactive teddy bear comes to Oz to destroy it (and use some very naughty non-Ozzy language while he's at it). But can he be overcome by the power of love? Nah!
• Fables, Volume 6: Homelands. The saga continues. No Oz. Moving on!
• Dunkiton Press #23. Ruth Berman continues her series of reprints of old newspaper items from Oz contributors, notably Ruth Plumly Thompson and John R. Neill. Here, she continues the tales of the Perhappsy Chaps, and even notes the differences between the newspaper and book versions.
• Reader's Digest Commemorative Magazine: The Wizard of Oz and The Official CBS Watch! Collector's Edition: The Wizard of Oz, two magazines that came out last year to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the famous film version of The Wizard of Oz. Both are a lot of fun, and while most of the content I was already familiar with, I did get some new insights. Both have cast and crew profiles, both have short behind-the-scenes features, and both even mention L. Frank Baum and the original book. The CBS magazine has more about Baum and his entire career, however, and a look at all of his Oz books (even part of the map of Oz from the Tik-Tok of Oz endpapers), while Reader's Digest chooses to focus more on subsequent dramatic adaptations of Oz (but forgot Return to Oz for some reason). Both are fun, and nice keepsakes, but I doubt a lot of Oz fans are really going to need them.