Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Today's Oz Comic

I think this edition of Cow Town is actually a rerun, but it's nice to get a little real world geography (yes, all are real locations) with your Oz.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

This Week's Oz Short Story

Yes, at long last, I have more for you, because at long last, the 2023 edition of Oziana is available! If you're a fan of original shart Oz stories, this is a must. This issue starts off with "A Portrait of Ozma" by Jane Albright, with illustrations by Anna-Maria Cool. Ozma decides to commission some royal portraits, and hires the artist Easel to paint them. Along the way, Easel acquires some new paintbrushes that may have magical powers. He decides to try them with his first portrait, Ozma, and the portrait comes to life! It gets confusing having two Ozma's running around, but a little subterfuge by the Wizard and some clever thinking by the new Ozma soon puts things to rights, and Easel decides not to use the new brushes anymore. It's a fun way to start off the issue, with a cozy little story set among friends in the palace. There's no real danger involved, but it sure shows why Ozma tries to restrict the practice of magic to those she can trust to use it wisely. Tying in with the story is the front cover, also by Anna-Maria Cool, showing some of Easel's portraits.

Yesterday's Oz Comic

I would have posted this yesterday, but we had a power outage late in the day that threw a lot of things off. Oh, well, this edition of Strange Brew still holds up. Maybe the Munchkin barrister is available.

Monday, March 04, 2024

Today's Classic Oz Comic

It's been pretty quiet on the Oz comics front lately. I guess we'll have to do with this rerun from The Far Side today.

Thursday, February 01, 2024

Oz Comics Roundup

Oh, hey, look, a few more Oz comics!

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Today's Continuing Comics Saga

Tensions mount over in Heart of the City. And a stage musical of Chicken Run would be awesome!

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

This Week's Oz Comics

Wow, we've been getting a few lately. Here they are, in chronological order:

  • On January 7, The Argyle Sweater had this fishy musical tribute. I'm sure you'll all recognize that one in the lower center.
  • On January 10, Thatababy had this rhyming piece whose final panel may or may not represent the bad guy from The Sea Fairies. (Yeah, probably not, but I'm including it here anyway, just because.)
  • On January 14, Bound and Gagged did this gag. Yeah, it's not the first time we've seen these two stories cross over before.\
  • And just today, Heart of the City is getting ready for the next school show, and the cast is voting. I like one of those choices, but since Heart voted for Peter Pan and she already did The Wizard of Oz back when she was drawn by a different cartoonist, somehow I don't think she's going over the rainbow. Still, you never know.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Review: "Ghostwriter: Ghost of Oz"

I was very happy when I got an iPad a while ago, as it included a subscription to AppleTV+. They have all kinds of great shows, and I was looking to dive in. When my initial complimentary subscription ran out, I decided to pay the modest monthly fee to keep it going. But alas, they recently raised it to a price I couldn't justify, particularly as I'd already watched just about everything I wanted to watch. However, one last show I made sure to watch before it ended was the first three episodes of the third season of the reboot of Ghostwriter. For a show about literacy and literature, it sure took the franchise a long time to finally get to The Wizard of Oz in these episodes! "The Ghost of Oz" introduces a new ghostwriter and group of New York kids for it to work with, all based around a bookstore. The book is not the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, however, but a modern adaptation. This allows for one of the characters to be the Tin Girl, and to flesh out the character of the Wicked Witch of the West by making her a former friend of the Tin Girl, and responsible for her becoming tin. The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Liotn are much closer to their original characterizations, however. They even used CGI to create a proper four-legged lion instead of a two-legged actor.

The storyline has our new ghostwriter summoning the Scarecrow, Tin Girl, and Cowardly Lion from a modern rewrite of The Wizard of Oz to enlist the help of Charli, Nia, and Samir. The season-long mystery involves an Egyption scroll that Charli's mother is in charge of returning to Egypt. (SPOILER ALERT: This story ends with the revelation that it's a forgery! But there are five more story arcs this season to find out what's going on, if you are so inclined.) The first step the ghostwriter takes to solve the mystery is releasing the Scarecrow, the Tin Girl, and the Cowardly Lion. Naturally, only Charli, Nia, and Samir can see them, but they still have to figure out where to put them, how to explain where they are, and so on. Highjinks ensue! The Oz characters are seeking their brain, heart, and courage, so the kids try to help them find them in New York, and even try to fool them in the same way the Wizard does in the book. It all culminates in a confrontation between the former friends, Tin Girl and the Wicked Witch of the West, at a swimming pool (let's face it, a place that's not good for either of them), where they work through their differences, the witch sees the error of her ways and reforms and turns the Tin Girl back into her nermal self. (Yeah, I said it was a modern-day adaptation of the story.)

Overall, I enjoyed this, mostly for the fish out of water aspect of Dorothy's three friends trying to navigate modern-day New York City. The revisions didn't bother me much, but I know some Oz fans who would have a harder time with this than I would. So, if you're in the mood, you can check out the first episode [https://tv.apple.com/us/episode/ghost-of-oz-part-1/umc.cmc.54j71n3l7g9uwbs85m954oemy right here]. Apple will even let you join for one week for free, so if this is all you're interested in, you can easily catch it.

Monday, December 11, 2023

Today's Oz-Adjacent Comic

The crew at Breaking Cat News are doing some research on Santa this week. Naturally, they have to turn to some of the most important books about him out there. Take a look at the middle book in the stack in the final panel, and I think you'll understand why I've linked to this comic!

(My thanks to Tim Tucker for spotting this. Although I'm a regular BCN reader, I'm not sure I've have noticed this.)

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Today's Oz Comic

Today In the Bleachers, why Oz doesn't have gyms!

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Latest Oz Comic

This edition of Working Daze made the circuits a few days ago. I would ask if that's the Scarecrow before or after he got his blain, but considering how bad the Scarecrow's math is in The Movie, I doubt I want him ever to deal with my finances.

Friday, November 24, 2023

This Week's Oz Comic

My man in Japan, Michael-sensei, found this edition of Wondermark this week. This is extremely accurate! The only thing I might change is that it was over a hundred and twenty years ago.

L. Frank Baum on "Saturday Night Live"!

In case you haven't already seen it, here's a skit from last weekend's edition of Saturday Night Live with a special Ozzy guest star!

Clearly this sketch is not about Oz, it was just an excuse to show people being silly in front of a camera. But here are a few things they didn't quite get right:
  1. Where's Baum's big ol' walrus mustache?
  2. Why is Baum writing with his right hand? Baum was left-handed.
  3. Why is he writing in the streets of New York? He was based in Chicago, and didn't spend a lot of time in New York so far as I know.
  4. If he's actually writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it would not be the early 1900s. The manuscript was completed in 1899, and published in 1900. But maybe this is another, later book.
  5. And that's not a terribly knowledgeable Oz expert if he doesn't correct the host's mention of Dorothy's ruby slippers. (I'm sure you all know that they were silver shoes in the book.) Since L. Frank Baum decorated show windows before turning to writing full time, maybe he was just admiring the fine job they did.
I will give them credit, though, for pronouncing L. Frank Baum's correctly. Also, our Baum "expert" is played by cast member Bowen Yang, who's playing Pfannee in the Wicked movies.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

This Week's Oz Cartoons Discovery

I was informed by a very important person that there were a couple of Oz (or at least Oz-adjacent) cartoons in recent editions of The New Yourker. I poked around and explored their website a bit, and found a way to link to individual cartoons and present them here. So, here they are:

Monday, November 06, 2023

The Latest Oz Comics

The day after Halloween, we had a two-fer on the comics page:

Thursday, October 26, 2023

The Latest Oz Short Story

With the appropriately named "Concluding King Rinkitink" by Maggie Lockets, we've reached the end of the 2016 edition of Oziana. These chapters are really short, so I think I see why it was not given serious consideration to win the contest, but there are some good ideas that other entries never approached. After not being able to rescue his parents, Inga decides to leave the Nome Kingdom and find Gos and Cor and make them release them. This makes sense, as it's Roquat's promise to them that is still keeping his parents prisoner. Following the advice of the White Pearl, they find themselves in the country of the Wheelers. The Wheelers have captured King Gos and Queen Cor! A few head butts from Bilbil scares off the Wheelers, and Inga and Rinkitink take the royal prisoners back to Roquat. The royal family of Pingaree is reunited, and they all go back to Pingaree — including Gos and Cor, who are forced to live there so as to not cause any more mischief! With this punishment, Rinkitink declares that Inga will be a wise king. I like this ending a lot, and it could have been expanded to make a fitting conclusion to King Rinkitink.

And with that, I am all caught up with reading and blogging about Oziana at last. I've reread every story, poem, playlet, and puzle from every issue from 1971 to 2022. I have a few other sources of Oz short stories I want to blog about as well, but I also have some other business I want to take care of on this blog first.

But the 2023 edition of Oziana is probably also coming out soon...

Monday, October 23, 2023

Today's Oz Comic

Love among the Oz characters is blooming over in Thatababy—and it's not anyone you're expecting!

Sunday, October 22, 2023

The Latest Oz Short Story

Hang on, folks, we're almost done with the 2016 issue of Oziana and all the alternate endings to King Rinkitink. This week it's "Ending Chapters of King Rinkitink" by Mariah B'Forre, wherein the White Pearl advises Inga to acquire some eggs. They find a hidden passage in their new room which leads to the top of a mountain and a jacdaw's nest! Gathering some eggs, Inga also comes across two golden elephant ornaments. Back in Roquat's throne room, Inga decides to offer the Nome King the elephants as an exchange for his parents. Roquat agrees, and bring Kitticut and Garre to the rescuers, but before they can actually leave Roquat pulls one last stunt and drops the floor down into a new chamber where they re confronted by six doors. The White Pearl confirms that the doors lead into a dangerous maze, so Inga decides not to have any of that! Instead, he uses the power of the pearls to get himself and the others back up to the original room. They use the hidden passage to get to the jackdaw's nest and freedom. Descending the mountain, they find they are near Gilgad, so Rinkitink and Bilbil stay there, and Inga rows his parents back to a rebuilt Pingaree. I liked this one, and how it uses eggs and other Baum lore such as the jackdaws. But the pearl's advice and the hidden passage to the surface seem just a little too convenient. Were I judging this contest, this may have gotten to the final rounds, but I probably would have given it an honorable mention.

Saturday, October 21, 2023

This Week's Oz Comics

We got a two-fer on Thursday:

  • Not every comic with a pumpkin-headed man is, by default, an Oz comic. But this guy in Eek! has the right name, and the same anxiety Jack exhibited in The Marvelous Land of Oz. So I am most emphatically declaring this one to be Ozzy!
  • In contrast, I don't see how anyone could interpret this edition of Strange Brew as anything that isn't Ozzy.

Sunday, October 15, 2023

The Latest Oz Short Story

I am nearing the end of the 2016 issue of Ozinana and all these new endings for King Rinkitink. This week it's "King Rinkitink Conclusion" by Sarah Hadley, which sees Rinkitink accidentally reveal the existence and powers of the pearls to Roquat! (He got carried away singing one of his impromptu songs at a banquet.) Roquat makes it clear that he's going to try to acquire the pearls, so he's not letting our party go. But Bilbil, sensing that Roquat is a tyrant and the rest of the Nomes don't like him much, befriends Kaliko and enlists his aid in helping them to escape. Kaliko shows Inga, Rinkitink, and Bilbil where King Kitticut and Queen Garee are to be found. Unfortunately, it's in Roquat's palace, and if you remember the events of Ozma of Oz, you know that means the King and Queen of Pingaree have been enchanted into ornaments! Fortunately, the enchantment proves to be much easire to break—literally!—than touching an ornament and saying "Ev". Dozens of ornaments prove to be victims of Roquat's wrath, and join their liberators in a ragtag army. But Roquat, upon finally appearing on the scene, has a business proposition: Kittikut and Garee in exchange for the pearls. Inga appears to give in, but in the process Bilbil chomps down on and breaks the blue and pink pearls. This disenchants the King and Queen of Pingaree! But in exchange for the white pearl (which is a lot less helpful to Roquat that it is to Inga), the Nome King agrees to abdicate, and Kaliko becomes the new Nome King. There are a lot of good ideas in this telling, and I like incorporating the ornaments of Ozma of Oz into the story. But I have to wonder how Kitticut and Garee could have been the pearls all this time. It just does not add up. So I can certainly understand why this one did not win the contest.