Happy Halloween!

More Halloween Oz fun from Aaron S. Adelman and Grand Avenue. Enjoy, and have a safe and happy Halloween!

Another Oz comic

Here's another Oz/Halloween-themed episode of Grand Avenue, courtesy yet again of Aaron S. Adelman. Thanks again!

My latest Oz readings

Currently, I'm trying to get through Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, which is a fascinating look at the development of the department store and other modern mercandising, and how they affected our culture. Yes, believe it or not, this is Oz related, as L. Frank Baum was a big part of it. He had a big hand in creating the modern show window, and even founded a magazine for window decorators -- which is still in production, believe it or not. (As a side note: I wish someone would reprint Baum's book on the subject, The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors. It would be a fascinating read.) There's also a part of the book coming up about how The Wonderful Wizard of Oz itself helped influence this as well. It's an interesting book, and a part of American history that is rarely talked about or studied, but it's also a tough slog to get through, as the author is very thorough.

So tonight, for a break, I read L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz: The Graphic Novel by Michael Cavallaro. It's a very good adaptation, based very closely on the book. The Kalidahs, Hammerheads, and Queen of the Field Mice are there, and he even sneaks in a redrawn version of the map of Oz from the endpapers of Tik-Tok of Oz. Yeah, he definitely did his research. A few incidents were left out, notably the China Country, but overall he captured the spirit and feeling of the book. And it made for a nice quick read as well. Most Oz fans would probably get a kick out of it.

Review: The Wizard of Oz Graphic Novel

Wizard of Oz (Puffin Graphic Novel): This has got to be one of the most faithful, if not the most faithful, adaptations of the original book by L Frank Baum I've ever seen. Admittedly, I'm a newbie as far as Oz fandom goes, but this is a magnificent work. Michael Cavallaro should be proud of this one. The character choices he makes are a bit different than most, and I do have a small issue with his Tin Man, but it's very very small and is more than made up for by the other excellent touches, including having the real ending to the book instead of cutting it off at the Emerald City. There's also some nice supplementary material at the end of the book. This one is definitely a winner.

(Non-Oz): Sheryl Swoopes and George Takei

Way to go, you two! The more folks who can come out and say, "Yeah, I'm gay, and that's just a part of who I am," then the less of a stigma it will have. Then we can focus on a person being a person, and not a label.

Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked and its new sequel, Son of a Witch, was in town (well, not far, in Lake Forest Park) tonight, and so of course Laura and I went over to see him. Here's a picture of him signing my copy of Son of a Witch, along with his traveling mascot:

At any rate, it was a nice time. He read an important, relavant passage from Wicked (has it really been ten years since it came out?), then a couple of excerpts from Son of a Witch. He has obviously done this a few times now, as he has nice voice inflections for all the characters. He also sounds quite a bit like Joel Grey. After the readings, he answered a few questions, including why he wrote Son of a Witch (not for the money, as it turns out, but in response to all the requests from junior high school girls wondering what happened to Norr, which dovetailed into what happened at Abu Gharib a couple of years ago), his experience with the Baum Oz books (he only read the first two as a child, as his library didn't have them -- not an uncommon occurrence at the time -- but caught up as an adult), and a few bits of some of the questions hanging at the end of Wicked that are explained in Son of a Witch. He also went into a bit of his rendition of what Son of a Witch might sound like if it were ever to follow Wicked to the Broadway stage as a musical (just imagine the phrase "Son of a Witch" sung to the opening chords of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and you get the idea).

Then we all trooped on over to another part of the store for the signing, where it turns out he'd already signed my copy of Wicked, even though I'd never met the man before in my life. I concluded that I must have bought it from Books of Wonder, which often send out signed copies to mail order customers. So he just added a "To Eric" at the top (I don't blame him, it was a long line, and he's on a twenty-nine city signing tour, I'd save some writing energy, too, if I were him!), but did the whole thing to Son of a Witch. We talked very briefly about the Oz Club and conventions, and how I'm sorry I didn't see him at the Ozmopolitan Convention a few years ago, so Laura chimed in that he should come to Winkies some time. He took it seriously enough that he sent regrets about next year (just as well, it's already a pretty big lineup), but I'll see what I can do about getting him an invitation to 2007...

I also saw a few nice old Oz books in the store's display case. There was a copy of Ojo in Oz in dust jacket (I didn't see a price, but I'm sure it was quite a bit) and a very nice-looking first edition of The Purple Prince of Oz for a very reasonable price. If I didn't already have a first of Purple Prince, and/or if I actually had some money right now, I would have seriously considered buying it. But right now, if I were to buy an Oz book with color, I'd rather get one that I don't already have -- and yes, there are quite a few of the Thompson books that I don't already have in color.

At any rate, it was a delightfully Ozzy evening, and now I have another autographed Oz book. Now all I need is to see the show. Next September, it's coming...

The inventory is, basically, done!

Wow, what a project. I started it at least eight years ago, possibly even longer, and I've had three different computers that I've used over that time, but now, for all intents and purposes, the inventory is done. In the last box, I found my very first Oz book -- the Rand McNally paperback edition of The Wizard of Oz, from the mid-70s, for those who were wondering, cover price $1.95 -- so I decided that that would be the last item I would inventory. I just put it in a few minutes ago. The final count? I have 792 Oz books, in fourteen boxes and a large bookcase (and a few very large items that can't fit anywhere else). Titles range from Abducted to Oz to The Zen of Oz, and writers range from Donald Abbott to Susan Zeder. I have books in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Welsh, and some with no words at all. It is, all in all, quite an accomplishment to not only have inventoried it, but to also have collected so many books in the first place, over more than thirty years.

Technically, I'm actually not quite done, as I still have quite a few books in my to-read pile, and as this inventory includes calendars, I'll be putting a few more in when I find where I stashed all the old calendars. But the stuff that was all packed away in boxes, at least, has been accounted for, and now at least I can find them if I need to, and can think about which ones to keep and which, if any, I can sell. Oh, yeah, and now that the book inventory is done, I still need to do separate inventories for magazines/comics/programs/etc., records/tapes/CDs/videotapes/DVDs/software, and probably one for toys/games/collectibles. But books? Yeah, that's covered, and since that's the bulk of my collection, I really feel like I've accomplished something.

Ozzy Halloween comic

Yet another Oz comic from Aaron S. Adelman, this one a strip from Grand Avenue. Cheers, Aaron!

Dennis the Men-Oz

Thanks to alert reader Aaron S. Adelman for alerting me to the Oz content of today's Dennis the Menace cartoon. Click here to see it -- at least for the time it's available.

Flipping Through Previews (Oz Edition)...

This is my monthly look at Previews Magazine to find all the comic book Oz stuff that Oz fans ought to know about. For a little more info on what this is all about and how to get this stuff, see this post. These items are due to arrive in comic shops in December 2005.

Oz Books

Airwave Comics is publishing a new adaptation of The Wizard of Oz in graphic novel format. I confess to knowing almost nothing about the artist Richard Maurizio, but the sample piece in Previews looks ok. The book will be a 7X10 softcover with 84 pages in black and white.

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Graphic Novel - Order Code: OCT05 2689 - $9.99

Oz: The Manga continues to be published by Antarctic Press. This series is a retelling of the Oz story in a Manga style by David Hutchison. There will be a total of eight issues in this first mini series, and they will be collected when the full series has been published.

• Oz: The Manga #7 - Order Code: OCT05 2762 - $2.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• Oz: The Manga #1 - Order Code: APR05 2602 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #2 - Order Code: MAY05 2477 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #3 - Order Code: JUN05 2744 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #4 - Order Code: JUL05 2615 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #5 - Order Code: AUG05 2682 - $2.99
  
• Oz: The Manga #6 - Order Code: SEP05 2730 - $2.99

I'll start this one with the usual warning about this book: it contains mature themes and language, and if you want your Oz to be innocent and sweet, this is not the book for you. This is a neat retelling of Oz in a fumetti format that features a Goth Dorothy finding a robot Toto and learning about her strange past during a visit to Oz. This is from Illusive Productions, and you can get these books through your local comic book store using the order codes listed below, or directly through their website.

• Dorothy #5 - Order Code: OCT05 3073 - $5.00
  Previous Issues:
  
• Dorothy #1 (2nd Printing) - Order Code: AUG05 3008 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #2 - Order Code: JAN05 2840 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #3 - Order Code: MAR05 2987 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy #4 - Order Code: MAY05 2838 - $5.00
  
• Dorothy Collection 1 (includes first four chapters) - Order Code: JUL05 2960 - $14.95

Oz-Related Books

Coming out from Alias is a book called Lullaby. This book started with a mini series of four books from Image comics in which Alice (from Wonderland) goes on a quest to Oz and runs into Little Red Riding Hood, the Pied Piper, and some other fairy tale characters. The group has yet to reach Oz at the end of the first mini, but they have met the Tinman in an unexpected form. The current offering from Alias is a one-shot featuring the Pied Piper and his story.

• Lullaby: Once Upon a Time vol 1 - Pied Piper of Hamelin - Order Code: OCT05 2701 - $5.99
  Previous Issues:
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #1 - Order Code: DEC04 1535 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #2 - Order Code: JAN05 1606 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #3 - Order Code: FEB05 1594 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #4 - Order Code: MAR05 1693 - $2.95
  
• Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker Vol 1 (collection) - Order Code: JUN05 2684 - $9.99
• Lullaby #1 - Order Code: JUL05 2561 - $2.99
  
• Lullaby #2 - Order Code: AUG05 2631 - $2.99
  
• Lullaby #3 - Order Code: SEP05 2680 - $2.99

Non-Oz Books

One of my favorite books around is the wonderful Girl Genius from Studio Foglio. You can read it for free on-line, or buy the fantastic collections, the fourth of which is solicited in this month's Previews magazine.

• Girl Genius Vol 4 Softcover - Order Code: OCT05 2684 - $20.95
  
• Girl Genius Vol 4 Hardcover - Order Code: OCT05 2685 - $36.95
  Previous Issues:
  
• Girl Genius Vol 1 Softcover - Order Code: OCT05 2686 - $10.00
  
• Girl Genius Vol 2 Softcover - Order Code: OCT05 2687 - $19.95
  
• Girl Genius Vol 3 Softcover - Order Code: OCT05 2688 - $20.95

Merchandise

On occasion, I find Wizard of Oz merchandise in the back of Previews. I have found one such item in this Previews, on page 480. This is a part of the "Snowbabies" line of figurines, and features The Good Witch from the movie with Dorothy, and a Snowbaby handing over Toto. The price makes it clear that this is a collectable for serious collectors of Snowbabies or Oz only.

• Snowbabies ...And Toto Too Figurine - Order Code: OCT05 4028 - $95.00

Whew. So that's it for this month's Flipping Through Previews (Oz Edition)... If you found something I missed, feel free to use the comments below to point it out. If you have any questions, also feel free to comment.

Previous Flipping Through Previews:

• Sep/Nov 2005
  
• Aug/Oct 2005
  
• Jul/Sep 2005

Heart of the City

Sunday's Heart of the City strip featured an Oz gag. Check it out...

Finding Neverland in an Oz movie

So I finally got a chance to watch Finding Neverland last night (Kate Winslet is a babe, by the way), and abot halfway through I realized I'd seen it before -- back when it was shown on TV in 1990 as The Dreamer of Oz. For those not familiar with the latter, it was a movie starring John Ritter as L. Frank Baum, and told the story of how he came to write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The parallels really are interesting when you get down to it: Baum and Barrie were contemporaries, and the play of Peter Pan premiered in 1904, only four years after Oz was published. (The book version of Peter Pan came later, which was the reverse of what happened with The Wizard of Oz, but neither movie touches on that, so I'm not sure why I'm telling you this...) The creation of both stories is told with a mix of realistic and fantasy elements, as we see into the authors' imaginations. There's a domineering matriarch (Julie Christie as Emma du Marier in Finding Neverland, Rue McClannahan as Matilda Gage, Baum's mother-in-law, in The Dreamer of Oz) trying to ground everyone in reality and failing miserably, who then become one of the greatest champions of the authors in the end. Events are spurred on by tragic deaths in both movies. And Laura did a little research, and found that Finding Neverland left out one of the real Llewellyn Davies boys, as there were five. The Dreamer of Oz only ever showed three of L. Frank Baum's sons, but he had four.

I'm certainly not implying that the producers of Finding Neverland copied The Dreamer of Oz. Since both cover similar subjects, however, these little similarities were bound to come up. Now, if only someone would finally release The Dreamer of Oz on DVD!

Ask A Stupid Question Day

The folks behind the Dorothy comic have opened up their journal to stupid questions today. I think it's only appropriate that Eric and I do the same.

If you have a stupid question that you've been dying to ask, please post it. Please keep it about Oz or at least a bit Oz-related.

Nipsey Russell RIP

I just found out tonight that Nipsey Russell, who (among other things) played the Tin Man in the film version of The Wiz, died earlier today. I managed to get an obituary up on my website's news page pretty quickly. Laura even managed to snag a screen grab from the DVD for me (would you believe there was no picture of Russell as the Tin Man on Google's image search?). I really enjoyed Russell's portrayal. He was very obviously enjoying himself and putting a lot of effort into the role, and it paid off. He did a wonderful job with the ballad "What Would I Do If I Could Feel," then moments later jazzed it up with "Slide Some Oil to Me." He, along with Michael Jackson (yes, that one) and the late Ted Ross as, respectively, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, saved The Wiz from being completely sunk by the wooden performance of Diana Ross as Dorothy. I also saw Nipsey Russell on numerous game shows as a kid, and always enjoyed his wit and genuine joy at being able to do something he loved. He will be missed.

The Continuing Story of the Comics of Oz

Shane of Freefall Entertainment contacted us to spread the news that they've put up a web store at which you can buy the first two issues together for $4 off the cover prices until the end of November. You can also buy each issue individually if you wish. Also available are some neat prints and promotional posters for the series.

My review of issue two of the series can be found here.

I Am...

(This is one of the latest notes going around the web for posting to blogs. Strictly speaking, this is not an Oz post. But it is such a powerful message, very much in the spirit of the Oz books, that I thought I'd post it here. And remember, there's the terms "friend of Dorothy" and "friend of Judy" that many use.)

I am...

I am the guy who came out to the entire school in his senior speech and got a standing ovation for his courage.

I am the girl who kisses her girlfriend on the sidewalk and laughs at those who glare.

We are the couple who planned and studied and got a damn good lawyer and BEAT the state that wanted to take our child away.

We are the ones who took martial arts classes and carry pepper spray and are just too dangerous to gay bash.

I am the transgender person who uses the bathroom that suits me, and demands that any complaining staff explain their complaint to my face in front of the entire restaurant--and shares with my other trans friends which restaurants don't raise a stink.

I am the mother who told her lesbian daughter to invite her girlfriend over for dinner.

I am the father who punished his son for calling you a fag.

I am the preacher who told my congregation that love, not hate, is the definition of a true follower of God.

I am the girl who did not learn the meaning of "homosexual" until high school but never thought to question why two men might be kissing.

I am the woman who argues (quite loudly and vehemently) with the bigots who insist that you do not have the right to marry or raise children.

We are the high school class who agrees, unanimously, along with our teacher, that love should be all that matters.

If you agree, repost this. Do it. You don't have to be afraid. You can handle it. You're stronger than you think.

I am making a difference. Hate will not win.