Yes, it's time for another offering from the 2024 issue of Oziana, the annual literary journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club. This time around, it's "Straw and Magic" by Malcolm Niess, with illustrations by David Diket. This is a tale of the early days of the Scarecrow's reign in the Emerald City, not long after Dorothy first left Oz. The Scarecrow enters his throne room to find a surprise visitor one day — the Wizard of Oz! Not the Omaha circus balloonist who recently departed, but the actual, magical Wizard of Oz! It seems he's been laying low lately, and isn't interested in staying in Oz anyway. He makes a deal with the Scarecrow: In exchange for all of the humbug Wizard's equipment and supplies, he'll make the Emerald City actually emerald, which would mean that the citizens would no longer need the green glasses to see everything as green. The Scarecrow agrees, constructs a balloon to send everything up to the sky, and Oz performs his magic. It's a fun little story, and it does explain how the Emerald City actually lived up to its name in the later books. But it also raises a lot more questions, like why Oz is only appearing now, and how the (humbug) Wizard could find so much of his old equipment right where he left it at the end of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. But it's an Oz story, so it's all harmless fun.
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