What is the Oznibus?

I've been asked by a few people recently about what the actual "Oznibus" is from our new Emeralds comic. This was essentially the name I gave for Glinda's Great Book Of Records from the Oz books. The GBOC was first officially introduced in The Scarecrow Of Oz(Book #9)and is a large book that tells whatever is going on in the world as its happening, sorta like having someone sending you an instant text message. It's also one of the items that Ugu the Shoemaker makes off with in Lost Princess Of Oz, which is usually why Glinda keeps it chained down. Its been speculated that the GBOC might be the inspiration for the Grimmerie from Wicked which was a slightly indecipherable spellbook. For Emeralds though, I had it that the Oznibus acts as an accumilation of knowledge and history since the dawn of time, with some insight on current happenings, and what possibilities they might lead to. This becomes a key device for the upcoming story arc we have planned for Issue #2.

Book Review: Wicked-The Grimmerie

Meant to be a companion to the musical based on the original novel of Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Grimmerie is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes view of the musical from the book to Broadway. It's titled The Grimmerie after the magical book from both the novel and musical that Elphaba(the Wicked Witch of the West)uses.

The book covers the timeline leading from the original Wizard Of Oz novel to Wicked, plus how it went from being a screenplay for a proposed movie(before the one they're planning on doing now)to instead a musical extravaganza. Also included is the history of the choosing of the staff and cast, the music by Stephan Schwartz, taking the show on the road, plus a breakdown of the music numbers and some of their lyrics. The best is the detail that goes into describing the characters and how the actors perform them, how the sets and costumes are designed, and a look at the entire story as a whole(warning: spoilers included!).

There's a really distinct feel given to this large hardcover. It's modeled to look slightly like the actual Grimmerie from the book on the outside, and the interior gives the impression of an ancient tome mixed in with a turn-of-the-century publication. There's some wonderful art by W.W. Denslow and John R. Neil from the original Oz books, along with great photograps from the show and its production. I'd recommend this as a collectors item or gift mainly for anyone who has already seen the musical. There are copies still available on Amazon, Barnes And Noble, and other book dealers.

Royal Historian Of Oz now out

The first issue of Tommy Kovac's new comic series, The Royal Historian Of Oz is now out from Slave Labor Graphics. Issue #1 goes for only $1.00, and deals with an Oz writer in the mid-21st Century who finds away to the land of Oz via Dorothy's silver shoes. Check out this interview Kovac did with Comic Book Resources.

Comic Review: Avengers-Fairy Tales

One of a long line of Fairy Tale mini-series that Marvel Comics has done, Avengers-Fairy Tales was a 4-issue series that for each issue had the "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" starring in a storybook or a piece of folklore. The last issue(#4)went with The Wizard Of Oz for its story.

Whirlwind attacks the Avengers' Mansion, and She-Hulk takes him head on, but gets knocked out by his wind powers. She ends up dreaming she's in Oz as Jennifer Walter(her non-Hulk self), and finds out her falling mansion killed the "witch" of the East, which it turns out to be female version of Quicksilver. The witch of the North(Agatha Harkness)give Jennifer the dead witch's shoes, which is helpful because they protect her from Scarlet Witch(the Wicked Witch of the West)from winking the Munchkins out of existance just like she did the mutants in Decimation. Jennifer heads for the Emerald City to get help from the Wizard. Along the way, she befriends the Scarecrow(Thor), Tin Man(Iron Man), and the Cowardly Lion(Captain America). Once at the the Emerald City, they find that the Wizard is Magneto, and Scarlet Witch is his daughter(someone's been reading Wicked!). He tells them to convince her to turn good, but in the end the Witch prooves too powerful for them. Jennifer finally morphs back into She-Hulk, and forces the Witch to restore her friends and the Munchkins. She-Hulk then wakes up and takes out Whirlwind with Wasp's help.

This issue was written by C.B. Cebulski and drawn by Ricardo Tercio, who also did some work on Spider Man-Fairy Tales. I'd recommend seeking out this pretty fair spin on WOO, although it would've been cooler to have Jennifer be She-Hulk as Dorothy through the whole thing.

Oz Video Of The Month: Dorothy Meets Alice play

We're starting a new feature here where we'll showcase a certain video we find. The one for July is from deathnotedistaster of a youth theatre production of Dorothy Meets Alice(known here as "The Wizard Of Wonderland") where the cast of Wizard Of Oz meets up with the cast of Alice In Wonderland who are brought together by a young man who has to do a book report on them. The video is split up into 8 parts, and worth checking out in its entirety.

What's in store for Emeralds issue #2?

Now that Issue #1 of Emeralds is finally out, we're working on Issue #2, which is scheduled for release early next year. The next chapter actually takes place several years after Issue #1. This might seem like a stretch of time in some ways, but as no one ages much in Oz, you won't see Dorothy looking like somebody's granny. In this of what is a 3-part story arc, all three of the new East, West, and North Witches have completed their training as witches. Glinda sets them and their friends on a quest to try and reactivate an ancient source of magic long thought extinguished in Oz. However, Glinda has a secret agenda of her own to keep, that will make the new Order of Witches question their mentor. All this while Ozma and Dorothy continue their newfound love. We're really looking to hearing input on this from the fans, so please leave us your comments. Thanx.

Book Review: The Undead World Of Oz

In keeping with the recent trends of adding monsters to classic literature like Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Ryan C. Thomas decided to add some of the walking dead to the original Wizard Of Oz novel in The Undead World Of Oz. This is published by Coscom Entertainment, which specializes in other zombiefied literature like Alice In Zombieland.

The book is essentially a retelling of Dorothy going to Oz, although once there, she finds out that the Wicked Witch of the West casted a spell that makes the dead Munchkins rise from their graves and eating the brains of the living. Dorothy gets a magic gun from a Munchkin with unlimited ammo that shoots out bullets which always hit their intended targets. Toto gets temporarily infected with the zombie virus too, but is conveniently cured by a transfusion by the only Munchkin who is apparently immune to zombie bites, but gets devoured by hungry zombies. The story goes with Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion joining her, although Dorothy accidently kills the Tin Man's zombified ex-girlfriend. They then get sent to the Wicked Witch, who ends up as a zombie buffet. However, her death doesn't stop the curse, so our heroes trek to Glinda for help. Her plan is to create a giant floating brain to lure all the zombies out. This leads into a large Army Of Darkness-type battle, where Dorothy emerges as "Buffy the Zombie Slayer". Also because of all her fighting the undead, her silver shoes turn ruby.

This rewritten adaptation is fair, although alot of it is just a direct copy of the original book. There's not much of a horror element to it, more just zombie gore and violence. Not even very fun in a Sean Of The Dead kind of way. Mainly check it out only if you're a total zombie junkie.

Video Review: The Wheeler Of Oz

I recenlty got a hold of William Wall's original short film, The Wheeler Of Oz. This is a slightly original take on the characters of the Wheelers, who first appeared in the third Oz novel, Ozma Of Oz. Although they gained more popularity in the Disney movie, Return To Oz. This came into a little effect in the movie as Pons Maar, the head Wheeler from Return To Oz was consulted by Wall on how to create the look of the Wheeler. This movie was produced by Metro City Films, although it's referred to as Steam Powered Films.

Without giving away too much of the story, this is a prequal to the original Wizard Of Oz where a lone wheeler named Maliphet is outcasted by the other wheelers in the land of Ev for being kind-hearted. So, Maliphet decides to head to Oz across the Deadly Desert. He supposedly doesn't get killed from coming in touch with the desert(like one in Return To Oz did)possibly because the wheels on his hands and feet aren't organic. Anyway, once in Oz, he finds he is rejected by the citizens of the Emerald City too. The advent of a strange but inviting button labeled "Acceptance" takes the story in a somewhat tragic direction.

There's the appearance pf at least two recognizable Oz characters in this, plus a prominent one you'll recognize from their apparent lack of one eye. The movie is slighty on the same page as the Heartless movie with some heavy steampunk influence. There's even some regular steampunk costumers and performers as the Emerald City folk. The movie might be available for download later on, but you can currently get in on DVD from their store. It's a dark fairy tale, with a happy ending to it, that leads into a major part of Oz history.