Comic Review: The Royal Historian Of Oz

Slave Labor Graphics finished up its run of The Royal Hostorian Of Oz by Tommy Kovac, although not all 5 issues were done in print as seperate releases. Because of low sales, only the first 4 were done in regular comic format, but all 5 were available online, as well as the recent trade paperback which collects the whole series. Since his somewhat successful turn on Disney's Wonderand comic, Kovac thought he'd tackle the other fairyland of Oz. With Andy Hirsch doing the art for it, this turned out to be a great look at what it would be like for an Oz fan to discover that their favorite literary world actually existed.

Set sometime in the mid-21st Century, Jasper Fizzle is a struggling independent author who keeps trying to have one of his books about Oz published. The Official Oz Society keeps turning him down though, and are threatening to sue him because of their eternal copyright on all Oz printed material. Jasper's teenage son Frank keeps defending him, even though he just about gives up on him when Jasper brings home what he believes is the genuine Silver Slippers that Dorothy first used return to Kansas. After nicking them from an estate sale, Jasper discovers that they do in fact take him to the land of Oz. He returns back home after taking several magical items from there, and opens up his own Oz museum. Frank is skeptical at first, but comes to realize that all this is real, including the flying monkey Zik that he befriends. After Ozma finds out about some of the missing magical items, she sends Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, and Scraps to Earth to find them. They kidnap Frank, and take him back to Oz to exchange for the stolen items, but Scraps breaks away from the group, and gets lost in the big city. While in Oz, Tin Man becomes his caretaker, and Frank begins to develop a friendship with him. However, one of the items Jasper took from Oz was the liquified remains of the Wicked Witch of the West, which escapes his collection and takes over Scraps body. With the help of the Wizard, Jasper is reunited with Frank, and they manage to squeeze the Witch's spirit out of Scraps. Franks is then given free sanction to go to Oz anytime, while Ozma clears up things with the Oz Society's "eternal copyright".

Tommy Kovac managed to pull together a fine comic that non-Oz fans could appreciate. Andy Hirsch's artwork is very endearing, and you should totally check out his Varmints webcomic. His take on some of the Oz characters is very fresh, especially the Patchwork Girl with her stringy arms and legs. Do yourself a favor and pick up the full graphic novel as opposed to the single issues, mostly because it features some interviews, additional artwork, plus an introduction by Eric Shanower.

Woe Is Oz Book Project

The creators of Woe Is Oz are starting a project to collect all 6 issues of their comic book series in a single printed graphic novel. So far, 3 issues have been in print, while 4 are available for download. They have a fundraiser going on Kickstarter to complete the project.

Video Of The Month: The Wiz review

The Nostalgia Critic recently did a pretty upfront but funny review of The Wiz movie adaptation.

Oz, The Great And Powerful in 2013!

Disney is planning on releasing their live-action Wizard Of Oz prequal Oz, The Great And Powerful on Mar. 8, 2013.

On the Road again!

Marvel Comics just recently did the last issue of the Dorothy And The Wizard Of Oz mini-series, and are now planning on tackling the fifth Oz book, The Road To Oz. The first of the 8-issue series is set for release on Sep. 5, 2012.

Oz Video Of The Month: The Whimsical World Of Oz

A few years ago, brasinhussy did an informative 7-part series about the history of Oz in books and more titled The Whimsical World Of Oz. This is Part 1 of it.

Oz Mythbusters: Horses in Oz

Despite alot of non-Baum Oz books and other productions stating that there horses are a common animal in the land of Oz, there technically aren't any native examples of the genus Equus there. The only one in the original books is the Sawhorse, which was a regular wooden sawhorse that was born from the Powder of Life by Ozma(then "Tip"). Like most of the other ianimate objects brought to life in Oz like the Patchwork Girl and Jack Pumpkinhead, Sawhorse doesn't need to eat or sleep. He's also the official steed for Ozma's royal carriage. Whether there were any other carriages in Oz prior to that is never explained, and if so, what creatures would be used for them.

Two other horse visitors have actually gone to Oz though. In the fourth book, Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz, Dorothy's cousin Zeb accompanied her and the Wizard back to Oz, along with Zeb's horse Jim. Once in Oz, Jim found he could talk like the other animals, and lost a race to the Sawhorse. Zeb and Jim eventually went back to their farm in California. The other visitor is Hank the mule who came with his friend Betsy Bobbin to Oz in the eight book, Tik-Tok Of Oz. Unlike Jim though, Hank stayed in Oz as a permanent resident with Betsy. As a mule, Hank is technically half-horse/half-donkey, but meaning there aren't any other full-blooded horses in Oz.

Numerous interpretations of the Oz series have placed horses as regular animals in the fairyland. The most famous one is the "horse of a different color" from the 1939 WOZ movie. Other examples include the Lost In Oz TV pilot which had living suits of armor on horseback. Oz-related books like The Wicked Years series had horses as part of everday life, whether they were animals or "Animals"(talking animals). Still, it's strange that despite there being lions, tigers, and bears in this marvelous land, that horse aren't a regular part of the wild kingdom of Oz.

Oz Video Of The Month: Ozma Of Oz-A Tale In Time

The Raleigh Little Theatre in North Carolina put on a stage show version of Ozma Of Oz in 2008 titled Ozma Of Oz-A Tale In Time. In this adaptation, Dorothy is now a teenager, and her wheelchair-bound Uncle Henry has a more active part in the story. Plus, Billina the hen is now Bill the rooster, and apparently several feet taller than normal. This video shows some scenes from the play, and behind the scenes features.

Oz Mythbusters: Oz, the Great and...

This is the first of a new series of short segments were we go over some of the popular misconceptions in Oz, including in the books, movies, and other media. We'll start on one of the most common examples.

When Dorothy first encounters the Wizard in the original WOZ book, she sees him as a giant floating head that proclaims himself as "Oz, the Great and Terrible". Is happens each time he meets the rest of Dorothy's three companions one after the other, even though he takes on different forms in each visit. However, in the 1939 WOZ movie, the Wizard proclaims himself as "Oz, the Great and Powerful". This became the standard for the Wizard's intro from that point on.

Most musical versions of WOZ have the Powerful boast in it, although the Wicked musical does have the Wizard first introduced as Terrible. There is even the upcoming, Oz, The Great And Powerful live-action movie that Disney is planning which is supposed to be a prequal to WOZ. So just try to keep in mind that Oscar Diggs was always a more terrible wizard than powerful one. Oh, and a certain somepony should totally be labeled that too...

Oz Video Of The Month: The Scientific Method Of Oz

A new crew on Blip is Reel Science where they use movies to explain science. Their first how the Wizard Of Oz can be used to explain the scientific method.

Comic Reviews: Abigail and Rox

Back when they were still operational, Digital Webbing did a fairy tale-themed comic titled Abigail and Rox In The Land Of Enchantment. The first issue was sort of a one-shot written by Joshua Gamon and drawn by Adrian Sibar.

In 1843 London, a young girl named Abigail goes into the world of a magic book to save her grandfather. This other world is in fact Wonderland, complete with the White Rabbit and a litter of evil Cheshire Cats. While here, Abigail's teddy bear Rox becomes alive and helps her free her grandfather who was under the thrall of the evil Queen of Spades. Her grandfather makes it back to London, but there's some kind of timewarp involved and he returns to 1943 during World War II. Abigail and Rox then go on the run from the Queen after wrecking her castle.

The series continues in a series which was never actually printed, but available digitally at Comixology. Abigail and Rox II: The Courtship Of Abigail Fellows takes place a year after the events of the one-shot where Abagail and Rox have been seeking refuge from the Queen in the mystical town of Sleeping Hollow, and its Mayor, Ichibod Crane. A call to Oz gets King Scarecrow and his friend Tin Man to show up in their gorilla-drawn chariot. This apparently happens somewhere in between The Wizard Of Oz and The Marvelous Land Of Oz. Scarecrow meets with Ichabod and the Queen of Spades in a peace summitt. The Queen threatens them to get at Abigail, but Ichabod and Scarecrow won't back down.

There isn't much anything else with Oz in the rest of the first issue, and there was only one other issue produced after that. William Blankenship took over for art on both issues of this for Sibar, and it shows as the design looks less storybook-like and more similar to a standard comic design. The comic didn't conclude with the second issue, and left room for more interaction between different fairy tale lands. You might want to look it up, even though its yet another crossover of Oz and Wonderland, there isn't much interaction between the two realms. It's an interesting view of a more confident Scarecrow who considers himself to be "worth his weight in straw".

Comic Review: Oz/Wonderland Chronicles-Jack & Cat Tales (conclusion)

The 3rd and final issue of Jack & Cat Tales came out this last week, I thought it would be time to do a recap of the mini-series. This was a spinoff to the The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles that originally started in a one-shot special, Jack & Cat Special. There then followed three issues of J&C Tales.

In it, Mae Mannering is a children's book author, who most people would know as a young girl that met a certain flying boy in Kensington Gardens. In this reality, she has run into Jack Pumpkinhead and the Cheshire Cat who have both come to Earth after the events of "J-Day", where the Wicked Witch sent to the Jabberwocky to attack Oz through our world. The three of them decide to go off on a road trip while Mae is on a tour of the country signing her new book.

Issue #2 has the Patchwork Girl uses the magic of the White Pearl to try and find Jack, and ends up befriending a street performer who dresses up like the Tin Woodman. Mae has Jack and the Cheshire Cat staying at her place for a bit, and reveals her strange ability to paint images that come to her out of nowhere, the lates of which is actually the Wizard. The three of them run into Oz himself later on, and he teams up with them to confront Cap'n Bill and his mysterious group of otherworldly hunters. They plan on busting all the refugees from Oz and Wonderland out, amoung them are Scraps and her friend, but are confronted by the Red and White Nights who have both been split down the middle and sewn to the other's half. There are three Foot Notes, an accounting of the Mad Hatter's adventures on Earth and his attempts to claim the Golden Cap that controls the winged monkeys, a short of how Hatter ended up on Earth, and a one-page involving a series of Girls Gone Wild videos that Hatter miracuously profited off of.

Issue #3 has our heroes finally confronting the mastermind behind this whole scheme. A paraplegic old man called the Major, who is an old friend of the Wizard, and apparently is also from some another world like Wonderland or Oz. He uses a special blade he created modeled after the Great Knife from Sky Island(where Cap'n Bill once visited in his pre-Oz days)to cut the Tin Man lookalike in half, thus creating a different person after he reesembles. The Major does this to try and find a way achieve immortality. The White Knight manages to get control of himself, and helps free everyone along with Cheshire Cat's assistance. Oz sets out to help send the refugees back to their worlds, while Mae and her friends(along woth Scraps)head out on yet another road trip. The Foot Notes in this issue reveal the Wizard's connection to Mae's past, plus Mae's very brief meetup with Dorothy and Alice which took place in the Jack & Cat Special.

This was a pretty good series, although for my money it could've stuck more to some comedy antics involving the actual title characters instead of the askewed storyline with the Major's collecting people from other worlds. Ben Avery & Casey Heying have some good plots in it though, and Teddy Riawan does some exceptionally gripping artwork for it. All three issues of Tales plus the original Special one-shot are going to be collected into a single trade paperback of The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles: Book Two coming out this May from BuyMeToys.Com.