"Adventures in Oz" is the fifty-fourth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum. It was written and illustrated by Eric Shanower, and it was published in 2006, although its actual creation happened between 1986 and 1992. Oh, right... and it's a graphic novel. It's a comic book. No, I'm not joking! Number 54 is an actual comic book. To my knowledge, this is the only time this happens in canon history.
"Adventures in Oz" is actually a collection of five stories. The artwork is all crisp and beautiful, and everything is extremely well-paced. Shanower is an absolute Oz genius, and I am not super surprised (only a little surprised) that his work ended up in the canon. He knows what he is doing. I'll tell you a little about each story in the book.
"The Enchanted Apples of Oz"
This story goes heavily into the reasons why Oz is enchanted the way it is. It also strangely goes back to the Wicked Witch of the South who has been asleep for ages. This story somewhat ignores the events of "The Wicked Witch of Oz" even though Shanower was the Illustrator for that book. Weird.
There are these apples that must be tended to or else the magic of Oz will fade away, and the witch is trying to take all of Oz's enchantments for herself. Hilariously, she was woken up by a man born of a race of ugly people. He fell in love with her at first sight, but she did not care at all about him. I thought that was a funny little plot-point. Felt kinda bad for him honestly.
"The Secret Island of Oz"
A good-old adventures with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion out searching for a rare fish for the Gardener for the Emerald Palace. A hilarious reason to go out on an adventure, but it ultimately leads to some pretty scary situations. They end up in an island where a whole civilization exists.
There is also an interesting relationship between a princess and her living doll. It's got like this odd story about how they used to be friends, but as she is grown up now, she sort of doesn't care about him anymore, which leaves him without a friend or a purpose. Good stuff, honestly.
"The Ice King of Oz"
Scary from the get-go. A strange and powerful man called the Ice King pays tribute to Ozma but demands marriage with Princess Dorothy as a means to broker peace between the two nations. When Dorothy rejects this, he kidnaps Ozma and forces marriage on her. What makes things even scarier is that the Ice King is really awfully powerful and can enervate magic coming from Oz. He also has a legion of ice imps that do his bidding without question. It's almost as damn oppressive as the Gnome King's palace from the movie "Return to Oz."
I really enjoyed the intensity of this one. It put a lot of characters in extreme danger and often felt hopeless. It's ending was surprisingly touching and sweet. I really liked it. Shanower is at his best when he treats Oz seriously like this.
"The Forgotten Forest of Oz"
One of the wood-nymphs of the Forest of Burzee is banished for kissing a mortal. She is then made into a mortal but then later marries the king of the trolls (which looks surprisingly like Ganondwarf from the Zelda series.) Feeling like she has to get revenge on her former wood-nymphs, she proposes a war against them with the king, something that they wanted to do anyways.
Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Sawhorse accidently get caught up in this one. It is the only one in the book that deals with an all out war. War is not a theme that happens much in Oz, but it does occasionally crop up. I liked this one for how epic is got. Things get really nasty as they progressed.
"The Blue Witch of Oz"
A bit of a game changer here. Shanower messes with the known canon pretty heavily here, but not in a bad way. The Good Witch of the East! The story tells her story and ultimately invites her into permanent canon. I don't have a problem with this. In fact, I think it would have been nice if more Oz authors had had more of a backbone.
This one was good. It's a story of love, lost, and missing children. It also has some very sad loose ends. Not bad, mind you. It just deals with some unknowns that lead to sadness on behalf of some of the characters. I'll just leave it at that. It was a very dramatic one with some very interesting uses of magic. Probably the most science fiction of the bunch, and not in a bad way.
"Adventures in Oz" gets a huge recommendation from me. Even as a graphic novel, the stories are so well done, and everything fits right into the way Oz works. These are stories I won't soon forget.
This blog was written on October 20, 2023.
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Interesting that it's a collection of five tales. The Art is fantastic, and I could tell from flipping through it that the pacing was well done. I like that Shanower adds to the canon with the Good Witch of the East.
ReplyDeleteYeah, why wouldn't he? Continuity has never been a strongpoint of the Oz series anyways.
DeleteA canonized graphic novel. VERY interesting. It is genuine literature, it seems. I am fond of the idea of collections of short stories. They can provide greater focus for ideas. When in the same universe, they are concise moments that define that universe.
ReplyDeleteI am still amazed this exists, but having read it, it makes sense. It is very much what Oz is intended to be.
DeleteComics are a combination of stories and artwork. We are drawn to the pictures and the writing gives them purpose beyond just being a feast for the eyes. That which is difficult to describe, can often benefit by being seen.
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly well done!
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