Oz: The Emerald City of Oz: 01/22/16

Oz: The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Eric Shanower is the last of the Marvel comic adaptations of the Oz books. It's a perfect place to end a series as it's the point that Baum originally tried to end it. He closed the book with a note from Dorothy, claiming to his fans (as so many authors do) that his characters were real:

YOU WILL NEVER HEAR ANYTHING MORE ABOUT OZ, BECAUSE WE ARE NOW CUT OFF FOREVER FROM ALL THE REST OF THE WORLD. BUT TOTO AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU AND ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN WHO LOVE US.

DOROTHY GALE

Dorothy Gale has been living in the Emerald City as a princess, friend, girl Friday of Ozma. But to truly feel at home, she wants her Aunt and Uncle. As the Oz books are an early form of urban fantasy, travel between the worlds is doable to those who know. It's not a one way trip. So Ozma finds them and invites them to move to the Emerald City.

Meanwhile, the Nome King is plotting his revenge. He's still fuming over Ozma's invasion of his kingdom and her escape. He plans to bring the war to her doorstep through a clever underground assault.

The Emerald City of Oz uses suspense to drive the plot forward. Dorothy and her family are sent out of the capitol so she can show them their new home. By book six, Dorothy has a LONG track record as a hero. She and her chicken, Bill, have already defeated the Nome King once. Ozma fell into his trap and now the entire Emerald City is at risk with Dorothy's absence!

Thus we have a parallel structure story. On the surface we have Dorothy's tour of Oz, one done in leisure, quite in contrast to her frenetic search for the Wizard during her first journey. Below, we have the Nome King's army marching across the wastelands towards Oz.

Oz is a marvelous land of political cartoons and puns brought to life. The gender discussion continues both through Ozma and through Bill and family. He pokes fun at power, religion, and war.

The original book is available online through Project Gutenberg.

Four stars

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