Category Archives: Art

The Little Robot Girl

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Nathan

WARNING! SPOILERS for all three movies reviewed herein! Speak No Evil – Beth tends to like bleak, hopeless movies, while I tend more towards the whimsical and fantastic. Obviously there are exceptions for both of us, but one sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Art, Authors, Cartoons, Fairy Tales, Families, Humor, Language, Magic, Mega Man, Monsters, Music, Relationships, Technology, Toys, Video Games, VoVat Goes to the Movies, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Is a Neighbor?

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Nathan

The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill – This is a children’s fantasy that seems very relevant to recent events, and it looks like that was done on purpose. The villain is a very Trumpish sort in many respects. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, Comics, Current Events, Edward Einhorn, Eric Shanower, Greek Mythology, Jasper Fforde, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Politics, Prejudice, Relationships, Rick Riordan, Thursday Next, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Attack of the Puberty Panda

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Nathan

Turning Red – This is the first Pixar film to be directed solely by a woman, and it explores the familiar themes of the awkwardness of adolescence and trying to fit in with an overbearing family. That it uses menstruation … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Cartoons, Families, Health, Magic, Monsters, Music, Relationships, Religion, Revisiting Disney, Sexuality, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Nathan

My Oz reading recently has been a bit slow, both because I’ve had other things to read and because I was a little embarrassed to reread my own “Prince Pompadore in Oz.” I did like it, but I didn’t want to read … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Board Games, Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Games, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Love That Leviathan

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Nathan

I’d been meaning to discuss Leviathan a little more, which I think was inspired by the name being used for the base of the rebel organization Astrea in Cosmic Star Heroine. Considering all the other references to classic games, I had thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Cartoons, Celtic, Christianity, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Japanese, Judaism, Language, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Pokémon, Religion, Semitic, Video Games, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Babes in the Woods

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Nathan

I remember, back in high school, reading about Scandinavian tales of women living in the forest who looked beautiful and human from the front, but were hollow in the back. I think the book just called them elves, and they … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authors, British, Fairy Tales, German, Greek Mythology, J.R.R. Tolkien, Language, Mythology, Names, Norse, Piers Anthony, Roman, Xanth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Mistress of Misdirection

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Nathan

In my Oziana reread, I thought I might say a bit more about the 2012 issue, made up of a round robin story based on the brief fragment known only as “An Oz Book.” Robert Stanton Baum credited it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Atticus Gannaway, Authors, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, Dick Martin, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Maps, March Laumer, Marcus Mebes, Music, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Phyllis Ann Karr, Places, Plays, Poetry, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Tom Holt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Someone in Oz

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Nathan

I’ve been reading through the Oziana issues that I already reviewed pretty quickly, and I can’t think of much to add beyond what I’ve already said. I will mention that editor John L. Bell thought of the 2005 one as … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Beatrix Potter, Book Reviews, Characters, David Tai, Dennis Anfuso, Humor, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Maps, Marcus Mebes, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Places | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

You Can See ‘Em Work

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Nathan

For the 2004 Oziana, John Bell took over as editor, as well as the author of one of the stories. The cover picture, which wraps around, was drawn by Don Marquez, and includes his takes on many different established characters. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Atticus Gannaway, Book Reviews, Characters, Families, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, Names, Onyx Madden/Jim Nitch, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ray Powell, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Crafts and Cons

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Nathan

As I said last week, I’ve already written about the 2003 Oziana across two posts back when it was new, and I still agree with what I wrote. I didn’t go into much detail, though, so I’ll examine it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Board Games, Characters, Dick Martin, Games, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Music, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments