Category Archives: Dick Martin

The Mistress of Misdirection

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Crafts and Cons

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

The Need for Speedy

The 1996 Oziana is unusual in that it contains only one story, Umbrella Island in Oz, by Ruth Waara. As such, it’s kind of weird that the cover picture has nothing to do with it, instead being a Dick Martin … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Characters, Dick Martin, John R. Neill, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Relationships, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Threadneedle, Frost, Brown, and Smith, Limited

The 1987 Oziana contains four stories, one much shorter than the others, all of which are of the sort that complement the main series. The front cover shows Melody Grandy’s illustration of Robin Olderman’s idea for the Quadling flag. A note … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Board Games, Characters, Dice, Dick Martin, Eric Shanower, Fred Otto, Games, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Pachisi, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Map Attack

On the map of the countries surrounding Oz from the Tik-Tok of Oz endpapers, L. Frank Baum included places from his non-Oz fantasies, including the as-yet-unpublished King Rinkitink that would become Rinkitink in Oz two years later. Most of these had already … Continue reading

Posted in Dick Martin, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Maps, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It Makes Me Wonder

Stairway to Oz, by Robin Hess – The author once again returns to the Nome Kingdom, an intended invasion of Oz, and transportation gates. It starts with a boy named Ryan Westerly visiting his parents in Colorado, who turn out to … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Dick Martin, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We Are Family

This post on the Merry Old Land of Oz Facebook group got me thinking about how most of the kids who visit Oz tend to be only children. Okay, to be fair, it’s possible they have siblings we don’t know … Continue reading

Posted in Atticus Gannaway, Characters, Dick Martin, Families, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shopping O-Z

I wrote about traveling salesmen in Oz last week, but I forgot about one. That was none other than Ruggedo, the former Nome King, who was a peddler of sunglasses at the beginning of Pirates in Oz. Now, I might … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dick Martin, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Marcus Mebes, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

$ave! $ave! $ave!

Maybe it’s because of role-playing video games where you have to buy a bunch of stuff for your quest, but I tend to associate fantasy lands with wandering merchants. That sounds so much classier than traveling salesmen, even though I … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Characters, Dick Martin, Economics, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, March Laumer, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Every Modern Convenience and Comfort

I’ve been thinking a little more about the level of technology in Oz. I’ve written about this subject before a few times, but there are a few things I wanted to add. We know that Oz has electricity to some … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Characters, Dick Martin, Eric Shanower, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment