Category Archives: John R. Neill

It Payes to Have Personality

Hiya, kiddos! I’ve done some more rereading recently, so today I’ll be going over the Oz work of Rachel Cosgrove Payes, the fifth official Royal Historian of Oz. The Hidden Valley of Oz – The next-to-last in what I suppose … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Book Reviews, Characters, Eric Shanower, Food, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ray Powell, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Krewl to Be Kynd

Here are two more in my ongoing series of Oz rereads: The Gardener’s Boy of Oz, by Phyllis Ann Karr – This is one of the better received apocryphal Oz books, which I guess isn’t too surprising as it’s by a … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Book Reviews, Characters, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Monsters, Music, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Phyllis Ann Karr, Places, Relationships, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Been a Long Time Since I Rinkitinked

I’ve previously reviewed the 2016 Oziana, which consists of fifteen different alternate endings for Rinktink in Oz. I thought I should say a little more about each one, however, so here we go. Susan Johnson starts out by going in a … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, Eric Shanower, Food, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jared Davis, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Teeny Tiny Bat

Halloween has come and gone, and the Great Pumpkin never showed up. Does no one care about sincerity in pumpkin patches anymore? It’s all this commercial farming, I’m sure. Anyway, here are my thoughts on one thing I watched for … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dreams, Halloween, Holidays, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Revisiting Disney, Television, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Someone in Oz

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

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

All Yooped Up

The 2002 Oziana brings back some of the same authors as the last issue, but with less original art. Melissa Bay Mathis supplied the cover art, a picture of the Patchwork Girl riding Pigasus, which is relevant to one of … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Arabian, Art, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Edward Einhorn, Food, Fred Otto, Games, Gina Wickwar, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Mythology, Onyx Madden/Jim Nitch, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reasoning with Rulers

According to the introduction to the 2002 Oziana, both health and technical issues prevented Robin Olderman from continuing as editor of the magazine, so Joel Harris in Special Publications temporarily took over the job. The issue wasn’t released until 2002, … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Characters, Games, Gina Wickwar, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Oz, Oz Authors, Phyllis Ann Karr, Places, Prejudice, Relationships, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Centennial Central

The 2000 Oziana has some fun stories, but a dearth of illustrations, pretty much just using repurposed John R. Neill art. The cover is an exception, but it’s just the standard logo that the International Wizard of Oz Club used … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Atticus Gannaway, Characters, Fred Otto, Health, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments