The Ozmapolitan of Oz
International Wizard of Oz Club | |
Publication date | 1986 |
---|---|
Media type | |
Pages | 104 pp. |
Preceded by | The Forbidden Fountain of Oz |
Followed by | The Wicked Witch of Oz |
The Ozmapolitan of Oz is a 1986 novel written and illustrated by Dick Martin. The book is an entry in the long-running series of Oz books written by L. Frank Baum and various successors.[1][2][3]
Authorship
Like his predecessor John R. Neill, Dick Martin was a veteran Oz illustrator who moved into Oz authorship; The Ozmapolitan of Oz is Martin's single sustained work of Oz fiction.
As both author and artist, Martin had control over the total expression of his fiction. Like most Oz authors, he supplied a human protagonist for young readers to identify with; unusually, he made his protagonist a teenager, a fifteen-year-old boy. In his illustrations, Martin made Dorothy Gale appear somewhat older than she is generally portrayed; she looks like she is at least twelve years old.
The term "Ozmapolitan"
The word "Ozmopolitan" was first used in 1904, in promotional material created by Baum's publisher
The name has also been employed as the title of a periodical published by the
Plot
Septimius Septentrion is three weeks into a job as a printer at the Ozmapolitan in the
The Expeditioneers, as they call themselves, learn the meanings of these fortunes as they progress through an Art Colony, a Game Preserve, and a long and complex subterranean journey. They encounter strange creatures and phenomena, including a Trade Wind, an out-of-date inventor, and a dragon-like Tyrannicus Terrificus. They rescue a frozen (and therefore silent) water spirit named Melody, a cousin of the rainbow fairy
After a long spell lost in caverns, the group meets up with the Scarecrow and his bosom friend the Tin Woodman, who are sailing in the Scarecrow's new boat, the Blue Moon. They all return to the Emerald City, with abundant material for the Ozmapolitan. In the process, Tim's secret royal background is revealed.
The Art Colony
Given the fact that Martin was an artist before he became an author, his treatment of the Art Colony in his novel's Chapter Six, "Artistic Interpretations," is noteworthy. Dorothy and her friends have their portraits painted by a family of animated paintbrushes. The portraits are wildly unrealistic and distorted in varying ways — Jinx gets a
Response
In 1987, a year after the appearance of The Ozmapolitan of Oz, Chris Dulabone published his The Colorful Kitten of Oz, in which Eureka is the title character. The book includes an afterword that addresses perceived inconsistencies in Martin's book.
References
- ^ Paul Nathanson, Over the Rainbow: The Wizard of Oz as a Secular Myth of America, Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1991.
- ^ Suzanne Rahn, The Wizard of Oz: Shaping an Imaginary World, New York, Twayne, 1998.
- ^ Michael O'Neal Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, KS, University Press of Kansas, 1997.
- ^ Katharine M. Rogers, L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz: A Biography, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2002; pp. 127, 270 n. 17.
External links
- The Ozmapolitan press releases, 1904 and after
- The Ozmapolitan of Oz title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
The Oz books | ||
---|---|---|
Previous book: The Forbidden Fountain of Oz |
The Ozmapolitan of Oz 1986 |
Next book: The Wicked Witch of Oz |