Many of you are eagerly reading Eric Shanower and Skottie Young's adaptation of Ozma of Oz from Marvel Comics. So I've decided to start a short series of blogs on unusual editions of Ozma of Oz.
We begin with a lovely, if very different, Russian translation from the Ukraine. This oversize hardcover, titled Ozma iz strani Oz was published in Kiev in 1994 by Spalax Ltd. The book is profusely illustrated in full color by S. M. Starosuk.
New, and often very original, illustrations are one of the great joys of collecting foreign editions of the Oz books - especially neat are translations of the later Oz books with new illustrations. This Ozma is one of my favorites.
The illustrator seems to have had a lot of fun with Billina. She is in almost every illustration and always full of character. Note her calm demeanor as she sits on the wave-tossed raft holding her morning egg.
Tik-Tok is very original, too, looking a bit like a mechanical Conquistador. (See below)
I also really like the the Elizabethan look of the Queen of Ev. We see her below freshly disenchanted by Billina in the Nome king's ornament room (see below).
Roquat the Nome King is also in high-renaissance garb as you can see (at left) when the Sawhorse gives him a good kick. I really like the Russian Hungry Tiger, too. He's such a little fur-ball!
That's it for today. We'll take a look at some other editions of Ozma of Oz in the coming weeks.
Those are charming! Thanks for posting them. Can't wait to see what you have coming up.
ReplyDeleteOh GOODY!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see MORE of what "Ozma of Oz" gives us, in your Blogs AND the Marvel Comics!
Maybe you could also do a blog on the few screen adaptations (aside from Disney and the 1987 anime series/movie-cut), there's the direct-to-video "Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz" animated half-hour.