The Enchanted Apples of Oz
Encyclopedia
The Enchanted Apples of Oz is the first of the modern graphic novels based on American
author L. Frank Baum's
Land of Oz
world, written by Eric Shanower
. The book tells the story of Valynn, who protects a garden containing an enchanted apple tree, the fruit of which contains the essence of Oz
magic.
In this, the earliest of Shanower's many Oz publications, the artist introduced the lushly romantic style of Oz illustration that would distinguish his work in the genre over the next two decades and win substantial critical praise.
as the fifth in First Comics
' graphic novel
series First Graphic Novel. After First closed in 1991
a number of publishers took over their titles and The Enchanted Apples of Oz has been reprinted twice by Dark Horse Comics
in 1993
(ISBN 0915419041) and 1998
(ISBN 1878574663).
, along with the Scarecrow
and Billina
, discover a castle that has materialized in front of them. Exploring the castle, they find a woman named Valynn, who has been tasked with guarding an enchanted apple tree. The tree has been growing since the creation of Oz and Valynn reveals that if the apples are picked or if the tree died, all the enchantment would disappear from Oz. The apples are golden and have the power to break any enchantment. One apple is silver and holds the power of Valynn's existence.
Valynn says that the existence of the apples were once well known, but she had to cast a spell transporting the castle, herself and the tree into limbo after a magician named Bortag tried to steal some of the apples. After one hundred years, she couldn't stand being alone in limbo, so she re-cast the spell, believing that Bortag had given up, to end it. Dorothy tells Valynn that Princess Ozma
may be able to help her. Valynn is worried about leaving the tree, but Scarecrow and Billina agree to stand guard. Dorothy uses her magic belt to transport her to the Emerald City
.
Meanwhile, at the castle, Valynn tells her story to Ozma. Ozma looks through the magic picture to learn more about the enchanted apples. They discover that some of the apples have been stolen. They look for Bortag in the picture and find him in the desert, feeding an apple to an old woman. Wogglebug informs them that it is the wicked witch of the south. Bortag tries to tell the old woman that he loves her, but she steals the apples and performs a spell to transport herself to the tree. The magic picture loses the image and Valynn realizes that Oz is beginning to lose its magic. They teleport to the castle.
Depressed, he begins walking until he reaches the desert. On the edge, he finds an old woman, the wicked witch of the south, kept in an enchanted sleep. He thinks she is beautiful and believes that if he wakens her, she might reciprocate his feelings. He goes after the apples to break the enchantment, but is foiled by Valynn. When Valynn makes the castle disappear, Bortag swore that when the castle went back, nothing would stop them.
Later, while Bortag was waiting, a flying swordfish falls in front of the hut. The swordfish introduces himself as Drox and said he came from the ocean and flew over the desert, but couldn't get back over the desert without ocean water. As Billina tries to respond, she suddenly loses the ability to speak, showing Bortag that Oz is losing its enchantment
Meanwhile, Valynn, Ozma and Dorothy arrived at the castle, where Scarecrow tells them that some of the apples were stolen and that there is an old woman eating all the remaining ones. Valynn runs in to face the Wicked Witch of the South, with Ozma and Dorothy following them.
Scarecrow comes from behind Dorothy and takes her belt, handing it to the witch. Ozma realizes that the Scarecrow is under her control. As the witch reaches for the silver apple, Valynn charges at her and the witch turns her into a silver statue.
The witch proclaims that the only thing Dorothy is good for is firewood as she turns the girl into a wooden statue. Bortag resolves to get the belt and flies in on Drox, who tries to scoop the belt off the witch. The belt gets caught on her shoes as Drox disappears, turning into a cloud. Bortag and the witch fall and fight for the belt, tearing up the Scarecrow in the process. Bortag comes out with the belt and turns the witch to stone. He restores the others and flies away with the belt.
The next day, Ozma, Dorothy and Scarecrow are in the throne room as Ozma says that the magic is draining away at that moment and without the belt, there's nothing they can do. Suddenly, the Scarecrow turns inanimate, much to Dorothy's dismay. At that moment, Bortag comes back to return the belt, saying he thought it could give him everything he wanted, but soon realized that the only thing he wanted was for someone to like him, which he found in Drox.
He asks Ozma to transport them to the ocean, but she first teleports them to the tree, restoring the apples, much to Valynn's surprise. This, in turn, restores Scarecrow and Billina. Ozma created an invisible barrier around the tree which only Valynn could pass through, ending any need for Valynn to return to Limbo. She teleports Bortag and Drox to the ocean, ending by saying true happiness is never far away.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author L. Frank Baum's
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
Land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
world, written by Eric Shanower
Eric Shanower
Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...
. The book tells the story of Valynn, who protects a garden containing an enchanted apple tree, the fruit of which contains the essence of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
magic.
In this, the earliest of Shanower's many Oz publications, the artist introduced the lushly romantic style of Oz illustration that would distinguish his work in the genre over the next two decades and win substantial critical praise.
Publication history
The book was released in 19861986 in comics
-Year overall:* Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue limited series written and drawn by Frank Miller and published by DC Comics, debuts...
as the fifth in First Comics
First Comics
First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...
' graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
series First Graphic Novel. After First closed in 1991
1991 in comics
-January:* Checkmate is canceled by DC Comics with issue #33.* El Diablo vol. 2 is canceled by DC with issue #16.* Count Duckula is canceled by the Marvel Comics imprint Star Comics with issue #15....
a number of publishers took over their titles and The Enchanted Apples of Oz has been reprinted twice by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
in 1993
1993 in comics
-January:* Doom Patrol #63: " The Empire of Chairs," Grant Morrison's final issue as Doom Patrol writer.-February:* Action Comics, with issue #686, suspends publication following "The Death of Superman."...
(ISBN 0915419041) and 1998
1998 in comics
-Spring:* Gay Comix , with issue #25, publishes its final issue -October:* Toy Biz buys Marvel Comics* Excalibur is canceled by Marvel with issue #125.-November:...
(ISBN 1878574663).
Chapter 1: The Apple Tree
Dorothy GaleDorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
, along with the Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
and Billina
Billina
Billina is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum.She is a yellow hen tossed overboard in a storm with Dorothy Gale in the novel Ozma of Oz, the third Oz book, and a sequel to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, discover a castle that has materialized in front of them. Exploring the castle, they find a woman named Valynn, who has been tasked with guarding an enchanted apple tree. The tree has been growing since the creation of Oz and Valynn reveals that if the apples are picked or if the tree died, all the enchantment would disappear from Oz. The apples are golden and have the power to break any enchantment. One apple is silver and holds the power of Valynn's existence.
Valynn says that the existence of the apples were once well known, but she had to cast a spell transporting the castle, herself and the tree into limbo after a magician named Bortag tried to steal some of the apples. After one hundred years, she couldn't stand being alone in limbo, so she re-cast the spell, believing that Bortag had given up, to end it. Dorothy tells Valynn that Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
may be able to help her. Valynn is worried about leaving the tree, but Scarecrow and Billina agree to stand guard. Dorothy uses her magic belt to transport her to the Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
.
Chapter 2: The Witch Awakes
Bortag hasn't forgotten about the apples, proclaiming that his magic powers worked well enough this time to alert him that the apples are back. He rides in on Drox, a flying swordfish, to steal the apples. Scarecrow and Billina try to stop him, but Scarecrow is knocked away and Billina is thrown into his pouch.Meanwhile, at the castle, Valynn tells her story to Ozma. Ozma looks through the magic picture to learn more about the enchanted apples. They discover that some of the apples have been stolen. They look for Bortag in the picture and find him in the desert, feeding an apple to an old woman. Wogglebug informs them that it is the wicked witch of the south. Bortag tries to tell the old woman that he loves her, but she steals the apples and performs a spell to transport herself to the tree. The magic picture loses the image and Valynn realizes that Oz is beginning to lose its magic. They teleport to the castle.
Chapter 3: Bortag's Unfortunate Past
Bortag wants to walk through the life-destroying desert after being spurned, but Billina convinces him to go to the castle. She calls Drox they begin riding him towards the castle. Bortag tells Billina he is from the town of Glun, where everyone is extremely ugly. When he was younger, he wasn't ugly enough, and everyone hated him for it. Bortag moved to the endge of the forest and began studying magic, but couldn't do much more than create potatoes.Depressed, he begins walking until he reaches the desert. On the edge, he finds an old woman, the wicked witch of the south, kept in an enchanted sleep. He thinks she is beautiful and believes that if he wakens her, she might reciprocate his feelings. He goes after the apples to break the enchantment, but is foiled by Valynn. When Valynn makes the castle disappear, Bortag swore that when the castle went back, nothing would stop them.
Later, while Bortag was waiting, a flying swordfish falls in front of the hut. The swordfish introduces himself as Drox and said he came from the ocean and flew over the desert, but couldn't get back over the desert without ocean water. As Billina tries to respond, she suddenly loses the ability to speak, showing Bortag that Oz is losing its enchantment
Meanwhile, Valynn, Ozma and Dorothy arrived at the castle, where Scarecrow tells them that some of the apples were stolen and that there is an old woman eating all the remaining ones. Valynn runs in to face the Wicked Witch of the South, with Ozma and Dorothy following them.
Scarecrow comes from behind Dorothy and takes her belt, handing it to the witch. Ozma realizes that the Scarecrow is under her control. As the witch reaches for the silver apple, Valynn charges at her and the witch turns her into a silver statue.
Chapter 4: The Magic Belt
Ozma and Dorothy try to come up with a plan to go against the witch, but all the magic in Oz is gone except for the belt, which the witch is now wearing. When Ozma tries to cast a spell on the witch, the witch turns Ozma into a stone statue, much to Dorothy's dismay. Bortag looks down on the scene as the witch tries to figure out what to do with Dorothy.The witch proclaims that the only thing Dorothy is good for is firewood as she turns the girl into a wooden statue. Bortag resolves to get the belt and flies in on Drox, who tries to scoop the belt off the witch. The belt gets caught on her shoes as Drox disappears, turning into a cloud. Bortag and the witch fall and fight for the belt, tearing up the Scarecrow in the process. Bortag comes out with the belt and turns the witch to stone. He restores the others and flies away with the belt.
The next day, Ozma, Dorothy and Scarecrow are in the throne room as Ozma says that the magic is draining away at that moment and without the belt, there's nothing they can do. Suddenly, the Scarecrow turns inanimate, much to Dorothy's dismay. At that moment, Bortag comes back to return the belt, saying he thought it could give him everything he wanted, but soon realized that the only thing he wanted was for someone to like him, which he found in Drox.
He asks Ozma to transport them to the ocean, but she first teleports them to the tree, restoring the apples, much to Valynn's surprise. This, in turn, restores Scarecrow and Billina. Ozma created an invisible barrier around the tree which only Valynn could pass through, ending any need for Valynn to return to Limbo. She teleports Bortag and Drox to the ocean, ending by saying true happiness is never far away.