Oz Outside the Famous Forty

Date & Title                                                                                  Author                                          Publisher (and Publication)

1845

Note: Alternate history of the Lion and the Wizard who in this telling know one another intimately prior to the start of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Otherwise, a nice Oz adventure.  Roger Baum is the great grandson of L. Frank, and author of other Oz books (including Dorothy of Oz).  See Munchkinland for more titles...  There is an animated full-length feature based on this book.

1865 

Note: Sadly, this otherwise fun story is spoiled by a lack of continuity with the early FF.  The histories of Pastoria, Tip/Ozma, Mombi and the Wizard are all at variance with canonical sources.

1898 

Note: This 44 page story, geared towards the youngest of children, about the Wicked Witch of the East banning birthdays, features several contradictions with the FF, including a nine-year old Glinda, the origin of the Wicked Witch and the arrival of Dorothy.

1899 

Note: This amusing short story from Oziana magazine is a take-off on MGM’s version of Dorothy’s start down the Yellow Brick Road.

1900

Note: This book has been labeled an Oz pastiche, and on the surface it may seem so.  The layout resemble Denslow’s work on Wonderful Wizard of Oz:  There is a little girl from a dusky Midwestern town who goes on an adventure to a fairy land with her pet.  There is even a Good Witch who wields a wand with a ‘Z’ on it, remarkably like the ‘OZ’ wand seen held by the Good Witch of the North.  The similarities end there, however, as this is a surprisingly well written and enjoyable story that is set in the Black Hills of South Dakota in what could be termed “nature’s fairyland”.  Thus, it more closely resembles Baum’s ‘Twinkle Tales’ and ‘Policeman Bluejay’ (‘Birds in Babeland’) than any of his Oz tales.  Incidentally, there is even a megalomaniacal “Gnome King” with his underground dominion, but as this book was written in 1900, Gibson's Gnome King actually precedes Baum’s by at least 3 years.  All in all, a nice book to add to any Oz fan’s collection.

1901

Note: First book in the Alpimar series of Oz books which immediately follow Baum's original Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This series will borrow from some of Baum's later books, but will not follow them. The intention is to craft a more developed fantasy series along the lines of Harry Potter.  The novel will explore the mystery of Dorothy's parents, explain why her house landed where it did and forge new territory into the alternate earth realm called Alpimar.  Christmas in Oz will follow.

1902 

Note: Well-meaning attempt to relate the above incident, however, as per Baum’s Magic of Oz, it is clear that Gugu and the Cowardly Lion had never met one other prior to the events of that book.

1903 

Note: This children’s book is based on the1980 made-for-television cartoon, Thanksgiving in Oz, aka. Dorothy in the Land of Oz, Christmas in Oz, and Dorothy and the Green Gobbler in Oz.  This animated production featured characters from Baum’s Marvelous Land of Oz, although, the story differs considerably from Baum's books.

1904 

(Presents eleven episodes of ‘Queer Visitors from...Oz’ w/ a rewritten script and new illustrations by Dick Martin)

Note: This book is an entirely different publication than the one of the same name published by Hungry Tiger Press in 2005.  For information on that book, click here.  Written in 1960, this book features rewrites of 11 of Baum's stories from ‘Queer Visitors in the Marvelous Land of Oz’ newspaper strips. Kellogg introduces an element that wasn’t featured in the syndicated strips which proves contradictory to the remaining book series (namely Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are shown to have met the Scarecrow and friends years before Emerald City of Oz) ..

Note: Reprinted as Chapter 13: "The Scarecrow and Tinman Escape" by Hungry Tiger Press in The Scarecrow and Tin-Man of Oz.  This early book, used by Denslow as his 13th and 14th installment for the newspaper strip thematically employs the titular characters as the performers of the 1903 stage play.  Scarecrow mentions that they've been performing for two years and by story's end are sentenced to perform an additional year! 

1914

Note: (from the website) It has taken fifteen years for author David Anthony to finish his trilogy sequel to The Wizard of Oz, due to the fact that it was written primarily from his nighttime dreams—dreams that were sometimes so vivid that he felt he was living his days in Kansas and his nights in that magical land beyond the rainbow. Over the years, countless generations of fans of this classic tale have wondered, What if it wasn’t a dream? What if Dorothy’s trip over the rainbow was real? It’s twenty years later and we’re about to find out. Travel over the rainbow once again to the Land of Oz. Join the Scarecrow as he plans to transport himself, along with the Tin Woodman and Lion, to the land of Kansas to find Dorothy. But beware as the Wicked Witch of the West is back and she has plans to finally get her sister’s magic shoes and then destroy all the good in Oz. Whoever gets to those Ruby Red Shoes first controls the fate of Oz. With time running out, everyone is In Search of Dorothy.  Two sequels are forthcoming.

1950 

Note: The original first chapter of Hidden Valley of Oz that Reilly & Lee had rejected. In it, Jam gets to Oz by means of his father’s rocket ship, a plot device used earlier for Speedy’s arrival in Yellow Knight of Oz.

1958 – 1975 Volkov’s Tales of the Magic Land

Note:  If anything qualifies as an alternate or parallel Oz universe, this series by Russian-born Alexander Volkov does. With the exception of the very first book, which is a Russian adaptation of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Volkov took this series in an entirely different direction than Baum, calling his version of Oz, the “Magic Land” or Goodvinia. Although the characters bear certain similarities to Baum’s, they are also unique creations all onto their own. March Laumer, under his Opium Press label, had translated the entire series into English, but the most well known and well regarded are Peter Blystone's translations, of which the first four stories were published as Tales of the Magic Land (volumes 1 and 2), under Red Branch Press publishers, and the final two as Tales of the Magic Land: volume 3, under Lulu.com. (Former Buckethead Enterprises of Oz also published the final two, but these are long out-of-print). 

Some confusion had at one time arisen with Laumer's earlier translations, as he substituted the name Oz for Goodvinia, when in fact the two are a quite distinct fairylands from one other. Blystone has corrected this in his more accurate translations.

Dates preceding the titles are estimates.  Dates in parentheses following the publisher are the original publication dates.  For further information on these stories, there's a great website that discusses them: The Emerald City.

Note: The story of this coloring book incorporates Volkov's Oorfene Deuce and his wooden soldiers and brings them into his version of Baum's Oz.

Note: This is a prequel to the "Emerald City" series describing how Goodwin arrived in the Magic Land and constructed the Emerald City. 

Note:  Following on the success of Volkov’s Magic Land series, Sergei Sukhinov has taken the alternate Oz universe into yet a third branch.  With only Volkov’s first book, the adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Sukhinov has forged a different series, one that is more of a Tolkeinesque-styled saga for his ten volumes of the Magic Land.  As of yet, these have not been published in the US although translations are being worked on by Peter Blystone. For further information on the Russian "Oz" books, head over to The Emerald City website.  Note: You may be able to purchase the untranslated editions here, but be warned as they are known to take a long time to deliver (and you will need to know Russian). Update: New translations will be available some time in the near future as an omnibus edition!

Note:  These titles by Sergei Sukhinov features a take on the Magic Land that differs from both Baum and Volkov.  These particular volumes which are part of an ongoing series are aimed at a younger audience than his ten book saga mentioned above.  For further information on the Russian "Oz" books, head over to The Emerald City website.  Note, you may be able to purchase the untranslated editions here, but be warned as they are known to take a long time to deliver (and you will need to know Russian). English translations of these will also be available some time following the publication of Sukhinov's first omnibus. This will include two stories that were written, but never published!

Further Tales of the Magic Land

Note: These works continue Volkov's Magic Land series, many of which were published in former East Germany, where Volkov had a following. 

You may be able to find the untranslated German titles at Amazon.de.  For further information on the Russian "Oz" series, head over to The Emerald City website.

1908 – 1999 March Laumer’s Oz

Note: The prolific and controversial March Laumer was among the first of the new breed of authors to begin writing Oz stories following the close of canon in 1962, and doing so with the permission of Contemporary Books (Reilly & Lee’s successor), something few of his contemporaries writing Oz pastiches thought (or even attempted) to do. March knew the FF well and even corresponded with Ruth Plumly Thompson for a time until her death.  Published in low-print runs under his own Opium books/Vanitas Press label, he released a score of Oz books, including translations of Russian author, Alexander Volkov’s Magic Land series (see Volkov's Tales of the Magic Land above) as well as non-Oz Baum titles (many of which were illustrated by Lau Shiu-Fan). 

Laumer’s Volkov translations are unique in that they substitute many of the Russian characters and locales for Ozian ones. This has caused some minor confusion over the years as Volkov’s "Magic Land," Goodvinia, is based on and similar to Oz, yet it is not Oz.  Its history is vastly different from the one established by Baum and his successors. The appropriation of Volkovian elements in Oz was perpetuated when some (though not all) of Laumer’s Oz titles included events and characters that existed solely in Volkov’s works. Thus, unless the reader is familiar with Volkov’s writing or Laumer's translations, the appearances of characters like Oorfene Deuce and Gingemma in these books might pose some confusion.

It wouldn't be until much later that Laumer began to garner a bit of notoriety as some of his later books began to incorporate sexual undertones and adult themes. This gave the author a somewhat controversial reputation for being the first to taint the innocence of Oz with what a few have labeled pornography. This is a somewhat unjust accusation, however, as there are no explicit sexual scenes in any of his works. Nevertheless, the extraordinarily dense Green Dolphin of Oz actually does contain allusions to bestiality, incest and pedophilia, and not in an unfavorable light (hence the reason that book is noted in the Dark Side of Oz portion of this chronology). Nevertheless, Green Dolphin aside, there is much of interest here and Laumer of all authors made the most permanent changes in Oz, “growing up” his characters and marrying off a few of the familiar Ozian cast. 

Laumer is also one of the few authors to write “Oz history-in-advance” dispelling the make-believe notion that the authors were historians chronicling events that already occurred. While not everyone’s cup of tea, these books remain an interesting chapter in modern Oz history. And at long last, many of Laumer's works are available for purchase or download, allowing everyone the opportunity to peruse this fascinating – though wildly different –  extension of the Oz mythos... Head here for a full listing. (Thanks to Steve Teller for corrections and plot synopses, and Marcus Mebes for making these books available.)

1977

Note: Exciting adventure of pulp hero, Doc Phoenix, as he enters the mind of a young comatose girl and discovers she has withdrawn into the fairy realm of Baum's Land of Oz.  However, as events on the outside threaten to destroy Phoenix and the girl, events in Oz begin taking dramatic turns for the worse. 

1994

Note: At Dorothy's death, her granddaughter Gale discovers firsthand that Oz is real, but isn't exactly the way Baum described it.  Gale also discovers that a number of Oz residents aren't as happy as they should be due to Ozma's laws and goes about devising a means of fixing the problem.  This interesting novella is a philosophical exploration of Ozma's policies through the modern-day mores of an American woman, although some may take issue with Ozma's deconstruction which allows the author's protagonist to promote American-nationalistic ideologies and be seen as the sole wise, just, and kind-hearted person in Oz.

1996 

Note: Though this story and Lost Coal Mine of Oz features the same trio of characters, both occur in separate universes as the characters go to Oz for the first time in both tales.  In this story, Oz still uses money and the history of Ruggedo as recounted by Ruth Plumly Thompson has not occurred.

1999

Note: Well-written online stories in which the author openly acknowledges only taking Baum's books into account.  In The Magic Book of Oz, one of Glinda's maids accidentally rewrites Oz's history when she changes one letter in Glinda's Great Book of Records.  In the sequel, Ruggedo in Oz, the Nome King teams up with two New York children to regain his Magic Belt.  The history as presented in these stories (Glinda's past, Lurline's enchantment, Ruggedo's history, etc.) is at odds with the Famous Forty and the later books that stem from that series.

2006

Note: Assorted fairy tales characters converge in Manga style and journey towards the MGM version of Oz (which they never reach as they are sidetracked along the way.)

N/A

Note: This comic book is based on the 1961 cartoon series of the same name, featuring characters such as Socrates the Scarecrow, Dandy Lion and Rusty the Tin Man.  Very cute, but wholly different from Baumian Oz.

Note: Hanna Barbera’s silly and amusing album renders the story of ‘the Wizard of Oz’ a little different from both the book or the MGM film.  Snagglepuss narrates throughout.

Note: The Star Trek gang visit a dimension resembling the Land of Oz that has been created within the milieu of a genius mind.

Note: This book has little to do with Baum’s Oz, and is more of a sequel to the MGM film.  In it Dorothy’s granddaughter clicks her ruby sneakers and goes to ‘Oz’ where she meets the Wicked Witch of the West’s daughter.  Not to be confused with the well made Disney film of a similar name.

Note: Vast departure from his adult version (Oz Squad), Steve Ahlquist’s comic book about little Dot Gale and her Ozzy friends was written as a fun treat for the kiddies. Reprinted in trade paperback in The Complete Annotated Oz Squad: Volume 1.

Note: This is a ‘What-If’ styled book and is not meant to be an historical chapter in the Oz chronology.  Not to be confused with the Disney film or Thomas Tedrow’s book (see above) which bears a similar name.

Note: Amusing sequel to the Wizard of Oz complete with songs and voices that attempt to match the 1939 musical, but which follows neither the thread of the MGM film nor the book.  The story involves the Wizard’s decision to return to Oz, but upon arriving discovers that the citizens no longer need him because peace reigns.  Scarecrow is the President of a University, Cowardly Lion is the Army of Oz and the Tinman has a personal column in the Emerald City Herald - jobs none of them want.  They seek the aid of the Good Witch of the North who agrees to dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West in order to frighten the people into realizing they need the Wizard after all.  She takes “mean” pills in order to do this, but overdoses and believes herself to be the real Wicked Witch.  Dorothy and a pail of water restore her.

Note: This is not an Oz book, although the characters who find themselves in this magical land, called Oswaldoland, initially think they are in Oz, and the author makes several references to that land and its characters.

Note:  The protagonist of this two-volume novel travels into the action of six classic children’s books, one of which is The Marvelous Land of Oz.  Illustrated by Elizabeth Gill.

Note: Very funny comic from 1946 (WOW comics #48).  Mary Marvel, superheroine, beats up the Scarecrow, Tin Man and a creature named the What-is-it (a take-off on John R. Neill’s Bell Snickle?), in an effort to stop them from frightening the crowds by their appearance.

Note: Released initially in 1974, this book is not meant to be part of the Oz series of books, but a separate and different fantasy realm based on the premise of the MGM film.

Note: This page and a half short story from Oziana magazine is a modern day retelling of the Dorothy’s trip to Oz.

Note: See this entry under Patchwork Parodies & Poems