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Title: The Runaway in Oz by John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower ISBN: 092960539X Publisher: Books of Wonder Pub. Date: November, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.2

Rating: 5
Summary: "Nothing Is Ever Lost & Wonders Never Cease"
Comment: Fifty - two years after Oz author and illustrator John R. Neill's death, The Runaway In Oz at last saw print for the first time in 1995. Neill had authored and illustrated one classic in the Oz chronicle, 1940's The Wonder City Of Oz, though his two books that followed, The Scalawagons In Oz (1941) and Lucky Bucky In Oz (1942), both suffered from weak plots, convoluted storytelling, and poor editing. In the early nineties, artist and writer Eric Shanower, in conjunction with Neill's family, rescued, edited, and illustrated The Runaway In Oz, and by doing so not only gave the world another fabulous Oz title, but salvaged Neill's reputation as the author of only a single great entry in the Oz series.

Everything about The Runaway In Oz is perfect. Neill wisely choose to limit his cast to a half - dozen characters, thus allowing his narrative to revolve primarily around the group's interrelationships, though there is also rip - roaring action aplenty. Neill not only chose the popular Scraps the Patchwork Girl as his protagonist, but also allowed Professor Wooglebug and Jack Pumpkinhead, two woefully under - utilized reader favorites, the honor of playing major roles in an Oz tale. Neill's own creation, headstrong style guru Jenny Jump, one of the most distinctive of all Oz heroines, is also on hand as a key player in the drama. Neill and Shanower respectfully honor established Oz history, and their attention to detail, old and new, is remarkable. The Wooglebug's 'dream castle' is literally a product of his intensely directed desires, and when tenderhearted Jack Pumpkinhead weeps, he logically sheds pumpkinseed tears. Oz devotees will be thrilled to see Jack's whimsical Shoe Orchestra from The Wonder City In Oz back for another extended series of concerts, and, as in the three earlier Neill books, every illustration of Jenny Jump reveals her with a new outre hairstyle, some that look back on twenties Dada and others that presciently look forward to seventies Punk and eighties New Wave. Readers will also learn that the Little Wizard has returned Jenny's temper to her with the understanding that she promise not 'lose it' again. The Patchwork Girl's obnoxious but previously acceptable poetry spouting habit becomes an active element of the story, as Scraps suddenly finds herself in a repulsive world in which everyone she meets seems to be an enthusiastic and compulsive rhymer.

In fact, The Runaway In Oz revolves around all aspects of Scraps' antisocial behavior. As the novel begins, Jellia Jamb, the Tin Woodman, and Jenny Jump have all grown impatient with the boisterous Patchwork Girl's thoughtlessness; feeling rejected and unappreciated, Scraps decides to run away from the Emerald City and from Oz itself. Though Scraps never gets beyond the borders of the kingdom despite her best efforts, she manages to accidentally unknot the Wooglebug's 'Castle in the Air' from its moorings, infuriate a mountaintop - dwelling witch that controls all of the world's weather, and strand herself on a shooting star high in the heavens above Oz. Along the way, Scraps makes several interesting new friends and traveling companions, including "talented and gifted" boy scholar Alexample, the leafy Popla the Power Plant, and the Twinkler, an older man imprisoned on the star and forced to polish its lights for eternity.

Meanwhile, Jenny Jump and Jack Pumpkinhead, who are eventually joined by the fretful, castle - searching Wooglebug, have set out in search of Scraps; Jenny feels guilty for having told Scraps that "no one wants to be bothered" by her "tantrums," and though Jack Pumpkinhead's motives are less clear, his behavior appears to have something to do with romantic attachment as well as human concern. The Professor, Jack, and Jenny find themselves lost for days in an enchanted orchard, where they are attacked by an army of thorn carrying quince apples, who are in revolt against being sold at market like common fruits and vegetables. By the time the two parties meet, almost everyone is furious at Scraps except Jack, and the Wooglebug is enraged at everyone.

The Runaway In Oz is great fun throughout. The narrative is smooth, streamlined, and grounded, less manic and explosive than The Wonder City In Oz, but no less hilarious. Neill's real forte as an Oz author was characterization, something Shanower seemed to fully appreciate when editing the manuscript. In fact, the depiction of Scraps here may be the best of any of the Oz titles, since her irritating qualities, always recognized by readers but only rarely by other Oz characters, are realistically acknowledged and addressed head on. The Runaway In Oz portrays Scraps as immature, callous, irresponsible, willful, and vain while simultaneously revealing her foresight, courage, intelligence, determination, concern for others, and eventual common sense and humility. If Jack Pumpkinhead is slightly more downtrodden than usual and the Wooglebug more uppity, longtime Oz fans know there are precedents for their behavior in earlier titles.

Shanower's illustrations are extremely detailed, clear, and timelessly perfect. Alexample, though an Oz citizen and apparent native, bears no resemblance to Woot the Wanderer, Ojo the Lucky, or Button Bright. Instead, he is a clean - cut, eyeglass - wearing young boy in fifties - style clothing; only his thick, black hair hints at romanticism. Jenny Jump was already a modern gal in Neill's earlier titles and illustrations, and continues to be one here. Shanower's Professor Wooglebug, a wonderful balance of erudition, pomposity, enthusiasm, and frustration, surpasses even Neill's. Shanower's weather witch is not even a fourth cousin to traditional hag Old Mombi, but a tough, capable, mature woman in worker's overalls. Popla the Power Plant is a shrub whose beautiful woman's face is hidden within her branches, the female counterpart of the European Green Man of history, architecture, and folklore. From its cover to its double-page drawings and lovely illustrated blue end papers, this edition joyously reflects Shanower's commitment that The Runaway In Oz be every bit as beautiful as the early Baum/Neill books. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5
Summary: A long-lost Oz book published at last
Comment: I first heard of "The Runaway in Oz" when I read Martin Gardner's introduction to the Dover edition of "The Marvelous Land of Oz," in which he mentioned that this book had been left unpublished due to Neill's death. At that time I had read only a few Oz books (now I have read almost all of them), but I felt deeply sorry that this book was unavailable for me to read. Now, at last, thanks to the efforts of Eric Shanower (who edited and illustrated the book), we can read this long-lost volume of Oz history. It certainly is an interesting book, and forms an exciting conclusion to Neill's four-book tenure as Royal Historian. Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, decides to run away from the Emerald City and find a new home, and the book details her adventures with the new friends she makes, as well as those of Jenny Jump, Professor Wogglebug and Jack Pumpkinhead, who go searching for her. Among her new friends is Alexample, a young boy who is TAG (Talented and Gifted); this is a highly noteworthy feature of the book, since I could count on one hand the number of other children's authors I know of who have depicted gifted children in their books, thus leaving gifted children (of whom I was one) with a paucity of literary role models. (Meg and Charles Wallace in Madeleine L'Engle's Time Trilogy and Claudia in E. L. Konigsburg's "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" were among the welcome exceptions.) Neill's style of writing is highly cinematic and visual, as might be expected from the greatest Oz illustrator; thinking back to reading this book, I feel almost as though I had seen it as a movie rather than reading it. The gorgeous illustrations by Eric Shanower contribute to this impression; Shanower certainly is the most talented person illustrating Oz books today. One slight quibble with Neill's tale concerns the characterization of the Wogglebug: in no other Oz book is he quite so unlikeable as here (although still not extremely unlikeable). Also, I must agree with "The Baum Bugle"'s reviewer, who wished Shanower had explained the extent to which he had to work on the book's text. The story's tone is somewhat more serious than was that of Neill's previous three Oz books, though that might be due to Neill's failing health while writing "Runaway" (something similar happened with Baum's last few Oz books) or to the lack of interference by a Reilly & Lee editor who, I understand, heavily revised Neill's earlier Oz books. However, one aspect of the book that is quite atypical of Neill is the excellence of its continuity. There are practically no mistakes when the book refers to characters or events from earlier Oz books, and the characterizations are almost completely consistent with the depictions of the same characters in earlier Oz books by Neill and others. Neill's other books are well-known for having the worst continuity in the whole Oz series, with such egregious mistakes as Jack Pumpkinhead remembering being enslaved by Mombi for many years (which never happened) and the introduction of Scraps' never-before-displayed propensity for punching people (which she does again at one point in this book, but that is simply an example of consistency with Neill's previous books, and otherwise her personality is exactly as depicted by Baum and Thompson). One has to wonder whether Neill's manuscript contained continuity errors which Shanower corrected. Nonetheless, the availability of this book after so many years is cause for rejoicing among all Oz fans here in the Great Outside World.

Rating: 5
Summary: A collaboration that really succeeds!
Comment: When John R. Neill died in 1943 after writing three Oz books, the manuscript of this book was left without illustrations and unpublished. Preserved by Neill's family for over 50 years, Eric Shanower finally editing it and provided his own marvelous black-and-white drawings to bring it to press. At the time of his death, Neill had illustrated all but the first Oz book and his illustrations have come to define the people and land of Oz to generations of readers. Shanower's illustrations follow in Neill's style, improving, if that is possible, on the work of the master. The story evolves around the theme of anger and its effects as Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, in a fit of anger decides to run away. Upsetting many of the people she runs into, Scraps still manages to befriend Popla, the Power Plant, who is possibly the most unusual character in a land known for its strange inhabitants. Popla is the strongest plant in the world and grows alone on a windswept mountaintop. Scraps, finding a flowerpot, takes the Power Plant, who has never left the spot where she first sprouted, on a exciting and enjoyable journey. Together they travel on Scraps spoolicle, a bicycle with wooden spools for wheels, and through their adventures a lasting friendship is created that dissolves Scraps anger. Anyone whe has ever enjoyed an Oz book will love this unique contribution to the Oz corpus.