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Monday, April 22, 2019

Land of Azurth Inspirations

This is not an "Appendix N" or list of general inspirations, but rather the likely origins for specific elements in the setting and my Land of Azurth campaign. Likely, because inspirations can be difficult to trace things, and often not completely evident. This is what I remember.

Books:
Frank L. Baum. The Marvelous Land of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz
James Branch Cabell. Figures of Earth.
M. John Harrison. In Viriconium, also known as The Floating Gods.
Gregory Maguire. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Jack Snow. Who's Who in Oz.
Catherynne M. Valente. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making; The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There.

Comics:
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (1983). Mishkin, Cohn & Colon. DC Comics.
Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown. McHale and Campbell. Boom! Studios.

Animation:
Adventure Time!
Howl's Moving Castle.
Over the Garden Wall.
Popeye "Goonland."



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6 comments:

  1. Jack GuignolApril 22, 2019 at 8:39 AM

    Viriconium is the surprise on the list!

    So those Valente fairy tale books are good? I've been meaning to read more widely in her back catalog.

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  2. TreyApril 22, 2019 at 9:51 AM

    @Jack - The Barley Brothers were one of the direct inspirations of the Burly Brothers.
    I like the Valente books. They are juveniles, of course, but good.

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  3. Erik JensenApril 22, 2019 at 4:27 PM

    Props for Goonland.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TreyApril 22, 2019 at 6:59 PM

    The _Popeye_ comic strip is also an inspiration but more generally.

    ReplyDelete
  5. bombasticusApril 23, 2019 at 5:23 PM

    I wish we were more into Cat's stuff. This is a spectacularly curated list . . . ruthless, essential but also generous. "Open" as they say in mining. In a couple more years you might find yourself working for a multi-generational audience!

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  6. TreyApril 23, 2019 at 6:55 PM

    I found Valente's stuff just at the right moment as Azurth was being born. I don't know how I might have found it otherwise. There are of course any number of things that informed my notions and will in the future, but this is sort of the list I stole from.

    ReplyDelete