The Enchanted Apples of Oz
book by Eric Shanower
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.
Publication history
The book was released in 1986 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).
Plot summary
Chapter 1: The Apple Tree
While taking a stroll, Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow and Billina see a castle materializing in front of them. Exploring the castle, they find a woman named Valynn, the guardian of 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 magic in Oz would disappear. Most of 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.
“The Enchanted Apples of Oz” enters the record as book by Eric Shanower. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Enchanted, Apples and book can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7731985. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1991, 1993 and 1998.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Enchanted Apples of Oz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.