"The Salt Sorcrerer of Oz" is a short story written and illustrated by Eric Shanower. Originally published in Oz-story Magazine No. 4 in 1998, it was reprinted as the title selection in Shanower's 2002 collection The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories. Among the odd characters in the tale is a deeply depressed and pessimistic green bear named Fardels. His name is a Shakespearean pun; "who would fardels bear" is in Hamlet's famous soliloquy.