Disney's "Return to Oz" Comic

Our next look into the adaptions of the 1985 film "Return to Oz" focuses on one of the more widely seen paperworks, the Comic (and how inferior it actually is).Naturally, it reuses the poster used for most of the advertising.  It is a nice poster, but seeing the same art too often can be tedious, even boring.

There are quite a few things wrong with this telling: there's the art, the printing, the text, the "adjustments" and the overall story.

The art isn't really that impressive, or easy on the eyes.  The most troublesome

thing is the alignment isn't exact or matching up, so different-coloured lines are next to eachother instead of neatly on top, which can cause a slight dizzying glare.  The text is clear and fine to read, but the visuals themselves need much to be desired (so many good characters look ugly or unattractive, especially Dorothy and the Lead Wheeler).

The art is also rather unoriginal, using a majority of stills and photos to be a "model" for the panels, instead of being completely new art with new positions and angles.  This can cause some major errors in timing and context or even story - such as the severe LACK of NOMES the King calls for (none ever appear) to stop Dorothy from finishing his game, most notably the various forms and shapes he goes through (human, then even face on wall).

Now there is nothing wrong with using stills and photographs to tell a story (the "Wonderful World of Reading" Random House book does and it used a few photos not seen anywhere else), but so many of these images are reworked differently to how or when they were originally taken and are out of order and show a severe lack of originality and imagination (Towards there end, there is a photo of Dorothy waving GOOD-BYE to her friends - in this comic, that pose, including her waving hand, is used for when Dorothy enters Mombi's chamber and sees the heads in cabinets).   Only a few panels are entirely newly drawn and actually look good on their own.

Uncle Henry's leg is not broken in this retelling

Because of the (somewhat limited) technology and time of that era, the colours were flat and couldn't be enhanced with lighting and shadow, so Dorothy's dress (and main outfit) is a strong pink, even her Kansas shoes are warm coloured and have little contrast to the Ruby Slippers seen later.  In fact, much of the colouring seems rushed.

Toto is white-haired, however.  And in one panel, Doctor Worley is completely green!  Ozma has blonde hair is Kansas, but as Queen in Oz she has gone brunette.

Each and every word balloon / speech bubble either ends with an exclamation point "!" or a question mark "?", with the exception of a few sentences finishing with triple dots "..." .

One of the strangest, most bizarre and inexplicable things is how, on the way to Dr Worley's clinic, Jack Pumpkinhead (or a strikingly similar figure) can be seen in Kansas.

Why is there a Jack Pumpkinhead in Kansas?
Aunt Em and Dorothy must be so nervous they keep changing places to stand ...

When they do arrive and wait at the door, Aunt Em and Dorothy keep changing which side they are standing (Dorothy mentions hearing a scream, but Aunt Em doesn't).

Upon leaving Dorothy, Aunt Em briefly hears a distant cry (which was one of the victim patients damaged from Dr Worley's "electrical healing"), but thinks she may have imagined it.

Sitting on the corner edge of a coop floating on water is not a good idea ...  

When the storm has caused the procedure to black out, there is an awkwardly placed drawing where it looks like a man is holding a shrunken doctor to access a small intricate system.

When Dorothy and Billina approach land by chicken coop, the edges are rocks and mountains, not sands or grass and trees.

Dorothy and Billina encounter the Wheelers - who taunt with jeers and "Oink! Oink! Oink!" - soon after picking from the lunchpail tree, escape by finding a door in a rock cavern and meeting Tik-Tok who battles the Wheelers and has the Leader guide them to the ruined Emerald City (so here's a good point: it refers slightly more closely to the "Ozma of Oz" book).

Jack repeatedly thinks a talking chicken and a "talking copper kettle" are wonders - "What will they think of next?"

Mombi sleeps without her head, as in the film ... YET, her body is able to talk regardless, calling her Wheelers.  Before that, Dorothy is in a rather dark and gruesome/gloomy panel that strongly resembles the MGM scene when the WWWitch got melted, complete with burning torch and arch wall.

Dorothy, the point of sneaking around is being QUIET.
And really, how is it possible to talk without a proper mouth

?

When the Gump falls apart, Dorothy is horribly drawn with her legs showing from her dress.  Upon landing on the Mountain, Billina has disappeared (Dorothy also asks why everything is upside down - ?)

What possible is there to see Dorothy's legs from under her dress?

It's indecent!

There is no transformation of the Nome King from rock to near-human as he already looks man-like, but he actually walks (showing his skinny little feet - he's not even wearing the Ruby Slippers!) with his visitors, talking about his ornaments, the game he proposes and directly approaches a caged Mombi.

In this comic treatment, Jack Pumpkinhead is the first to take a whack at the Nome King's Guessing Game in the Ornament Room

Apparently Scarecrow can also participate in the game, because he says "Oz" and restores a character.

It turns out that Billina had been in Jack's head and was taking a nap after laying an egg.  She may have fallen into his head when they landed, without him knowing and didn't say anything that whole time.

REALLY??

Anyway, Billina's simple laying of an egg makes the Nome King's mountain crumble (it doesn't poison him) which allows Dorothy to regain the Ruby Slippers and make her wish.

This is possibly the ONLY time a visual reference is made of the Nome King's mountain having a final explosion (it can be heard in the 2-disk Soundtrack from Intrada / Creature Features and is also read in the Novelization). 

Scarecrow found out from his imprisonment about Ozma (his discovery is interrupted briefly by Mombi who's "mind is gone" when the mountain fell) and Dorothy frees her from the mirror.  Another big problem is how Ozma says for Dorothy to click her heels three times and remember "there's no place like home".

It is not explained or even implied that the Ruby Slippers are given to Ozma, where they belong or even if Dorothy is granted the possibility of returning to Oz in the future.

Dorothy wakes up in her room (and their house has already been completely rebuilt by now), surrounded by her family, Aunt Em saying how they found out about the cellar full of past victims.

While I can understand a lot of people like this comic, it is actually not that good as it seems. It suffers from lacklaster quality in art, poor storytelling and abridgements that leave out vital information or expositions.

Fortunately this was not the only comic treatment the movie got ... from April 7 to July 14, it received a weekly Sunday strip printing the year it was released!

Now those pages has yet to be seen more commercially, but hopefully there will be future installments of the "Walt Disney Treasury of Classic Tales" (vols 1 - 3 already exist) that includes these strips.

If that day comes, you can be sure I'll review it!

Still, this good film could certainly do with a nice NEW comic retelling, though . . .

New from Fairylogue Press

Sometime back, I reviewed Namesake Book 1. Well, now I have Book 2 in hand. The collected print edition of this popular and well-done webcomic is nicely presented and matches the first Book well. Megan Lavey-Heaton continues some great writing, working with Isabelle Melancon's beautiful art for a gripping fantasy epic.

The story of Namesake continues as Emma and her friends in Oz head to the Emerald City to try to find Ozma. Along the way, the mystery of Emma's presence in Oz deepens and we learn more about Warrick and Selva, the Tin Woodman's grandchildren.

Meantime, Emma's sister and friends try to figure out how to get Emma back. Also, we see Alice and Mr. Dodgson, who attempt to go to the mysterious organization Calliope for help.

Book 2 also contains a bonus story about Warrick that was not released online.

Namesake improves on the concept of crossing over fantasy worlds by largely keeping them separate. In this way, it avoids problems other crossover tales—such as ABC's Once Upon A Time—encounter. Large, complicated casts of characters with backstories are not a problem here, the focus being more centralized on Emma and her friends, many of which are original characters and are free of expectations of previous incarnations.

Namesake has been developing much more from the point where Book 2 ends and plans are already in place for Book 3.

Also available from the same crew is a little comic titled Knot, which can be neatly described as a traditional fairy tale for the 21st century. Isabelle Melancon writes and draws this 11 page tale.

A princess' parents call for sorcerers to find a cure for her sadness. No one seems to be helping until the smallest sorcerer gets caught in the knots in the princess' hair. Untying one, he begins to get to the bottom of the princess' trouble. (Namesake fans will easily spot Warrick making a cameo in the tale.)

Both Namesake and Knot are highly recommended. It's refreshing to see quality storytelling and art in a highly-available format.

Namesake is available in three forms: e-book ($5 each), softcovers ($20 each) and hardcovers ($30 each). The entire comic can also be read for free online through the archive. Knot is available in a standard comic book, printed on high quality paper. ($5) Both titles (as well as Book 1, an upcoming comic, and art prints) are available in Fairylogue Press' online store.

New comics!

 I got the latest comics again last Friday, but didn't read them right away because I was getting ready to load my new Android phone with apps. But I did take some time out on Saturday and read them.

First up is The Emerald City of Oz #4. It's the penultimate issue of this Oz book adaptation and perhaps the line of Marvel Oz comics. The teaser image for the final issue looks quite appropriate if what we fear comes to pass.

Dorothy goes to Bunnybury before rejoining her companions at last and they visit the Flutterbudgers and Rigamaroles before arriving at the castle of the Tin Woodman, who delivers the bad news about the Nome King. Looking forward to the next issue, and hoping beyond hope that we may yet see a teaser for The Patchwork Girl of Oz at the end.

Second is The Steam Engines of Oz #3 (which is really #4 as the Free Comic Book Day issue should really be counted, though the comics industry is not above labeling an issue #0). Victoria and her friends seek the one person who can stop the war between the Tin Man and the Lion's resistance: the Scarecrow.

This issue wraps up this storyline, but the back promises a new series soon. I will be following it! Although not my preferred Oz, I have been enjoying this particular take.

Comic update!

Well, I'm all caught up on Oz comics so far. At least the ones I follow. Well, the next issues of The Steam Engines of Oz and Marvel's The Emerald City of Oz will be shipped to me next week, so... Uh... Anyway, let's get to these three.

First up is The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #11—12. As you can see from the covers, the winged gorillas are the focus of these two issues. The Tin Man, Jack, Tip, Scarecrow and the Lion are at Mombi's ranch, while we get to meet the new Witch of the East and West. (Who's exactly who I thought she was.) Why doesn't she have any control over the four gorillas at Mombi's ranch? And who's the mysterious prisoner trapped in emerald that Jinjur's found? The story is continuing, and I admit that I'm looking forward to #13!

In Grimm's Fairy Tales: Oz #3,  Dorothy finds a few new friends as they continue to the Mage, fighting hordes of baddies and finding the mysterious Grafft who gives them some vital information for their quest. And someone doesn't survive to the end.

And still, I say the focus is too much on the violence and such rather than creating a really unique story. I'm sticking around to the end (only three more episodes), but if it gets picked up as an ongoing series, I may not be continuing.

Comics!

So, I have five comics to go over this time, but they're from three series.

Best first: The Emerald City of Oz #3 from Marvel Comics. The highly condensed 5 issue adaptation continues with Guph's visit to the Phanfasms and Dorothy's visits to Fuddlecumjig, Utensia and Bunbury. (The Zebra and Crab have been dropped.) I begin to wonder how the remaining thirteen chapters will fit into the final two issues. I suspect the final pages of #4 or the first pages of #5 will have Dorothy visiting the Tin Woodman and discovering the bad news about the Nome King. Skottie continues his whimsical comical style and Eric stays faithful to Baum's text.

---

 Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Oz #1 & 2 from Zenescope Entertainment. So, I wound up getting the first two issues of this series that features many cover variants for each issue. Each with overly-sexualized versions of the Witches and Dorothy. My selection was based on what was available.

This series is part of Zenescope's "Grimm Fairy Tales" line which has already presented similarly reimagined
versions of fairy tales and Wonderland. This line reinvents the Wizard of Oz story, but it doesn't seem to really be based on Baum's books. A map at the end of issue 1 shows "the Northern Territories of Oz," featuring five regions: the northern Kingdom of Zine, featuring the Emerald Mountains and the Emerald City, the central "Conquered Zone," the eastern Land of Ak (I doub, the western Skarab featuring the Haunted Forest, and the southern land of Bogg (Munchkin Land), featuring the Yellow Brick Road. Oz seems to be surrounded by the Infinite Sea.

A young woman named Dorothy lives in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, and she soon adopts a large wolf-like dog she names Toto. However, a woman comes to claim Toto, but when he growls at her, Uncle Henry decides not to surrender the dog to her. It becomes quite clear that she's a witch. So, soon a tornado sends the house (Dorothy and Toto included) to Oz. After arriving, Dorothy is attacked by the Witch of the East, who Dorothy—with the sudden help of a strange tool—is able to vanquish. Stranded in Oz, Glinda, "a Good Witch of the North," advises Dorothy to see a mage who might be able to open up a portal between worlds.

The reinvented plot is admittedly rather tired even in issue 2 of 6 (thank goodness it's a limited series) for someone who's seen a lot of reinvented versions of Oz. But I guess I'll stick through to see how it plays out. A lot of Oz fans view Oz as an innocent environment and the menacing and sexualized look probably won't appeal to many of them. (The sexualizing certainly doesn't appeal to the large number of gay men in that demographic.) But seeing that Zenescope has been running awhile, I suppose they have their audience. I'd guess most of who are reading are reading to see the reinvention of the story.

---

 The Steam Engines of Oz, Free Comic Book Day issue (#0) and #1 by Arcana Entertainment. Surprisingly, this series kicked off its story with a Free Comic Book Day issue, which they also make available for a free download (this is a direct link to a large PDF, click wisely). Although I couldn't go to FCBD (and I doubt they'd have Arcana's offering), I was able to purchase a copy from my usual online comic seller.

An original pick-up from the original Wizard of Oz, we meet Victoria, an Emerald City engineer for the now Steam Punk-ized Oz ruled by the metal hand of the Tin Man who is doing quite the wrong things mistakenly believing that he's doing the right thing. Winged Monkeys take Victoria to meet a mysterious mystic woman who tells Victoria to make the Tin Man stop his spread of machinery over Oz. Victoria heads out to do so, making quite a bit of headway in issue #1. Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing how this version continues.

Now where's the next issue of The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West?

Oz comics! August 2013

I reflected last night that I probably should have ordered The Steam Engines of Oz #1 and Zenescope's new Oz comic. Hopefully, I can get them next month.

The Emerald City of Oz #2. Still faithful to Baum, but still quite condensed. The last issue covered six of thirty chapters, this one covers four, though there's a bit from later in the book moved to an earlier point. In this issue, we see the Woggle-Bug's college, the Cuttenclips, and the Growleywogs, all depicted in Skottie Young's wonderfully wacky style. The cover for the next issue shows bunnies, so it looks like it'll cover quite a bit of ground. I'll keep sticking around for the next three issues.

The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #10 finds Tin Man, Tip, Jack, Scarecrow and the Lion head north to Mombi's homestead to look for clues about Ozma's disappearance. Meanwhile, it turns out that Mombi definitely isn't down yet as she presents Scraps with a surprising gift. And we discover exactly what Jinjur has been digging for under the Emerald City. But why exactly?

Comics!

Well, the mail man just dropped off a box of comics! Let's get to what's inside!

The Emerald City of Oz #1 from Marvel. As mentioned last week, unlike previous titles in the Oz series, this time, Shanower and Young are only allowed five issues to retell Baum's story in. This issue already shows us the compression we can expect, squeezing the first six chapters (of thirty) into one issue.

Most surprising to me was that the first and fourth chapter are told in tandem, thus, one part of the story has been moved out of its original sequence. It flows fine, but for someone who's very familiar with Oz and has been following the Marvel series since its start, it's a little sad to see this have to happen.

Fun little things to spot: Shanower clears up the issue of "How did Eureka get to Oz?" (though he admittedly did that back in The Secret Island of Oz) and Dorothy's arrival in Oz has a Through The Looking-Glass-esque look. Skottie's artwork is as humorous as ever.

The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #9. This issue has us taking a peek into the life of Dr. Nikidik, featuring the return of Scraps, who seems to be his daughter in this version of Oz. Meanwhile, Jack convinces Glinda to check the Book of Records for help deciphering what became of Ozma.

Meantime, we discover that the Wheelers and Mombi aren't finished quite yet. And Jack and the Tin Man aren't exactly the best of friends.

The future of the Marvel series...

Last week, Marvel released The Emerald City of Oz #1. As the series was announced, Oz fans noticed that it said it was "1 of 5."

When the Marvel Oz comic series launched in 2008, the first series, adapting The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was eight issues, allowing plenty of space for all of Baum's book to be shown visually, deftly adapted by Eric Shanower and drawn in a humorous manner by artist Skottie Young.

Over the next three series, adapting The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, the eight-issue format continued.

That changed with The Road to Oz, which only had six issues. Most Oz fans didn't worry. The Road to Oz wasn't a complicated story, so it didn't suffer from being tightened a bit.

Several people at this year's Winkie Convention asked Eric Shanower about the cut to five issues for The Emerald City of Oz. What follows is a paraphrase of what I recall him saying with my own commentary. If there is any error in my memory, I apologize.

Sales of the Oz series has been dwindling. Since I had been able to find issues of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz and The Road to Oz at a local shop that sells comics alongside other items, I had been under the quite false impression that sales were okay enough to keep going. However, I was unable to find the first issue of Emerald City there, and so I've had to order it, and will be getting my copy next week. (It'll be coming with the next issue of The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West, so I'll be getting two Oz comics I enjoy at once.)

However, I can't be too surprised. More and more often, I find people saying that they just wait for the hardcover collection to be released instead of buying the individual issues. Of course, what they don't quite understand is that selling the series through monthly issues then trade collections is how Marvel manages to recoup the cost of paying the people working on the series. It wouldn't be likely for Marvel to drop monthly issues and then continue the series as a series of graphic novels instead.

Of course, at this time, just about every business tries to cut extra costs, so when one branch of business isn't so successful, they either cut it or trim it. This is what Marvel is doing.

As such, Eric warned us, we shouldn't get our hopes too high up to see Skottie's take on The Patchwork Girl of Oz. That story would suffer quite a bit from being compressed to five issues as it contains many, many episodes.

That said, Eric has assured us that as long as his current agreement with Marvel is active, he will be on board with their Oz series however long it continues. If they want to renegotiate it (meaning pay him less), then he'd likely bow out. Eric loves Oz like the rest of us, but this is actual work and if he's not getting paid enough to make it worth his time, then he needs to free up that time so he can get work that will be worth it.

Fans have also thrown out the suggestion that since Disney now owns Marvel and has had a hit with Oz the Great and Powerful, perhaps they'd like to focus their Oz output. While this isn't so far-fetched, I rather find it unlikely since Marvel's been running the series under Disney's control for awhile and there is no chance of confusion of the comic series and the new film.

Whatever happens, I'd urge fans to support the Marvel series if they'd like to see it continue. If not, well, The Emerald City of Oz does make a nice stopping place.

Some updates!

Well, just back from the Winkie Convention. Sam and I recorded a podcast reporting on it, which will be out soon. I've also uploaded over 300 photos on Facebook.

I got a lot of Oz stuff, some of which I'll be talking about over the coming weeks. But first, let's get some new arrivals out of the way...

 A new little company called Actual Film Votive is selling a unique collectible for film fans using prints from junked film copies made for screening. These cells are not from original negatives or master film copies of the films.

The cells are mounted on a votive candle holder. "But wait!" you might say. "Won't the candle ruin the film?" It might, which is why a tiny LED light is included. It doesn't project the image on a surface, but it does let the light show through, letting you see a tiny image of one of your favorite movies.

At this time, votives are available with film cells from The Bride of Frankenstein, Ben Hur, King Kong, Singin' In The Rain and, of course, The Wizard of Oz. The guys who run the site have nicely sent me a Dorothy cell votive so I can see it for myself to get the word out. And it's a very nice little piece! Rather than trim it, you actually get a whole slice from the film reel, including the spokes that made it turn through the projector and the soundtrack actually on the film. Each one is $12, plus $3 for shipping in the US. (Price subject to change.) To read more and order one (or more) for yourself, go to their website.

 I also came home to issues 7 and 8 of The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West, which reveal more about this version of Oz and its take on Tip. Also, we see what might be the Wicked West version of Tik-Tok? The Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead storyline wraps up for now, but there's still quite a bit more story to go on!

Finally, I was surprised to discover that the 1933 Wizard of Oz cartoon by Ted Eshbaugh has been remastered in high definition! The comparison between this new version and the previously available one is amazing! The sharpness and clarity is evident and lets us see what a beautiful cartoon it actually was.

The cartoon will be released on Blu-Ray by year's end with a number of Eshbaugh's shorts in high definition. It's amazing because the cartoon is in public domain, and anyone could do it. I really hope we'll give the restoration folk a big "Thank you!" for this labor of love by buying the Blu-Ray (Region Free) when it's available.

More information and screencaps can be found here.

Now imagine how wonderful it would be if someone gave the silent Oz films the high definition treatment! Winkies featured a screening of The Patchwork Girl of Oz silent film from a real film print, and it looked gorgeous!

Comic book update! The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West!

 Well, I fell a little behind on this series. I forgot to order the latest issues right away, and when I did remember, I realized I ordered the latest issue without getting the issue just before it.

Issues 4-6 of The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West bring the Tin Man, Lion, Tip, and the mysterious bandit-type Jack Pumpkinhead to the palace of Glinda, where Jack reveals who he is and how the Princess Ozma disappeared from Oz years ago.

Meanwhile, we learn more about Jinjur, why she's revolting, and how she joins forces with the mysterious old witch Mombi. Plus, we get a look at where and who Toto (Dorothy's horse) has gone to.

 Missing from the main series is the enigmatic and mute Scarecrow girl. However, she gets a spin-off two-issue mini-series in Legends of Oz: Scarecrow.

Scarecrow goes to the town of Denslow and gets a less-than-warm welcome, but she soon discovers that the safety of the town may be in her hands.

If you're behind (and it seems I am, since 7 and 8 are already out), get caught up! And if you haven't started, get the trade paperback and get started!

New Oz comics!

And now some new Oz comics I just got today...

The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #3. I saw the variant cover on eBay and decided to get it instead of the standard cover as a I had all previous issues. Frankly, I liked this one better than the standard cover featuring a Wheeler defying the Field Mice.

In the continuing story of this Old West-themed Oz, Tin Man and Lion meet up with Scarecrow, Tip and the Sawhorse as they head south to see Glinda (so I assume), but along the way, they are ambushed by the Wheelers that Jinjur has sent after them. But never fear! The fierce and fighting Field Mice are here to save the day. Or can they? They are only little creatures after all...

Marvel's The Road to Oz #5 is the penultimate issue, Skottie Young and Eric Shanower bringing us a wonderful interpretation of the fifth Oz book as Dorothy and her friends reach the Emerald City at last.

Although I know the pair is up to the task, I wonder how they'll pull off the final issue, since this ends as the Shaggy Man surrenders the Love Magnet to Ozma. This means the next issue will cover the Scarecrow's arrival in the Emerald City, Dorothy receiving the guests (and since this is a visual medium, this means we should be seeing many of these Baum characters), the birthday party itself and the grand celebration, the Wizard's bubbles, and how Dorothy finally gets home again.

Again, while I appreciate they got Eric Shanower to adapt the story as he's clearly someone who understands comics and Oz, the real star of the Marvel series is Skottie Young, visually depicting Oz moment by moment in his own unique and sometimes bizarre style. (Unless you haven't read the books yet. Then it's all new to you. Lucky...)

New Comics!

 Some new Oz comics in! Let's take a look

The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #1 The first issue of an ongoing series following up from the successful miniseries.

With "Gale" and the Wicked Witch gone, there's uncertainty and unrest in the Land of Oz. Tin Man's now being forced to take orders from General Jinjur (who's taking control of the Emerald City) while Scarecrow and Lion are in prison.

The comic has some really great dialogue and shows a few scenes that we missed in the beginning of the miniseries. This first issues serves as a transition between this old west take on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and now The Marvelous Land of Oz. It looks to be quite worth sticking around for!

In other comics, Marvel's series of adaptations of L. Frank Baum's Oz books continues with The Road to Oz #3. There's been a few changes in how the series has been put out: Road is only six issues, and according to an interview with Shanower, it seems this will be a new norm for the series, meaning that the stories will be squeezed into fewer issues. This doesn't really pose much of a problem for Road, since a quick pace helps the story, but with stories like The Patchwork Girl of Oz, there might be more concerns on how to condense it.

I haven't commented on the series much (despite buying each issue and the hardcover collections), because I'm rather loathe to admit that while Shanower adapts the story well and occasionally adds nice additional dialogue (issue #1 of Road had the Shaggy Man quip "Unusual weather we're having" when it begins to snow outside Foxville), the real star of the series has been Skottie Young.

Skottie's unorthodox and cartoonish (sometimes bordering on bizarre) take on Oz has proved a refreshing look at our favorite fairyland. While I still picture Neill's depictions when I think of Oz, Skottie's interpretations are charming in their own whimsical way. It offers more fun to these wonderful stories, though he can't break entirely away from Neill (e.g.: Ozma). I really enjoyed his new look at Allegro DaCapo (aka The Musicker) in this issue, and the Scoodlers are appropriately menacing.

Hey, next issue, Johnny Dooit and the Sand Boat! I wonder how Skottie will depict the visiting dignitaries...

Dorothy of Oz Prequel #4

Okay, this mini-series is finally done.

There's really no way to tell about the plot of this without spoiling it, so consider this your spoiler warning:

Heading back to the Emerald City to find a prism for the Rainbow Mover to bring Dorothy back to Oz, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion are attacked by Winged Monkeys. Meanwhile, Glinda catches up on the current events using the Book of Records (I'm thinking this is a shout-out for book fans, I wouldn't watch for it in the movie), and we see how Dorothy's doing in Kansas.

The story feels insubstantial, and this has been keenly felt throughout the series. Issue #2 was really good, but overall, it doesn't look like Dorothy of Oz really needs a prequel. Especially when you consider that we'll have to wait about a whole year to see this movie.

This series just offers some likely to be unnecessary back story. Issue #2 provided some good action scenes, but the series would have been much better if the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion had tried to confront the Jester, been defeated, escaped back to the Emerald City and used the Rainbow Mover. Which has the worst name ever. (This actually would have been a bit in line with the Russian Magic Land books by Volkov, in which they'd call on Elli and later her sister as a last resort.)

It's nothing against the writer, they likely had to work with what they were given so it'd be in line with the movie, which they definitely couldn't have seen. And I sure won't blame the artists (though I am not a fan of the designs still, I guess I can live with them), since they have to adhere to certain designs. They do great with what they got to do, but overall this series really wasn't impressive.

So... waiting for the movie now...

All-Action Classics: The Wizard of Oz

Another comic book adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? How many have we had in the past 10 years? This is about the seventh one!

Well, that art looks cool.

Okay, so I caved and bought this adaptation. While we longtime Oz fans and comic collectors may tire of seeing the story done over in the same medium so many times, this one actually shows that there is more than one way to approach it.

Ben Caldwell's approach is not a straightforward approach by any means. Instead of retelling the Baum story or going the Marvel route and closely adapting Baum's dialogue, he instead reworks the story into an action-packed, colorful, funny romp.

Kansas isn't fleshed out much, and rather than showing a stressed relationship between Dorothy and her guardians, it instead shows Dorothy wanting to see more of the world before the Cyclone strikes.

In Oz, after Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road, things really start kicking into gear as she quickly gains her companions (the Lion keeps trying to eat Toto, Dorothy having to remove him from his mouth—twice). The adventures down the road are markedly different, starting with them finding the Queen of the Field Mice locked in a cage by a Kalidah, who soon appears, prompting the crossing of a gap using a fallen tree. After this escape, they roll into the Poppy Field, which the Lion identifies as the "Poison Poppies." Everyone falls asleep, but are rescued by the mice.

The Emerald City has a big nod to the "Wash and Brush Up" company of the MGM movie, mixing it with the "Green Girl" (later Jellia Jamb) from the book. They are warned that the Wizard may appear in any form, and a panel shows a fairy, a fireball, and a hideous beast, but all the friends are shown to the Wizard at one time, and he uses the Great Head form, which has been accentuated with a big beard this time.

The Wicked Witch of the West is a little similar to how the Good Witch of the North looked: a diminutive, plump lady who'd look funny if she didn't look so wicked. The attacks are done differently: the Scarecrow manages to just scare the crows away, the wolves break off their teeth on the Tin Woodman, and the Lion manages to scare away a bunch of Kalidahs the Witch sends.

While Dorothy slaves away as the Witch asks her for the slippers (explaining that they must be given or found for the magic to work), the Scarecrow's pieces manage to reassemble themselves, and soon the Tin Woodman as well. They head off to rescue Dorothy, but not before Dorothy manages to take care of the Witch herself.

The adaptation takes a page from the film version of The Wiz, having the Winged Monkeys drop Dorothy and her friends off right at the Wizard's palace, so they catch him unprepared.

The Wizard gives Dorothy and her friends placebos for what they wanted, and the Good Witch of the North appears and tells Dorothy how to use the slippers. (Glinda was mentioned in the beginning as being "mostly good.") Dorothy does ask her why she wasn't told before, and the Good Witch tells her that she never would have helped out her friends and the Land of Oz would still be in the thrall of the Wicked Witch. (I think this North Witch is only "mostly good" herself.)

So, Dorothy goes home. The end.

The art is pretty fun and cartoonish. Dorothy herself, I gotta admit, is pretty cute, even with the gap in her teeth. The Tin Woodman looks kind of French, though, and the Lion has a weird bulbous nose that looks like it has the standard nose painted on. The art's pretty pleasing.

Overall, if you're not tired of comics adaptations of Oz, here's a rather faithful one with some fun twists!

Get your copy on Amazon.com.

Ozopolis 3!

I got my copy of Ozopolis #3 yesterday. Actually, copies. Right now, they have the limited SDCC variant cover available on their online store. I decided to get both!

Well, we've talked about Ozopolis before at the Royal Blog of Oz. Last year, I reviewed the first two issues, then writer Kirk Kushin kindly agreed to a podcast interview where he got to tease us with a few bits about this new issue at hand.

Well, if you're unfamiliar with Ozopolis, you might want to read my review of the first two before continuing on.

Done that? Okay.

Issue #3 opens with Ozma searching for the Magic Belt after it was lost in issue #2. Jack Pumpkinhead was looking for it himself, when his head fell down a hole and into a odd little town. Ozma herself goes to fetch it beack, in an adventure that I think owes a bit of a loving nod to the Ewoks from The Return of the Jedi.

Meanwhile, Trot is trying to find answers at Glinda's palace when she's introduced to Synlinda, Glinda's cousin. Something about Synlinda makes Trot uneasy.

Also, the Ozopolis debut of the Tin Woodman!

There's also a backup feature which is a text-only story about Toto as he looks for help defying the rude Fighting Trees in the Quadling Country. It is, however, illustrated and features the Ozopolis debut of the Cowardly Lion.

Another fine issue, though the standalone part of the story was much more closely tied to the overall story arc than the the previous two issues. However, the end of the issue says "To Be Concluded," so it looks likes we'll see the conclusion of this story... next year. Looking forward to it!

"Wizard of Oz" Classics Illustrated Junior Comic

A few years ago I got an old Wizard of Oz comic (from ebay or somewhere online, I'm sure). Of course it was old, so it was faded, slightly torn and in a fragile state. At a news agency I saw reprints of other comics printed in the same way and so looked and hoped to find one for "Wizard", to no avail.

On my return to the Winkie Convention for 2012, one surprise I pleasantly acquired was a restored/remastered reprint of the comic. And so I will be talking about the comic/s here, both the old and the reprint as well as thoughts related to the two.

STORY

After a full page illustration of the (four) friends seeing the Emerald City in the distance, the story begins with the tornado approaching the Kansas farm. Dorothy's attempt to catch Toto from her bed has her caught and taken by the tornado (no trap-door sequence) to Oz, where she is greeted by three little old blue men and a short old white woman (we know she's the Witch of the North, but that is not actually established) who, not having heard of Kansas, suggest she go see the Wizard. They disappear (which I don't get).

Journeying down the yellow brick road (no basket), Scarecrow bids good-day to Dorothy and is taken off his pole before asking to get some brains (no origin). Together they meet and rescue the Tin Woodman who hopes OZ can give him a heart (no origin either), before a Lion charges onto the road and attacks them until Dorothy slaps his (oversized) nose. Admitting his shame, he is invited to come along to see the Wizard. But then the Tin Woodman steps on an insect and rusts his jaw until scarecrow oils him free again.

Lion carries his friends on his back as they cross a ditch dividing their path, before Scarecrow thinks to have a tree chopped down to cross another ditch that is too wide for Lion to jump across (no Kalidahs, no river, no Poppies and no Wildcat/Field Mice Queen, or green house for that matter). At last they see a distant green glow and reach the Emerald City, where the Guardian of the Gates (who looks a bit like Elmer Fudd, with a bit more weight loss) gives them Green Spectacles to wear before guiding them through the streets. Outside the Palace, a Soldier with a Long Green Beard (he doesn't seem tall) passes on their message and allows them in.

Meeting the Wizard all together in his Throne room, the old man (no humbug effects of Giant Heads, Lovely Winged Ladies, Terrible Beast or Fireballs here) listens to their requests but will only grant them if they destroy the one Wicked Witch of the West. Returning the green spectacles, the Gate guardian is asked how to find the Witch. Since there is no road as he says, she will make them her slaves soon as they enter her country by walking west where the sun sets.

The Wicked Witch is outside and sees them in the distance (with BOTH her eyes having telescope vision), so she cries out "Ziz-zy, Zuz-zy, Zik!" to summon the Winged Monkeys and orders them to bring the strangers to her, which they do (there is no fight or struggle, they probably don't want to hurt the cute little creatures). The Witch demands Dorothy's friends to be thrown into prison but leads Dorothy (and Toto) to the kitchen where she orders to have the kitchen attended to. Toto attempts to bite her, the Witch intends to strike him but Dorothy throws water at the Witch and melts her, leaving nothing but her key and her Silver Shoes.

Taking both of these, Dorothy frees her friends and they return to the Wizard. Back in the Throne Room (with Green Spectacles again), OZ tells them that they've always had what they've wanted - and even points out when they proved it - but at Scarecrow's plea he does give them bran, a heart and drink. Dorothy is happy that her friends have what they want and the Wizard tells her that the Witch's Silver Shoes have wonderful powers that she can command. (No Glinda here!)

Farewells exchanged, Dorothy closes her eyes and wishes to go home (no three heel clicks) and is reunited with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, the Silver Shoes disappeared.

The comic also adapts an Aesop's Fable of "the Fox and the Lion" (who looks very much like the Oz lion) in which a Fox learns how not to be scared of something by getting used to it, a page to "Old Mother Hubbard" (the short version), a page on "the Animal World: the Koala" and ends with the end flap having a colouring page of the friends with the Cowardly Lion.

The LOOK

This is a pretty good comic, though what has been condensed and left to background knowledge is sometimes a let down. The look here is of a cartoonish sort of take, while the illustrations for adaptations of "Cinderella" and "Romeo & Juliet" were more detailed and lifelike (a bit like John R Neill).

The characters on the cover look different to inside (especially Toto's breed, Dorothy's head and hair size, Scarecrow's eyes and face, Lion's nozzle and Tin Woodman's face).

Again the Munchkin men are clones of each other and have no real personality. The Wicked Witch of the West is too cartoonish - makes me think of the Harvey comic characters (Casper, Richie Rich, etc.) - and if she has the Silver Shoes WHY hasn't she wished herself invulnerable to water or more powerful? Her Silver Shoes, meanwhile, are long-toed and do not appear very flattering on Dorothy's feet.

Lion has an oversized head which doesn't match his small body and exceedingly bushy mane. Dorothy—again—has a Judy Garland look but her hair is different and she bares a resemblance to Liza Minelli's animated portrayal while Toto is too pretty and unlikely suitable for a farm.

Emerald City doesn't really get a good enough look, but the few backgrounds we see are both elegant and simple (except for the zig-zagged street). Scarecrow is very Bolger-esque, his face being too detailed (which can be creepy and downright ugly at times) unlike the cover which would be a better look and likewise so is the Tin Woodman Haley-like.

The yellow brick road looks more like a game layout or a checkerboard with just ONE Colour. But despite the visual shortcomings and story abridgement, the writing isn't too bad as it contains a good amount of the text and dialogue from the book.

The REPRINT & Changes

While it is great that the comic has been given a remastered reprint (sometimes I wasn't even sure if I would get one at all!), it's not an exact replica and here are the changes (and bloopers, naturally even - or especially - with today's digital technology):

• The colours are of course more brighter, clearer, cleaner and at times flat but solid. I can't say for sure if my old comic has yellow pages from age or if that's how it was originally printed, but the new comic is definitely on new white clean paper.
• The reprint comic is actually smaller than the original, in height and width, so therefore the panels have slightly minimized so that the images can still fit in together on the page. However this cannot be said for the Cover, as with the new "Good Literature" tag and barcode, the image is somewhat cramped.
• The original comic had a "What Is it?" join-the-dots image (of a train) on the front flap for children to draw. The reprint loses this activity and replaces it with a photo and biography of L Frank Baum, as well as a more detailed production printing with links, etc.
• I don't like how what was originally and clearly hand-coloured is now digitally copied. Look closely and you can see that the reprint cover colours are lumpy, sloppy, almost disconnected and the black doesn't sit well, cover or insides. Also notice how Scarecrow's stitching on the side is gone and his mouth is a bit more open than before, while Tin Woodman's mouth is not as open as before.
• Look at the writing and you will see not only is it a different font, but the writing has also changed from all capitals to the proper use of lower case except when needed. The bordering for the panels and text also appears thicker and even some lining on the characters become thick and later their look or eye contact.
• Not all the colours a more vibrant than before and quite often the details of finer moments, such as grass, a face, shading or such are Lost and therefore render the image flatter by comparison. Sometimes by comparison, the new printing can also be too colourful. Subtlety is usually the best approach in most cases. 
• As above, in some panels Dorothy has blush or rosy cheeks that are nice and barely noticeable in the original (other times they're not nice). In the Reprint, at times it appears as if she has a terrible sting or zit!
• When the friends return to Oz, his shoes have been changed from light green to black (losing the details of the wrinkles) and the steps leading up to his throne are now more light blue than green.

• One Good thing that comes from this reprint is that the Wizard longer appears to fade into his chair, as his Throne has a different shade of green than before. Note, however, that Dorothy's eyes and spectacles are the same as her skin instead of white and yellow, the line separating him from his visitors has been removed. And why didn't they change the Tin Woodman's background colour from yellow to green here?

Also have a good look at the WWWitch in these two comparisons of the same panels - pay extra attention to her teeth and gown, the floor and her lower tooth

So here we have a relatively faithful comic adaptation of the original L Frank Baum story, again using some slight MGM-imagery with Baum text and dialogue with some changes often common in others but are loop-holes or gaps in narrative. Not too bad an adaptation.

The reprint presents an improved and more sturdy collection of the story, however it is not perfect and that is surprising given today's technology with Blu-Ray, 3D, CG and all that! It should have been better.

So, there's my blog for this week! If you get to see this comic for yourself and you find you enjoy it, get it if you can. There actually are a few much nicer ones of the original on eBay. Go check it out!

Check out Jared's review from six years ago!