Today's Other (Final?) Oz Cartoon

Wow, they're still coming in! Political cartoonist Steve Kelley put up this comic today. I'm not sure if it quite counts as a political cartoon, as there are no politicians or contemporary events, and the joke works no matter the news source. But hey, any excuse to get Oz into the newspapers, right?

Today's Oz Comics

And the beat goes on:

• First, Lola decided on her costume. Good choice!
• In today's edition of The Argyle Sweater, the proprietor of the local liquor store seems to be driving away business. (I might not have included this one if it weren't for the name of the second product from the right.)
• And over in Nest Heads, a little costume ambiguity raises its head. (Well that original Iron Man costume could be mistaken for Mr. Chopper, to be honest.)

Today's Oz Comic

Whew, it's getting a little more manageable now, with only one, and it's a continuation of the faŭ-Wookiee costume storyline in Rose Is Rose. fun punchline today, though!

Today's Oz Comics

Good grief, it's becoming a flood!

• First, following up on yesterday's Rose Is Rose, I think Jimbo is catching on! (Knowing this strip, it wouldn't surprise me if the entire family goes along with it and are in Oz costumes it two days!)
• It seems that Lola may be having similar thoughts for her costume. (Knowing this strip, this will be a one-off.)
• I think we saw something similar once to today's edition of Spectickles in The Far Side many years ago, but it makes sense. (Not knowing this strip well, I think this is probably a one-off.)
• And in politics, John Cole retreads an idea that's been done before over the last two and a half years that is, sadly, still relevant. (Knowing this administration, yeah, there will be more political cartoons like this before it's all over.)

Today's Oz Comic

All I will say about today's edition of Rose Is Rose is, I think Aunt Betty is actually an Oz fan, because that alleged Wookiee sure looks familiar!

Today's Oz Comics

It's starting to get really crazy with Oz comics! Here are two I would not normally expect:

• Today in In the Bleachers—a sports comic, and so a place you wouldn't expect Oz to show up—they have a pretty good Oz reference!
• Not to be outdone, in today's edition of Rubes—a comic where you would be more likely to find Oz references—they actually have a character created by Ruth Plumly Thompson!

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Welcome to Oz Mitch

While visiting Munchkinland, a Kansas boy named Mitch ends up in the fountain, having been swept there by a storm. He wants to go home, but Dorothy offers to show him around Oz first. Of course, Frank and Lyman see what's happening and report on the new visitor from Kansas to the Wicked Witch and Wilhelmina. Thinking Dorothy must have brought Mitch to Oz with some powerful magic, Wilhelmina goes out to get him so they can find out what it is. On the tour, Mitch isn't impressed with any of the strange sight, like giant birds, mermaids, singing trees, or even the Woozy, whom Mitch dismisses as just being a huge cat. (The Woozy takes that description personally.) But once Mitch hears there's a Wizard, he gets all excited about magic, so long as he isn't turned into a duck. While waiting to see the Wizard, Wilhelmina finds out Mitch is even more excited about witches, so she offers to take him to her castle. Wilhelmina does some magic for him while the Wicked Witch grills him, but he has no idea how he got to Oz, he just wants Wilhelmina to do more magic for him. Over and over and over, until Wilhelmina is all spelled out! It does no good, Mitch just wants to see even more magic! Wilhelmina eventually turns to someone who can help her get rid of Mitch—Dorothy! Of course she has an idea, which starts with Wilhelmina turning Mitch into a duck! Wilhelmina threatens to keep him forever, so Mitch decides he wants to go home after all. The Wizard, after a few false starts, manages to turn Mitch back into a boy, and uses his new transporter machine to successfully send Mitch home. Wilhelmina, checking to make sure Mitch is gone, vows once again to take the Ruby Slippers from Dorothy—then quietly thanks Dorothy for helping with her problem before flying off.

It's nice to see that Dorothy isn't the only character who comes from outside Oz. Mitch is not quite as nice as Dorothy; he's actually pretty annoying, and I'll bet the good citizens of Kansas won't take too kindly to his hillbilly rube "hyuk hyuk" performance. For me, the star of this episode is Wilhelmina, as she gets to do quite a bit, and she may be seeing Dorothy more as a frenemy than she did before. And Dorothy knows enough psychology to understand exactly how to handle Mitch. This was a fun one, even with the annoyance of Mitch.

This Week's Oz Short Story

By a wild coincidence, with Halloween coming up, the 2006 issue of Oziana is The Haunted Issue, with somewhat more macabre takes on Oz than usual. Case in point, the first story, "The Wailing Witch of Oz" by Daniel Gobble, illustrated by John Mundt, Esq. Dorothy, the Wizard and the Sawhorse head to the tiny town of Bluffburg, in the far northeastern part of the Gillikin Country, just on the edge of the Deadly Desert. They've gotten reports of people falling into the desert, more that seems random. The people of Bluffburg are wary of strangers, however, preferring to deal with issues on their own. But Dorothy and the Wizard slowly manage to win key people over and earn their trust. They learn about Pribyl, a witch who came to town many decades earlier and was accused of kidnapping one of the boys in town for her own nefarious ends. She was driven into the desert, but since then every few years she is heard wailing, and someone then falls off the bluff and into the desert to meet her fate. After some research in the local library, Dorothy and the Wizard find out more about the early years of Bluffburg, not long after Oz was enchanted, and it seems the people of Bluffburg are not quite as innocent as they claim to be. When the latest series of wails causes the Wizard to fall, Dorothy finally climbs down the bluff and finds Pribyl's cave, where her spirit has been trying to reach out to the people of Bluffburg for their help ever since she fell into the desert. Dorothy also finds that the people of Bluffburg and the Wizard have not fallen into the desert, but petrified and embedded into the side of the bluff to preserve them. Now that she finally has someone to talk to, Pribyl shares her story with Dorothy. It seems Pribyl didn't kidnap the boy many years ago, he really did fall into the desert. The townspeople thought she'd lured him there because of the toys they found, but they actually belonged to her own son. Fearing the worst, she put the baby on a doorstep in town just before her fall, and the child was raised by the local librarian. With help from the Sawhorse, several strong ropes, and the muscles of the men of Bluffburg, Dorothy is able to help the petrified people so that Pribyl can disenchant them. Once she knows that her son is well and happy, Pribyl's spirit lets go and moves on.

This is a nicely atmospheric story. Bluffburg is painted in only a few deft strokes as an interesting place, isolated from the rest of Oz with people who have had to become self-reliant, so trust of others does not come easy. That lack of trust, however, proves to be their undoing, as they end up killing an innocent woman in a harsher, earlier time, and don't recognize that she does not hold a grudge and is trying to help them. It takes more outsiders, in the form of Dorothy and the Wizard, to help Bluffburg understand their own failings. But all turns out well in the end. One thing I liked about this story is that the Sawhorse does more than just pull the Red Wagon. He doesn't do much, and he doesn't find anything in his investigations, but just the fact that the Wizard asks him to go out and ask people about what's going on gives the Sawhorse a lot more to do than he does in most books he appears in.

Today's Oz Political Cartoons

Wow, if this witch hunt goes on much longer, everyone in the current administration will have been portrayed as the Wicked Witch of the West! The two latest cases:

• The current Commander-in-Chief, this time portrayed by J. D. Crowe of the Mobile Register.
• New this time around is Bill Barr, drawn by R. J. Matson of Roll Call.

With the current woes at the Department of Education, I wonder when Betsy DeVos gets her shot at it?

Today's Oz Comics

And they keep on coming!

• In today,s Mother Goose and Grimm, Grimm has an extreme reaction to a common occurrence, even for a dog.
• In politics, David Fitzsimmons has given Rudolph Giuliani a new role in the current witch hunt.

Today's Additional Oz Comics

I found one earlier today, but my man in Japan Michael-sensei found three more. That may be a new record for most Oz comics in one day. So let's catch you up!

• I hope the version of one Oz character in today's edition of 9 to 5 pre-dates his first meeting with Dorothy; otherwise, it makes no sense.
• It looks like Elphaba and Nessarose couldn't agree on something, based on what's happening in WaynoVision. But I'm sure they'll work it out.
• And in politics, you'll never guess who Michael Ramirez has portraying the Wicked Witch of the West? That's right, she's back, baby!

Today's Oz Comic

This week, Thatababy has been profiling a daily Creature Under the Crib leading up to Halloween. Well, today it's someone near and dear to many fans of the Oz books. Thanks to Paul Trap for bringing attention to L. Frank Baum the books!

Today's Oz Comic

All I will say about today's edition of Birdbrains is, I thought his name was Nick!

Today's Oz Comic Project to Back

I'm sure many of you are familiar with my posts about the comic book Legend of Oz: The Wicked West, and how much I enjoyed it. It's a retelling of the Oz saga set in a Wild West version of Oz. Dorothy is a gunslinger wearing ruby spurs, Toto is her horse, the Scarecrow is a life-sized living kachina, and so forth. After (roughly) retelling the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the series went on to introduce characters and situations from the later Oz books while telling its own stories based solidly in the writings of L. Frank Baum. The series stopped at issue 18, and reprints started coming out from Aspen Comics when it acquired the original publisher, Big Dog, Ink. Well, creator Tom Hutchison appears to have gotten the rights to do new issues, because he's bringing it back! He has a Kickstarter campaign going right now to bring the series back with a forty page special called Sundown. After only one day, the book is nearly fully funded, but there's always those stretch goals. And you'll be getting a pretty sweet comic book. This is one of the most affordable Kickstarter campaigns I have seen, with all kinds of options to get the book, and various extras, for under $40. I hope you will join me in backing this project.

This Week's Oz Short Story

The longest, and final, story from the 2005 edition of Oziana is "The Red Desert of Oz" by Nathan M. DeHoff, with illustrations by John Mundt, Esq. The Scarecrow, Button-Bright, and their goblin guide, Frargran, are sailing along the Quadling River on a voyage to Hyrystalia when they come to the Red Desert and the city of Aldehydea. Stopping in to pay a visit, they are arrested and thrown into the dungeon, as King Ether is on the verge of overthrowing Glinda and taking what he feels is his rightful place as ruler of the Quadlings! it seems the king's great-grandfather, fearing the wicked witches, took his family and fled into the desert, leaving Glinda, the court sorceress, to act as Regent. So, in the dungeons, the Wizard, Button-Bright, and Frargran meet Cladistus, who spoke out against the invasion, and General Idea, who refused to lead the army into battle against Glinda. Through pooled resources and clever thinking, and an assist from Princess Ester, who disagrees with her brother, they all team up and escape. They head to Glinda's, foil the plot, and find that Ether's family relinquished their claims to the throne years ago. It seems Lanthanidos, the Vizier, has been stirring up trouble and influencing Ether. To put things right, Glinda removes Ether as king of the Red Desert and puts Ester on the throne in his place. Ester then puts her brother on the ruling council, fires Lanthanidos, appoints Cladistus the new Vizier, and restores control og the army to Idea with the promise not to invade anyone. And the crew from the Emerald City take off on their journey again.

There is a lot going on in this story. DeHoff manages to create an intriguing country in Hyrystalia, with creatures like ropers and warpions, and an intriguing backstory for the ruling dynasties of the Quadling Country. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Scarecrow Goes to College

Scarecrow enrolls at Wogglebug College to learn more stuff. Frank and Lyman report this to Wilhelmina, so the Wicked Witch decides this is a chance to infiltrate the group, tasking Wilhelmina with coming up with a plan. Eventually, they decide that the Wicked Witch should disguise herself as the Scarecrow! Meanwhile, the Scarecrow, acting smarter than anyone else at college and missing his friends, comes up with a plan to get him out of there. The Witch, now looking like a green-skinned version of the Scarecrow, meets up with the group and suggests stopping in Comfort County for a nap. While Dorothy and the Lion are napping and Tin Man goes out for a walk, the Witch tries to take the Ruby Slippers. Foiled by the Lion's tossing and turning and Toto getting a bone, they next come to Riddle Road and encounter the Riddle Raiders. They have to answer three riddles or be trapped. They luck out and answer the first two, but without Scarecrow there, the Witch calls on Frank and Lyman (!) to answer a riddle about bananas in a coconut tree. They get it wrong, and are about to be trapped when the real Scarecrow turns up. They beg for another riddle, which the Scarecrow, answers easily. The Riddle Raiders, having promised their freedom, slink off, while the Wicked Witch heads back to the castle. The Scarecrow, it seems, wanted to get out and see his friends so badly that he sped up his college studies and graduated early—and he's now Professor Scarecrow!

This was a fun one, with the Wicked Witch failing miserably at being the Scarecrow, Frank and Lyman painting Wilhelmina's toenails purple, the hammock trees of Comfort County, and the Riddle Raiders, who look like talking books dressed as pirates. Their leader talks like Peter Lorre as he dishes out rhyming riddles. And we get to see Professor Wogglebug in action again. I think you can tell that I enjoyed this one, too.

Today's Oz Comic

This may not actually be him, but the patient in today's edition of Brevity sure looks like Jack Pumpkinhead. And he's made a pun I'm sure L. Frank Baum would appreciate.

(Hey, how come Jack only shows up in the comics in October?)

Today's Oz Political Cartoon

My second favorite political cartoonist, Tom Toles, has this comment on who's having a meltdown in Washington right about now.

Today's Oz Comics

A double dose today.

• First, I think I remember seeing this one before, but this edition of 1 and Done is still very Ozzy.
• And in the political corner, Robert Ariall has some commentary on Donald Trump's latest boasting.

This Week's Oz Short Story

The second story in the 2005 edition of Oziana is "The Patchwork Girl's Pet" by Peter Schulenberg, with illustrations by Sheena Hisiro. Appropriately for a story about Scraps, it's written as a series of quatrains. In other words, it's a poem. Scraps laments not having a pet. Dorothy has Toto, Betsy has Hank, why can't she have one, too? She has some particular parameters she hopes it meets, and sets out to find a pet that meets them. One of her first stops involves a conversation with a mouse named Larry, who thinks he can help her out, as he knows a lot of other animals in the area. They set out together, visiting many animals who don't quite fit what Scraps is looking for. Along the way, though, Scraps and Larry sing silly songs together and tell each other jokes and funny stories and do funny dances, and have a great time. By the end of the day, Scraps laments not finding a pet, so Larry suggests himself! True, he doesn't fit into Scraps' original plans, but she sees the wisdom in his words anyway and readily agrees. The story closes with Scraps and her new pet, Larry the Mouse, heading back to the Emerald City.

It's a charming little tale, and naturally anyone reading this could probably predict that Larry would become the pet as soon as he's introduced. I certainly enjoyed reading it again.

Since this was so short (and the final story of this issue so long), this is also a good chance for me to go over the extras in this issue. Kevenn T. Smith provides a colorful wraparound cover of a number of Oz characters skating on a pond (the back cover has the Wizard and Glinda zapping the water's surface, so I think we know why they are able to skate on it, particularly as it doesn't appear to be a cold day). In the back are three sudoku-style puzzles, only instead of numbers, solving them requires Oz characters. To make things even more interesting, the initial letters of each character spell out an Ozzy word or name in each puzzle's bottom row. And the final page, aside from the puzzles' answers cleverly hidden in another puzzle, is a call for contributors to Oziana.

Next week, we wrap up 2005!

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: The Tallest Munchkin

The Cowardly Lion meets Devin, the only Munchkin not invited to the annual Munchkin Dance-a-thon, because he's so tall. Dorothy and the rest of the gang try to help, and Devin flashes back to how it happened and was shunned by the other Munchkins. He decides to live in the forest. Dorothy and the gang tell him about their experiences being different, and he decides it's okay to be different. So Dorothy says he should go back to Munchkinland and win that Dance-a-thon. That is when Devin confesses he can't dance. No problem, the gang teaches him. It does not go well at first, but everyone persists and Devin gets to be pretty good. They show up in Munchkinland, and Devin is nervous, but he still challenges his chief rival, Randall, to a dance off. Devin's nerves get to him, however, and he doesn't do so well. He finally tries the Glinda Hop and kicks Randall into a tree! Dorothy points out that Randall should be nice, as Devin is the only one who can get him out of the tree! The other Munchkins start to accept Devin for who he is, and realize all the things he can do now that he's tall. He's happy now and has friends, ever since Dorothy and the gang befriended him and help him accept himself as he is.

This isa classic kids' show episode about dealing with being different and accepting it, both in oneself and others. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's a message everyone needs to hear repeatedly. Devin also illustrates what's in store for a lot of the show's audience in a few years, when Devin goes from a normal height to tall and gangly overnight—on his fourteenth birthday no less. They handle it well, with Dorothy and the guys all telling Devin about how they, too, are different and overcame their problems. The animators also have fun with the dance montage, throwing in all kinds of different styles. "The Jitterbug" even gets a brief mention, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was about the musical number cut out of The Movie. At any rate, I enjoyed this one, and Devin had a pretty good character arc for being in a cartoon only eleven minutes long.

This Week's Oz Political Cartoon

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both been portrayed as one particular Oz character. Now, thanks to the current impeachment inquiry and the pen of Jimmy Margulies, it's Rudy Giuliani's turn.

Today's Oz Comics

Wow, we've been having a good run of them lately, and today we have two:

• In today's Mother Goose and Grimm, it seems the Wizard is doing a little side business in extra organs.
• Today's Off the Mark made me laugh real loud when I saw it. But I suppose it would be the oly way that would work.

Today's Oz (no ish!) Comic

Today in Break of Day, the Tin Woodman finds himself in some hot water.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Don't Follow the Yellow Brick Road

The gang are out on an aimless ramble, and decide to go somewhere they haven't been before—by not following the Yellow Brick Road! They find a side road, and their absence allows the Nome King and Kaliko to come out and infiltrate the palace. Not very convincingly disguised as Ozma, the Nome King infiltrates the royal vault and makes off with the magic moving potion. So what does he want to move? He moves the Emerald City underground, into the Nome Kingdom! Meanwhile, Dorothy and the gang are in an unusual part of Oz with moving trees and dancing flowers, and a different view of Oz—including the spot where the Emerald City used to be. In its new location, the Nome King finds he has less power over his new subjects than he thought he would, as the Munchkins try to make the place less gloomy by creating windows, suggesting cleaning up and getting rid of the bats, and putting in a playground. The Nome King realizes moving the Emerald City just created more problems, but he can't reverse the magic moving spell. Fortunately, there is one person who can help, and Kaliko finds her, her three friends, and her little dog, too, on the edge of the hole where Emerald City used to stand. After some brainstorming, Dorothy finally asks Ozma if there's a potion to reverse the moving potion. Sure enough, there is one, Ozma uses it to put the Emerald City back in place, and all is as it should be—except for the Munchkins left behind it the Nome Kingdom, who are still trying to renovate and create windows.

A harmless little tale, but it's nice to see the Nome King again. His idea kind of felt like his using unfamiliar magic in Kabumpo in Oz, another story that left a mysterious hole in the middle of the Emerald City. There were also some fun messages about trying new and different things, and a pretty funny sequence where all the boys (including Toto!) ask Dorothy, "Don't follow the Yellow Brick Road?" echoing Dorothy's exit from Munchkinland in The Movie.

Next week, the tallest Munchkin!

This Week's Oz Short Story

I'm back to reading Oziana again, and the first story in the 2005 issue is "Jinjur's Journal" by Loralee Petersen, with illustrations by Kevenn T. Smith. Retirement does not seem to suit the former Army of Revolt and short-lived Queen of the Emerald City, but she keeps a journal for posterity's sake. She takes up knitting, and her sweater wins a blue ribbon. This leads her to befriending a cow named Opal, who sort of manipulates her owner into courting Jinjur, and they eventually get married and settle in a nice quiet little Munchkin farming village. Jinjur being Jinjur, however, she can't really leave well enough alone, and ends up trying ho help out her neighbors while making sure her new husband knows exactly who's in charge. It's a little slice-of-life tale that neatly bridges Jinjur's appearances in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Tin Woodman of Oz (her cameo in Ozma of Oz is overlooked), and is true to her nature.

Today's Oz-ish Comic

Back when the calendar still said it was September, Eek! published this comic, featuring a man with a pumpkin for a head named Jack. I posted it in the Wizard of Oz Comics group on Facebook, and bookmarked it for my personal collection, but didn't think it was quite Ozzy enough to publish it here. Well, here I am now making up for that, as Jack is back in today's Eek!. I am definitely sensing a trend. Perhaps he will show up a few more times this month. Someone should tell his friend, however, that pumpkin spice is not actually made from pumpkins.

Today's Oz Comic

I gotta admit, today's edition of The Argyle Sweater is far from my favorite Oz comic. In fact, it's pretty lame, and an old joke going at least as far back as Saturday Night Live doing "The Incredible Man", a Canadian-based spoof of The Wizard of Oz way back in 1979. But hey, any excuse to get Oz into the comics, right?

Today's Oz Comic

Over in Heart of the City, Heart has just won the election for class president. The power may have gone to her head. Good thing Dean is there to keep her grounded.

Today's Oz Comic

Apparently Mother Goose and Grimm never heard that Dorothy moved to Oz permanently and stayed a kid. But then we wouldn't have today's comic.