Today's Bumper Crop of Ozzy Halloween Comics

Holy flaming cow, five comics to repart on today, with variable degrees of Ozziness:

• In today's Arctic Cirle, that could be Jack in the final panel, at a stretch.
• I think you'll easily recognize the Oz costume in today's edition of Jump Start.
• I'm pretty sure you'll figure out who that one kid is dressed as in this particular Blondie strip.
• This one's a stretch, but in black and white that new character in the third panel of today's installment of Luann looked more like Glinda than in this colorized verison.
• And finally, holiday greetings from The Wizard of Id (appropriately enough).
  I think things will start getting back to some semblance of normal tomorrow.

Today's Oz Halloween Costumes Post

With only five more days until Halloween, of course the comics have lots of costumed characters. Some should look very familiar.

• In today's Baby Blues, the MacPhersons are trying to figure out group costumes.
• In The Duplex today, I think one pair is going as the iconic duo from Wicked.
• A developing story in Breaking Cat News: She is definitely a good cat.

Finally, Jack Pumpkinhead also is wearing his best outfit in today's Rose Is Rose.

Today's Oz Comics

Good grief, more???

• I don't see what the issue is in today's Bound and Gagged, there's plenty to go around!
• Meanwile, in the latest Adam@Home, Clayton seems to be done with his current Halloween/Oz cosplay attempt.

Today's Oz-esque Comics

Good grief, three of them today!

• Today in Thatababy, a tribute to the greatest movie Sean Connery ever made. (No, not The Gnomemobile!)
• The dream trip continues in Luann.
• In today's Adam@Home, Clayton continues his Jack Pumpkinhead cosplay. It is not going well.

Today's Not-Really-Ozzy Holiday Comic

This is the time of year when Jack Pumpkinhead gets really busy. He shows up today in Close to Home.

Yesterday's Jack Pumpkinhead Comic

Jack makes another appearance in Brewster Rockit!

Today's Jack Pumpkinhead Comic

Well today's Brewster Rockit claims he's an updated version of the Headless Horseman, but I think we all can recognize who's actually playing the part.

Today's Jack Pumpkinhead Comic

Yeah, I sincerely doubt that that guy selling gourds in today's edition of CowTown is actually an Oz character, despite his appearance. So I'm not calling it an Oz comic, even though I'm going to secretly pretend it is. I suspect Jack will show up in a few more unexpected places between now and Monday.

Today's Oz Comic

Yes, I do mean today. I found this edition of Strange Brew in my comics feed this morning. I gather the cartoonist is unfamiliar with Blinkie, Singra, or any of the other potential claimants to the title.

Yesterday's Extra Oz Comic

Yeah, yesterday's Halloween edition of Working Daze slipped through the cracks, so you get to enjoy it today. No, the comic, while amusing, isn't particularly Ozzy—but there is that one guest on the very far left who looks extremely familiar.

Today's Oz Comics, Halloween Edition

Okay, technically one of these is from yesterday, but it fits the holiday nicely, so I'll give myself a pass today.

• First, from yesterday's Andertoons, yet another variation on one particular Oz character getting into the spirit of the holiday in a particular way. But this is at least another perspective on it.
• And in today's edition of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, a little bit of Oz knowledge that I suspect most of us already knew. But nice Denslow homage in the illustration! (And it was the bit about CCR that I found particularly interesting myself.)

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.)

How Ozzy Was Halloween This Year?

We had a little lower turnout this year for Halloween than we have in recent years—we gave out only about 750 candy bars. Yes, I say "only" 750 because in the past we've given out over a thousand! What can I say, we live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating! But the big question is, did any Oz characters show up? Surprisingly, no Dorothy's this year, when we usually get two or three. But there were quite a few scarecrows (probably not Oz's Scarecrow, but close enough) and a few green-skinned witches, so not bad at all.

Meanwhile, I've seen the Wicked Halloween party concert, and it was a lot of fun, a great celebration of the show. I just wish we could have had some captions of who the other Elphabas and Galindas were during "For Good". Anyway, if you missed it, you can still watch it for a while on NBC's website. It was great seeing Kristin and Idina in action, Pentatonix did a great job with "What Is This Feeling?" (and yes, I'm pretty sure that's a man singing Glinda's part), and Ariana Grande put a lot of heart and soul into her rendition of "The Wizard and I". I hope this is an extra on the home media version of the Wicked movie once it finally comes out.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 31/Today's Oz Comics

I was sort of thinking about continuing on with the general witches theme and ponder about the origins of green being the color of wicked witches, and The Movie's role in popularizing that color—but today's comics are proving to be a much richer vein to mine, so once again I am combining two of my ongoing threads. Here are today's Halloween-themed Oz comics:

• Today's edition of The Argyle Sweater once again delves into the trope of zombies is Oz, but with an unexpected twist.
• The Wizard of Id has discovered an amazingly efficient way to collect candy tonight, complete with appropriate dialogue.

And today turned out to be a rare triple Oz comic day, as Ruthie in One Big Happy once again shows off her enjoyment of The Movie and propensity to mishear things.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 30

And we're in the home stretch, so let's talk witches. Oz is known for its witches. I've already talked about Mombi in this series (who, even after she had her powers taken away, came back to cause more mischief in The Lost King of Oz and, indirectly, The Giant Horse of Oz and Lucky Bucky in Oz. Blinkie, meanwhile, was a nasty piece of work in The Scarecrow of Oz, living in the isolated kingdom of Jinxland (and she even had three witch friends who helped her with a spell). Faleero is described as a fairy in Kabumpo in Oz, but let's face it, she's a witch. And Singra tries to make a comeback as the Wicked Witch of the South in the aptly titled The Wicked Witch of Oz. But there is, for many, only one true witch in Oz, and that's the Wicked Witch of the West. Her part is actually very small in the original novel that started this whole Oz phenomenon, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, only appearing in one chapter. Even I was surprised at that, last time I reread the book. She didn't even appear in the 1902 stage musical version, the 1925 movie, or the 1933 cartoon. It was MGM's need to give their famous film version in 1939 an ongoing antagonist, and Margaret Hamilton's classic performance, that cemented the image of the Wicked Witch of the West as the ultimate Oz villain. Writer Gregory Maguire, wanting to write a novel about the nature of evil, originally thought of Adolph Hitler, but realized how problematic that would be, so his next thought was the Wicked Witch of the West. (Ironically, there is now a book about Adolph Hitler in Oz!) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was an immediate hit, and almost immediately there was talk about a dramatic adaptation. Movies and television miniseries were first brought up, but eventually it became a Broadway musical that opened on this day in 2003, making this Wicked's fifteenth anniversary. And it's showing no sign of slowing down, so I have no doubt that it can go a lot longer. Last night's Halloween concert and the forthcoming movie adaptation just show how strong the story is. So happy birthday, Wicked.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 29

When I started this Halloween series, I had no idea that there'd actually be an Oz-themed Halloween special to report on later in the month. But we have one, and it's tonight! A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years onBroadway is on NBC tonight (10:00 pm Eastern and Pacific, check your local listings, no, I have no idea if it's being shown in other countries) does just what it says. It's hosted by the original Elphaba and Galinda, Edina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, with appearances by Ariana Grande and Pentatonix, and looks like it should be a lot of fun. Here's a preview clip:

Unfortunately, due to circumstances, I may not get to watch it right away, so my reaction may not become part of this Halloween series of blog posts. But I am very muchlooking forward to seeing this. And I'll have more thoughts on Wicked and Oz witches in general tomorrow.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 28

There seems to be a need among many writers to turn Oz dark. I'm not denying that Oz has its dark side, but that's always been the exception, and many Oz books are about characters going out to counteract that darkness and defeating those who embrace it. In general, Oz is a pretty neat place that's a lot of fun to visit, or even live in. Nevertheless, on top of the books I've already highlighted in this series of posts, I have listings in my shop for Dorothy: The Darker Side of Oz, Dorothy Gale, Vampire Hunter (and its sequel), Vampires and Oz, and the graphic novel No Place Like Home. But the epitome of this trend may be Shadows of the Emerald City, an anthology of short stories all set in darker, dystopian versions of Oz. In fact, it was my reading this collection that led me to my weekly reading of an Oz short story and resulting blog posts. Here's what I originally said about the collection, after reading the final story, in a 2014 post on this blog:

I think it's fair to say that, while I enjoyed a few of the individual stories, overall I was not impressed with this collection. While I've always maintained that there is no wrong way to write an Oz story, and I'm usually fine with Movie-based or other versions of Oz not based solely on the books, the many different bases for Oz in this collection struck me as confusing. Maybe it says something about me that the stories I liked the most are the ones based on the Oz books, and some of the later books at that. At any rate, if you're interested in some of these stories, you may want to check out the collection. But if you're an Oz purist, or a more sensitive reader, or think Oz should just be for children, then you'll want to stay away from this one.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about an upcoming Oz event that is bound to be quite Popular!

Today's Halloween Oz Comics

No, this is not part of my 31 Days of Halloween series, although I probably could do a retrospective of Oz appearances in Halloween comic strips. But with the holiday coming, so are the Oz costumes.

• I'm actually a day off, as an important question gets asked in the first panel of yesterday's edition of Mutts.
• Meanwhile, today in Thatababy, one family has found a way to maximize trick or treat acquisitions. (Wouldn't it take time and be less expensive to just wear one costume and hit up several different houses? Or just go out and buy more candy themselves?)

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 27

A quickie: I recently recalled this movie:

I haven't actually seen Fun Size, but hey, our main character is dressed as Dorothy for Halloween. That makes it a Halloween Oz movie in my book! It looks kind of dopey, and it's a PG-13 movie from Nickelodeon, so take it with a grain of salt. But if you're interested in owning it, here's where you can get it.

The 31 Days of Halloween, Oz Style: Day 26/Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Haunt Me Not

Yes, it's another double-duty post, fulfilling both my Halloween countdown and summaries of DatWoO episodes. This one follows directly from "Halloween Heist" as our friends, including Jack Pumpkinhead, go out to trick or treat, in the same costumes (and Toto, dressed like Woozy). They follow along the Yellow Brick Road and encounter some of their friends, including Patchwork Girl, Woozy (dressed as a cat), and the Lollipop Guild. Reaching the end of the road in Munchkinland, Jack innocently decides to follow the Red Brick Road, even though the others claim it's haunted. Sure enough, they come to a spooky castle where some sort of shrouded figure takes all their candy. Lion, despite his fears, wants his candy, so the gang storms in to confront the crook, who turns out to be Candyman, a man made of candy from the Valley of Bonbons, who needs the candy for food. He got lost and can't find his way back to the valley, so he's tricking people out of their candy just to survive. Dorothy has a simple solution, however, and one trip to the Valley of Bonbons via Ruby Slippers brings Candyman home. Plus, Lion has a lot more candy to eat!

okay, not as strictly Halloween-y as the last episode, but it's a fun one. And Candyman and the Valley of Bonbons may be homages to one of Baum's non-Oz stories, Dot and Tot of Merryland. It all fits in very nicely with the rest of the show, and also highlights how much the books and The Movie are neatly intertwined.