Today's Oz Not-Really-Political Cartoon

Peter Kuper, among other things, has drawn Spy Vs. Spy in Mad Magazine for the past many years. The other day, he had this advice for the season on his political cartoons page. I don't think this one has much about politics, though, and that's okay.

The Latest Oz Reading

Hooray, I'm tearing through everything else and have gotten around to my next wave of Oz reading again! But right now, I have an item that I found out about and acquired through an ad on Kickstarter. Mount Olympus Comics was looking to fund issue #3 of their series Samurai of Oz, so I bit the bullet and funded it, with my reward being a set of the first three issues. Hey, if an Oz comic can be set in the Old West, why not feudal Japan? It quickly became apparant that Samurai of Oz had a rather, shall we say, relaxed attitude towards women's clothing. And the women were also—hmm, how to put this delicately?—stacked. Endowed. Top heavy, even. Okay, not my usual, but I was still interested, and Laura was okay with it, so I went for it.

Dorothy Blade is a great samurai swordswoman (yeah, I know, women weren't samurai, but most of this doesn't make much sense anyway, so just go with it, okay?) who finds herself and her pet wolf, Toto, swept to a far-off land after surprising thieves in her home. In the ensuing battle, Dorothy's kimono pops open (I did tell you), and one of the thieves leaps from the body she's occupying and into Toto! To keep Toto alive, they strike an uneasy alliance, and are saved by the Blade of the East, who wants Dorothy's ruby-handles swords, by a scarecrow. But he's no fan of hers and wants to take care of Dorothy as well. Dorothy and "Toto" escape, aided by the honorable Blade of the North. The scare demon is now Dorothy's reluctant companion, and now that they are out of immediate danger, Dorothy takes off her clothes (yeah, again) and goes for a swim. In the process, she finds the head of a metal statue, which she brings to the surface. Bringing the head back to the body reunites the metal warrior, both body and soul, and he is grateful, vowing to kill the scare demon! But Dorothy steps in and commands them to stop, so they become reluctant allies to protect Dorothy. Next up is a lioness-spirit who hunts demons, but Dorothy defeats her, too. And that's where issue three leaves off.

The setting is sure different, and the characters are also a lot different than in most other adaptations of Oz. Since this is set in a violent, warlike time, the characters also act the same way. And all the elements of the Japanese supernatural culture also make it interesting. I plan to keep on reading this, even if it means I have to acquire subsequent issues via Kickstarter campaigns. But it is not a cheap book, each issue covers very little of the story, and, well, Dorothy gets naked a lot. So I suspect it's not going to be a book for everyone's tastes. If you are a real Oz completist, into Japanese mythology, or just like the general premise, you may want to get this. But I suspect a lot of people will understand if you choose to take a pass on this one.

Today's Oz Comic

I'll be even briefer than usual: I want Lio's drone!

Today's Oz Comic

Today in The Argyle Sweater—hey, who else are you going to get to represent you?

Oz in Jeopardy!

I've pretty much had to give up posting every single Oz clue from Jeopardy! over the past few years, for various reasons, but mostly because they just keep coming up, and it was getting very hard to keep up. Then there are all kinds of technical issues getting screen grabs now. But recently, they've started putting Final Jeopardy! up on YouTube, and it dawned on me this morning that I could post this one from September 30:

Today's Oz Comic

The Kansas Turnpike is a real road with an interesting history. However, I somehow doubt that the cutoff shown in today's Strange Brew actually exists.

Today's Oz Comic

This one's a bit of a stretch, but it's my blog so I get to decide. Yesterday's music edition of Trivquiz gives a little Ozzy background information on Lil Wayne. Not only that, another musician with an Oz acting credit also gets a mention.

Today's Oz Comic

I am so glad that I am happily married, because then I don't have to try to find someone. Nowadays, that means dating apps. Somehow, I don't trust the algorithms they use, if today's edition of Rhymes with Orange is any indication!

Today's Oz Comic

Although today's edition of The Argyle Sweater is clearly based on The Movie, L. Frank Baum is credited, for once, for creating the characters. This is a rarity in any medium! And now I want to see this character appear in a story!

Today's Oz…Um, "Political" Cartoon?

Yeah, this one's confusing, because it's from The Onion, which already makes it odd. I don't think you can really call their cartoons political, but they are editorial. Well, yesterday they ran one about the reopening of Broadway. Guess what the only actual show to be mentioned in it is? (Hint: It's not Dear Evan Hansen.)

Today's Oz Comics

Well it looks like, according to today's edition of The Argyle Sweater, Dorothy has found another good use for her magic slippers. Meanwhile, over at The Far Side, we have another classic favorite. (Bad dog, Toto!)

Today's Oz Comic

I seem to recall seeing today's edition of CowTown before. Someone on Facebook commented that the Hungry Tiger would really like some barbecue, and I added that he'd really like baby back ribs!

Today's New Oz Comic

Scary Gary is running for office. Fortunately, he has some experienced help with security issues.

Today's Vintage Oz Comic

Appearing in my comics feed today was this classic edition of Bloom County. Somehow, I don't think Senator Phipps is the only one who does that.

Today's Oz Political Cartoon

Joey Weatherford is a conservative political cartoonist who probably thinks he's being very original with this take on who controls the strings in Washington. But really, there have been accusations of someone controlling things from the opposition for years now. That could be just about any President since at least Wilson and it would still be current.

Today's Oz Comics

Yes, we have another two-fer for you today!

• In our "New Comics" division, it seems we are learning a little bit more about the Tin Woodman in today's edition of Bound and Gagged. (That is an odd coloring job on Nick's face, not at all unlike on some of the earliest movie posters when the rtist had no idea what the colors were actually supposed to be.
• In our "Classic Comics" division, this all-time classic showed up on the websiet for The Far Side today.

Today's Oz Comic

Over in Big Nate, Nate is looking forward to finally not having Mrs. Godfrey as his English teacher, as the summer staff shakeup has moved her up to eighth grade. Let's just say Nat has not taken it like a mature, rational kid! Yes, there may have been some gloating this week. The latest evidence can be seen—or more accuately heard—in . And no, before you ask, nobody has mentioned yet to Nate that he will becase an eighth grader in a very short while.

Today's Vintage Oz Comic

No attempts at clever commentary today, I'll just point out that Off the Mark ran this all-time classic today. The looks on both Dorothy and the Scarecrow are priceless!

Today's Oz Comic

According to today's edition of Yaffle, it appears that a popular show on HGTV may have been ported over for an Ozian renovation.

Today's Oz Comic

Hmm, it seems Lola and her friend have some disagreements as to what constitutes a classic movie. (Hint: Lola's wrong!)