Today's Classic Oz Comic

Just in case you were ever wondering, I'm not at all averse to putting older Oz comics in this blog. Take, for example, this 2007 edition of the webcomic Freefall, spotted and brought to my attention by Stan Sieler. The storyline itself doesn't have any Oz significance, but take a look at that robot in the background of the third panel. It's part of a series of cameos by famous robots, both real and fictional.

Today's Oz Comic

Today's edition of Brevity is a chilling look at what The Wizard of Oz might have looked like if it was set in the far north. (But what's a penguin doing in the Arctic?)

Today's Oz Comic

This one came out of left field! Para Abnormal is a webcomic with its own surreal outlook on life, and not one I would ever associate with Oz. But there is is, in bright shades of green, in today's installment.

Today's Oz Comic

Today, The Flying McCoys show us some of the drawbacks of flying in Oz. Maybe they should have taken monkeys instead.

Today's Oz Comic

Happy Earth Day, everybody. (Say, what do you get for a planet that has, literally, everything on Earth?) It seems Dorothy and the gang have found their own unique way to celebrate the holiday in today's Mother Goose and Grimm.

The Latest Oz Reading, Comic Book Edition

Woo-hoo! New comics came not so long ago! And you know what that means, right? Yes, new Oz comics! So, here's what came:

• Fables #115. In part 2 of "A Revolution in Oz", Lily looks through the expectacles and sees that Bufkin is going to be in trouble. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will lead to the resolution of that cliffhanger from way back in #108. Two thoughts: (1) I like that the font used in the title box is Denslow. (2) Why is Jack Pumpkinhead asleep when it starts?
• No Place Like Home #2. Um, yeah, I'm still not sure quite where this one is going, or how it will ultimately be connected to Oz. However, Dee Dee does find a few interesting goodies in a box of her mother's old things, including a pointy black hat and a pair of silver shoes that she thinks would look better in red (nice touch, that).
• Dorothy of Oz Prequel #1. The first issue of the four issue miniseries prequel to a movie that has now been postponed until next year. Good planning there. Anyway, Dorothy's back home in Kansas, so it's up to the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion to deal with a new threat when an interloper comes to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, and he looks like he could be even more dangerous than she was. Let's just say that this is definitely an all-ages book for those who think that the only version of Oz out there is the famous film version of The Wizard of Oz.

Today's Oz comic

It seems the Scarecrow had some other reasons for wanting a brain, as seen in today's installment of The Argyle Sweater.

Oz in Jeopardy! — Deluxe Catch-up Edition

"Say, Eric," I can hear you say, "it's been a long time since you've posted any Ozzy Jeopardy! clues. Have there not been any? Is the show off the air? Are you just not watching any more?" None of the above, faithful reader! I've just been busy, and dealing with a few technical issues as well. But all that changes today!

First up, from this year's Teacher's Tournament, and the episode for February 20 comes this clue, in the Jeopardy! (first) round, for $800 dollars in the category Now Go Write That Novel Already:

Brad, a theater teacher from Nashville, got in first and correctly responded with, "What is Wicked?" However, he did not win the game, nor score high enough to return for the semifinals.

Next came this gem, from the March 7 game. This was in the Double Jeopardy! round, worth $800 in the Movie Taglines category:



"Wait a minute, Eric," you are very likely saying, "that's not an Oz clue!" And you would be quite right. But it's here because of an incorrect response from Stephen, a musician from Arlington, Texas. He said, "What is The Wizard of Oz?" Yeah, right! As if! Of course, not recognizing that tagline as being from Pinocchio meant that he deserved to lose — which he did.

Finally, from the March 20 game. This was the $400 clue in the category Movie Quotes, in the Jeopardy! round:



Vince, an actor from New York City, got in first and correctly responded with, "What is The Wizard of Oz?" He did not go on to win the game, but he did keep it close!

So that's your Jeopardy! update for now. I'll try to get further clues up in a more timely manner.

Today's Oz Comic

Uh, oh. Dorothy's in trouble now, at least as evidenced in today's edition of The Flying McCoys.

Today's Oz Comic

Yeah, sorry for falling down on the Easter countdown, everybody. I did miss it yesterday, and then when I went back to find something, I'll be honest, nothing grabbed me and made me say, "Ooooooh!" So maybe it's just as well.

On a totally unrelated note, there's a very small blink-and-you-miss-it Oz reference in today's Pearls Before Swine. (I am one who does have that particular Ozzy Pez dispenser. Heck, I have the whole set!)

Countdown to Easter: Two Days to Go

This entry from last year's Washington Post Peeps diorama contest just tickled me. Enjoy!

Countdown to Easter: Three Days to Go

I was all set to go out hunting for an Ozzy Easter picture today when I got an anonymous* tip in my e-mail. Sure enough, here's today's Ozzy Peeps dispaly. That's a relatively new sculpture of the Tin Woodman in Syracuse, in L. Frank Baum's old stomping grounds. Grace added the heart.

Countdown to Easter: Four Days to Go

Well, I guess Peeps aren't the only things that can be Ozzified. Check out these Oz Easter eggs.

Countdown to Easter: Five Days to Go

I'm going to see if I can find a different Easter-related Oz post each day between now and the big day this Sunday. So, here is the first one: an Oz diorama made of Peeps. (I suspect most of them will be a variation on this theme...)

The Latest Oz Reading

I just finished my latest round of Oz reading this week with Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire, the fourth and final volume in his "Wicked Years" series. I appear to be something of an outlier in the Oz community, in that I liked Wicked — even though, at the time, I was totally expecting not to. No, it wasn't the same Oz as L. Frank Baum created, but it was a good book with some interesting issues. I was less taken with Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men, but I admired what he was trying to say. Well, Maguire has wrapped things up on a high note, and I thoroughly enjoyed Out of Oz, possibly even more than Wicked. The main character (although we don't realize this at first) is Rain, Elphaba's granddaughter born at the end of Son of a Witch, and her relationship with the Grimmerie, the most potent book of magic in Oz. Munchkinland has declared its independence from the rest of Oz, and much of this book deals with the war that Oz is conducting to bring the Munchkins back into the country. We first meet Rain at Glinda's new digs, where Rain is a servant, and one of the few to be retained when the Oz army takes over, turning the hall into a staging area for the war. Rain eventually leaves when she uses the Grimmerie and helps Glinda stop the Oz army, but she is forced to flee. Rain then takes up with the Clock of the Time Dragon and the party escorting it around Oz, which includes Brrr, the Cowardly Lion. Dorothy comes back to Oz, and encounters the dark side of the Munchkin justice system, but Brrr helps her escape and she tags along. The Clock and its crew are on the run, trying to hide Rain, Dorothy, and the Grimmerie from both sides of the war. Eventually, Rain is dropped off at St. Prowd's school in the Gillikin Country, where she finally gets the education she's always wanted, and meets a boy named Tip. She's discovered at St. Prowd's, and eventually makes her way to her grandmother's old place at Kiamo Ko in the Winkie Country. Finally, she and Tip find their way to the Emerald City, where Mombey, Tip's old caretaker and the new ruler of Munchkinland, tries to talk peace with Shell, Elphaba's brother and the current ruler of Oz. I don't want to tell you more, because this is where it starts to get really interesting, but if you know your Oz history, you will likely be able to figure out at least some of what happens next.

As I said, I really enjoyed this book. For one thing, it felt a lot more unified as a story than the other books in the series. Wicked only showed us parts of Elphaba's life, and the other two books were more explorations of characters than proper stories. But Out of Oz felt like it was going somewhere, even if it sometimes took a while to get there. The final chapters nicely wrap up both the war and the series. The only enigma is probably Rain's final fate, but it's pretty clear that the title applies very much to her. I also liked all of the little references to the rest of the Oz books. Maguire has done this before, of course, but this time it felt like there were even more. There's even a character mentioned (in passing) named Handy Mandy, although it's clearly not the title character of the 1937 Oz book written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.

Having said all that, I'm not sure I can recommend this book, at least not on its own. To be sure, if you've already enjoyed Wicked or any of the other books in the series, by all means you'll want to see how it ends. But if you're not a fan of Maguire's take on Oz, this is not going to change your mind. And I don't recommend it as the first of Maguire's books you read, either, because it helps to know what's come before. However, I do think it's accessible enough that if this is your first exposure to Maguire's Oz, you won't be lost, either.

That's it for the major Oz reading for now. However, a new shipment of comic books is coming soon, and there should be a few Oz and Oz-related titles in there, so this blog won't be totally bereft of Oz reading posts.

Yesterday's Oz Comic...?

This is no April Fool's joke, there really may have been an Oz comic yesterday. I read it, laughed, then went on with the rest of my day and forgot about it. But is is really an Oz comic? I'll let you read the final edition of Pickles for March 2012 and let you be the judge.