This and the next three posts feature the 1955 version of Oz Squad. I really can’t tell you much about them. They appear in a three page flash back in the 8th issue of the comic. Apparently Dorothy spent most of 1955 in a Soviet sensory deprivation tank while a duplicate Dorothy ran the Squad. Hopefully I’ll get to draw that adventure sometime.
Or at least do illustrations for the novel. Hey Steve?
When he goes to Earth, the Lion uses an enchantment that makes him appear to be a human being. I assume that the enchantment actually transforms him into a human but it’s possible that his human guise is merely an illusion. Given that a human and a giant lion will fill space differently, a physical transformation seems more practical but I don’t know for certain which it is. I’ll have to ask Steve about it sometime.
Nick Chopper wasn’t a soldier. He was a woodcutter. Once his body had all become tin he remained a woodcutter. He continued to carry his axe less for utility than because it was the last remnant of his human life.
After the events of World War 2 he set his axe aside and built other weapons into his body. He used the latest technologies to make his bodies into mobile defense/assault systems.
There was a Tin Soldier in original Baum Oz books. I don’t know if he’s still around. If he is, he isn’t scheduled to appear in Oz Squad yet.
In the first few issues of the original Oz Squad comic, the Scarecrow isn’t in good shape. He’s depressed and somewhat suicidal. How else would you explain his smoking habit?
His outlook improves but only after he experiences a kind of a breakdown. And a change of clothes. For some individuals, more than others, how one looks really is how one feels.
Andrew Murphy, the first Oz Squad artist, gave the Scarecrow a face that had three dimensions. He had eyes, a nose and a mouth with teeth. I’ve always preferred the idea that the Scarecrow’s face was painted on. When he talked, the paint moved. I think that’s cool and creepy at the same time.
The next four posts will feature my version of the original Oz Squad. I’ve made some adjustments to the designs to fit my own style but I’ve tried not to go to far.
The look of Oz Squad was established in the first issue of the comic, published toward the end of 1991. Andrew Murphy penciled that issue and, while I imagine that Steve had a lot of input, designed the look of the characters. Unlike many versions of Dorothy that have appeared in other takes on Oz in the years since, the Dorothy in that first issue is a good example of the sort of woman the Dorothy of the books might have grown up to be. She dresses fashionably and practically. As one of Oz’s representatives on Earth her style is somewhat formal and businesslike – appropriate for interacting with ambassadors and bureaucrats.
I’ve made Dorothy a blond. In the original books Dorothy is illustrated as blond so I’m sticking with that.
I don’t know if Andrew is still making art. If he is I haven’t been able to find any examples of recent work online.
Spot illustration #8 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.
Who knew a little girl could wreak so much havoc?
Spot illustration #7 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.
As a kid, of Dorothy’s first four Oz companions, I liked the Lion the best. I think that’s partly because he got the least story time in any of the Oz sequels. I couldn’t get tired of him. He doesn’t get a lot of respect. Not even from his creator. He didn’t even appear in the second book. He mostly just appears as flavor in later books. He didn’t get a book named after him until the 16th sequel (and Baum was dead). He’s depicted as a guy in lion suit in That Movie. And don’t get me started on A Lion Among Men.
Imagine my delight at the pagetime he gets in March of the Tin Soldiers. As well as decent explanation of why he isn’t along on all the adventures. Thank you Steve!
Spot illustration #6 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.
Nick Chopper didn’t have a lot of choice over what his first tin body looked like but, as the twentieth century progressed and circumstances demanded it, he’s built and worn quite a few different forms. Some are big and scary. Some are almost graceful. Into each he puts the heart that the Wizard gave him. It’s just a thing of sawdust and silk but it feels nonetheless.
Spot illustration #5 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.
Once upon a time, Nick Chopper was a young man in love. He cut wood for a living. He expected to get married, settle down and have kids. He expected a pretty normal life or least as normal a life as one can have in the Land of Oz.
Unfortunately he ran afoul of Rebecca, the Witch of the East. And she arranged him to run afoul of his axe. Several times.*
There aren’t a lot of depictions of Nick prior to his transformation into the Tin Woodman. The only one I’m aware of is by John R Neill for The Tin Woodman of Oz. And, chronologically, the illustration still takes place after Nick got chopped up. It’s in the chapter The Tin Woodman Talks to Himself. I love that chapter.
* See March of the Tin Soldiers for the details. And the 21st century aftermath.
Spot illustration #4 for the Oz-Squad.com and Skookworks.com header designs.
The last century has been hard on the Scarecrow. He’s lost friends. He’s been torn to pieces on more occasions than he’d like to remember. Unfortunately for him he remembers every one of those occasions. He can’t forget anything. Not even the trivial stuff. Fortunately, however, he’s not human so he’s able to cope in ways that a meat person couldn’t. He’s able to put on new faces to fit new moods. This is how he looks in the current incarnation of Oz Squad.
