31 Witches | The Wicked Witch of the West

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" -- The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz (1939)

10 movies I liked just fine in 2013

Counting down the 2013 movies I saw, from worst to best. These are the ones I'd grade in the C to B- range.

30. G.I. Joe: Retaliation



Dumps the over-the-top fun of the first G.I. Joe movie in favor of gravitas, which is something I didn't feel I needed. But having said that, there are some amazing action sequences and I liked all the good guys. It's pretty much G.I. Joe in name only, but still a fine action movie.

Happy Oz Day!

Today was L. Frank Baum's birthday in 1856. My son is celebrating in the best possible way.

One Body Too Many (1944)

Who's in it?: Jack Haley (the Tin Woodsman in Wizard of Oz); Jean Parker (The Gunfighter); Bela Lugosi

What's it about?: A dead millionaire leaves a complicated will, forcing his potential heirs to spend time in a dark mansion. Naturally, someone starts to kill them off.

How is it?: Haley gives this comedy a lot of heart as a timid insurance salesman who shows up for an appointment he booked a month before the millionaire died. Parker plays the millionaire's favorite niece and she and Haley fall for each other and try to keep each other alive.

The humor is farcical rather than joke-based, so while there aren't many laugh out loud moments, it's a lot of fun. Haley strikes a nice balance in his performance. He's comically frightened without being slapsticky about it. The funniest stuff has to do with Lugosi and Blanche Yurka as the millionaire's butler and maid. They're as suspicious as anyone and are constantly offering (possibly poisoned) coffee to the rest of the characters. Lugosi's disappointment each time he's refused is pricelessly hilarious.

Rating: Good. It's worth watching especially if you like movies about old, dark houses with lots of secret passages, but Haley is also charming. If you're a fan of Lugosi at all though, it's a must see.

A nerdy complaint about Wizard of Oz continuity

Let me preface this by saying that even though I'm using panels from Eric Shanower and Skottie Young's adaptation to illustrate this, my gripe is in no way about them. Their adaptations are extraordinarily faithful to the source material, so the problem is all L. Frank Baum.

Here's the deal:



In the first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard explains that when he arrived in Oz, he took advantage of the locals and made them build the Emerald City for him. That made an impression on me, because it's pretty huge evidence that - contrary to his own assertions - he's no more a "good man" than a "good wizard." This history of the Emerald City is repeated early in the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz.



But then later in Marvelous Land, the Scarecrow - current ruler of the Emerald City - offers a completely different history.



It's that version that Baum sticks with for the rest of the book. In fact, he hinges the entire plot on it since the whole story is about who actually has the right to rule the Emerald City. If you haven't read it, all I'll say is that there's a revolt that calls the legitimate rulership into question and Pastoria is an important part of the discussion.

Sure that I'm not the first to notice this, I went to Wikipedia and found that the problem's made more complicated in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, where it's revealed that it was the Wizard who ordered the city built, but that he didn't usurp it directly from Pastoria. The witches took it from Pastoria and the Wizard took it from them.

What all this means is that Baum was serious when he wrote in the preface to Wonderful Wizard that it was "written solely to please children" of his day. In other words, "You nerds need to lighten up and leave it alone." And I will try.

I do like how the Marvel adaptation of Marvelous Land fixes another possible continuity error that Wikipedia mentions though. In Wonderful Wizard, it's explained that the Emerald City isn't actually green-colored, but only appears to be because of the green-lensed goggles the tyrannical Wizard forced his subjects to wear from birth to death. I thought it pretty cool that halfway through Marvelous Land, the new leadership of the city drops the goggles and the city is colored normally for the rest of the book. Wikipedia points out that "the city is still described as green" in Baum's novels, but Marvel's colorist, Jean-Francois Beaulieu gives it plenty of natural greenery without the pervasive tint that everything has in Wonderful Wizard and the early parts of Marvelous Land.

With the goggles:



Without the goggles:



There's even a change in the city's attitude about its former leader, revealing that they're now more aware of the Wizard's deception. I won't post the spoilery panel, but there's a scene late in the book where a resident of the city declares that the Wizard "claimed to do things he couldn't." Though it happens off the page, apparently the citizens have realized that the Wizard was a sham and that's a nice bit of continuity development. I hope there's more stuff like that than like the shaky history of the place.

Top 10 Moments from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (that aren't in the movie)

After I finished listening to Anne Hathaway read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I wanted to continue the series, but in a different format. I don't want to commit the next year or two to reading all 14 books in their original form, but if Hathaway had kept reading the rest of the series, I'd gladly listen to it that way. Unfortunately, she hasn't.

Another option is Eric Shanower and Skottie Young's comics adaptation, but before I bought any of the sequels I wanted to revisit the first book while it was still fresh in my mind. That way I could see for myself how faithful it is and how accurately I can expect their other adaptations to translate the rest of L. Frank Baum's saga. Turns out: very faithfully.

I knew it was going to be okay when Shanower wrote in his introduction, "That this comics adaptation goes back to that book as its source is one of the aspects that drew me to this project. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been told again and again in so many different versions and permutations that many of the original's details have been obscured or forgotten. But they haven't been lost. Here they are again, those wonderful Baum touches..." And so they are. I feel like I'm in very good hands by continuing the series in this form.

To celebrate, I've picked my Top 10 favorite moments from Baum's book that didn't make it into the Judy Garland version. I mentioned some of them as I was reading the book, but here they are - in order of occurrence - as depicted by Shanower and Young.  Spoilers, of course.

Final thoughts on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Anne Hathaway and I finished the book last week, so here are a dozen more observations with some SPOILERS if you haven't read it yet:

• Hathaway's voice for the Scarecrow made see why Movie Dorothy said she'd miss him most of all, but some of Hathaway's other choices are really odd. One of the two, main Emerald City guards sounded like Sylvester the cat and the other talked in a monotone that I imagine was meant to sound military, but was more robotic. She also gave some other characters strange accents that didn't have a lot to do with their personalities or other character traits. She does some excellent voices too; it just seemed like she was running out of good ones by the end.
• The Wizard's voice is especially off-putting. He has a Southern drawl that - combined with Hathaway's feminine voice - makes him sound like Dallas Royce on Suburgatory.
• Still, in all other respects, Hathaway's a wonderful reader and I highly recommend her reading of the story.
• The flying monkeys are handled a lot differently than the movie and are even more cool. I didn't think that was possible since they were always my favorite part of the film.
• Related: the way the Wicked Witch of the West captures Dorothy is so much more awesome in the book. Yes, the monkeys come into play, but as a last resort after a few less-successful attempts in which Dorothy's companions prove how badass they really are.
• I don't accept the Wizard's assertion that he's actually a good man, but just not a very good wizard. He's used deception to enslave his subjects, force them to build the Emerald City, and then serve him in fear. He never repents of this or comes clean to anyone who doesn't figure it out on her own. Nor does he allow those people to tell anyone else. He's a class-A jerk; just like in the movie.
• The Wizard's gifts vary a little from the film and what he gives the lion is especially entertaining. Instead of a medal, he pours liquid into a bowl and tells the lion it's courage. Baum never explicitly refers to it this way, but that makes the substance "liquid courage," which is pretty awesome. Almost redeems the Wizard for me.
• The book continues for a few chapters after the Wizard accidentally abandons Dorothy in Oz. The main quartet of characters (quintet, if you count Toto) travel South to visit Glenda the Good and see if she can get Dorothy home. It's an episodic part of the book as they have random adventures along the way, but a couple of characters' stories get tied up, so it's worthwhile. And as with all the adventures in the book, they're fun and interesting.
• Glenda isn't the same witch who met Dorothy in Munchkinland at the beginning. This is vital, because it fixes one of my biggest complaints about the movie: that Glenda knew the magic slippers could take Dorothy home the whole time and kept it from her. In the film, Glenda just appears occasionally to move the plot along without any believable motivation. In the book, she tells Dorothy how to get home as soon as she meets her. She's much more Good.
• My biggest problem with the film version though is that it's all a dream. That isn't the case in the novel. Oz is a real place with real borders; it's just surrounded by impassable desert, so no one knows where it is or can get to it without flying (which was much more difficult to do when Baum wrote the story).
• That leaves open a lot of possibilities for future stories, which of course Baum used. I'm definitely going to keep going, but I haven't decided yet whether that's via book, audiobook, or comics adaptations. I'm getting the Eric Shanower/Skottie Young comics either way, so I'll probably start there and then decide later whether or not to read the original text.
• The first of those comics should show up any day now.

(Image via Freaking News)

Seven thoughts from the first half of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Anne Hathaway is still reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to me and we're about halfway done. More notes on the first half:

• My memory of the movie is that the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, and Cowardly Lion all have significant moments late in the story that show that they already have brains, heart, and courage. In the book, that happens almost as soon as you meet them and several times.
• I'm not sure which I like better. I appreciate the drama of doing it later in the story, but it really is cool to see the Scarecrow figure things out before everyone else and to see the Lion being brave while claiming that he's not.
• Unfortunately, the Woodsman's heart is limited to his crying over hurt animals, but okay.
• I understand the special effects limitations of the film, but I'm sorry that they didn't include the Mouse Queen and her subjects. They make the poppy field scene a whole lot more fun and memorable.
• I also dig how the Wizard calls each member of the group separately and appears as something different each time. 
• Overall, I'm loving the book a lot more than the movie so far. 
• It's really making me want to read the Eric Shanower/Skottie Young adaptation.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Part 1 (Thank you, Anne Hathaway)

Been catching up today after being offline for most of last week. San Diego was awesome and I'll try to get a report up tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm finally reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Or rather, Anne Hathaway is reading it to me. I'm enjoying it a lot, especially the difference between L. Frank Baum's version and the classic movie. For instance, I really like the small contingent of Munchkins at the site of the East Witch's death and how before Dorothy completely leaves Munchkinland, she stops off for a party at a remote farm. It feels more like Frodo sneaking out of the Shire than the huge production number from the film.

Also, Hathaway is awesome at the voices and her Scarecrow is especially funny and pleasant. I'm not too far in, but I'm looking forward to the rest now that I'm back in town and can listen in my car again.

Art Show: HULK SWEEP LEG!!!

Nola's Worlds



By MiniKim. [Robot 6]

Deep Water



By Jeremy Vanhoozer.

Sea Sketches



By Kyle Latino.

After the break: Karate Kid vs. the Hulk, Godzilla, a giant robot, spaceships, Star Wars, and Oz.

Elsewhere... CrossGen returned

Here's what else I've been up to online:

The Return of CrossGen?



Inspired by the Comic-Con news that Marvel's planning to do "some CrossGen stuff" now that they access to the properties Disney bought when CrossGen went belly-up, Tim O'Shea and I came up with a list of six CrossGen series we'd like to see make a comeback. I was a huge CrossGen fan back in the day, so knowing that it could be resurrected in some form is all the reason I need to appreciate Disney's buying Marvel.

What Are You Reading?



Short reviews of Super Maxi-Pad Girl #3 and a serial killer mystery called The Awakening.

The Royal Historian of Oz and Fanfic



In this week's Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs, we tackle the age-old problem of creator-owned work vs. corporate-owned (or public domain, as the case may be). Which should you read? Which should you create? And what does the concept of Official Canon have to do with it?

Art Show: A Golden Princess Who Ruled with Singing Whip!

Tiger Girl



By Joe Doolin. [Illustrateurs]

Sheena



By Nicola Scott. [Pink of the Ink]

After the break: Red Sonja, a school-girl monster-hunter, the JLA, Aurora, a giant flying monkey, and Al Williamson tributes.

Comics News Roundup: Wonder Woman's Waterloo?

The Return of Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities



I'm a big fan of both Eric Powell (The Goon) and Kyle Hotz (The Hood, Criminal Macabre), so it was no surprise that I enjoyed their collaboration, Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities, in which Billy teams up with a traveling freak show to fight Dr. Frankenstein and his foul creations. Now they're teaming up again to fight Jack the Ripper.

Pulp Comics and DC's First Wave



The Comics Journal has an excellent write-up about Pulp Hero comics in general and DC's First Wave project in particular. In Part One, writer Alex Boney presents a quick history of Pulp Hero comics and the troubles they've had finding traction with superhero fans. In Part Two, Boney looks at DC's current revival endeavor with some hope and excitement about its potential, but some disappointment in its "delays and ... general lack of focus." These are problems that also plague superhero comics, but they're especially troublesome when your genre is already a less popular one.

After the break: Hey, what about this whole Wonder Woman curfuffle? Also, SLG's new Oz comic.

Movie News Roundup: Yoda Died Today

EDITED TO ADD: Frank Oz did not die today. I'm sorry to those of you I scared. I totally wasn't thinking that my headline might be misinterpreted that way.

The American trailer



The Anton Corbijn spy movie starring George Clooney looks really good. I especially love the setting of the little village on the Mediterranean.

After the break: Green Hornet, giant spiders, Conan, Wonder Woman, Oz, and Star Wars.

Movie News Roundup: "Tell It to the Cleaning Lady on Monday"

Pirates 4 gets Rushed



Barbossa's back for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I would've bet on that early on (in fact, I could've sworn it had already been announced), but all the focus on casting Blackbeard and his daughter made me wonder if Barbossa was out. Glad to see he's not. By At World's End, I liked him even better than Sparrow. [/Film]


Voyage of the Dawn Treader trailer



The quality of the trailer isn't real good, but the movie looks fantastic. As I've said before, this ought to be my favorite in the series. [/Film]

Cleopatra



Angelina Jolie is working with producer Scott Rudin to develop (and most likely star in) a movie about everyone's favorite Egyptian queen. Apparently, this is of some concern to people who don't recall that Cleopatra was, in fact, Greek and not African. [/Film]

After the break: Musketeers, Spies, Oz, and rock'em sock'em robots.

Art Show: Poison by the Plateful!

Devil Out of the Deep



By George Gross. Illustrateurs has a ton of these Men's Adventures-type covers, each more nuts than the last. In addition to sharks, gators, tigers, rhinos, and the occasional island girl, thrill to the sight of dudes fighting turtles (with a knife!), giant otters, and weasels. Awesome.

Aquaman



By Brian Denham.

Deerslayer



By NC Wyeth. I did a lot of canoeing through gator-infested rivers with my dad and brothers as a kid, so this may not be as cool to you guys as it is to me, but Golden Age Comic Book Stories dedicated an entire post to canoe-themed art. Brings back great times.

After the break: Elektra, Zatanna, Aurora, Mary Marvel, Cleopatra, and the best Wizard of Oz ever.

Movie News: Drew Barrymore and Flying Monkeys

Dawn Treader poster



Saw this poster at the movie theater last week. It's been so long since we've had any updates that I'd almost forgotten about the movie. Which is a shame because it's my favorite Narnia book and so by all rights should be the best film in the series. These things take so long to crank out though that I'm skeptical about the chances of the series' continuing far past this one. Hopefully it'll do really well as the holiday release that Prince Caspian should have been and the next ones will get fast-tracked. [/Film]

Another 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea



Because it's not tough enough keeping track of two Three Musketeers films, now there are two 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movies in development as well. Disney's (captained by David Fincher) and now one by Ridley and Tony Scott; written by one of the guys who wrote the Clash of the Titans remake. The Scotts' version will be set in the future to connect it more closely with Jules Vernes' scifi intentions than with his actual nineteenth-century setting. I can't say that I'm excited about that. [The Hollywood Reporter]

After the break: a sea monster, Alpha Flight, Empires of the Deep, the Robin Hood post mortem, Three Musketeers, Hitman 2, Salt, and after Oz.

Movie News: Might them find treasure?

New Treasure Island movie



The same Sherlock Holmes producer who's making a new Three Musketeers movie is also planning a Treasure Island remake. He's working hard at being my new Favorite Person in the World. [/Film]

Pirates 4 Casting Spoiler



Who is this woman playing in Pirates of the Caribbean 4? Check /Film for the answer, but be warned that there's a small spoiler in the revelation.

Avatar 2: The Oceans of Pandora



"The Oceans of Pandora" isn't the Avatar sequel's sub-title, it's just what the movie will likely be about. According to James Cameron, "Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment – a different setting within Pandora. And I’m going to be focusing on the ocean on Pandora, which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative, but it just won’t be a rain forest." He's quick to add though that "I’m not saying we won’t see what we’ve already seen; we’ll see more of that as well." [/Film]

Ka-Zar movie?



It's hard to tell which specifics in this CHUD article are based on fact and which are speculation, but while talking about Marvel's plans to follow up their blockbuster movies with a bunch of smaller-scale ones, Ka-Zar gets mentioned. For those who don't know, Ka-Zar is Marvel's take on Tarzan, only with a booty-kicking jungle wife, a pet sabretooth, mutant cavemen, and lots and lots of dinosaurs. How can this not be a movie?

CHUD doesn't mention it, but I also have to wonder if that long-rumored Shang Chi movie might finally get made now.

Demon guns, cursed cowboys, Black Widow, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Star Wars after the break.

Friday Night Art Show: Into the Wicked Beak of the Monster

The Courage of Sir Francis Drake



By Frank Godwin. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Sunken Cities



By Frank R. Paul. [Poulpe Pulps]

Jules Verne



By Scott Campbell [Hey, Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin Time!]

Avoidance Situation



By Mel Hunter [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Not What I Expected



By Jeremy Vanhoozer.

Octopus Attack



I'm not sure who the artist is, but it's from the September 1940 issue of Weird Tales. Sleestak was kind enough to email it to me. Thanks, Sleestak!

Anime Aquaman



By Cliff Chiang. Based on this earlier idea of his.

Marrina



By J Bone. Marrina's one of my Top Three favorite members of Alpha Flight. I like Puck a lot too, so I kind of wish she'd leave him alone, but this isn't nearly as bad as what she did to him in the comic.

I Heart Sharks



By Jess Hickman. I'm totally using this character in the pirate-fantasy comic Jess and I are going to do.

Ancient Jungle Cool



By Frederick Catherwood. [Admiral Calvin of the Tentacle Wars, operating from his Canadian Cave of Cool. And there's way more in the link. Go! Look!]

Concert of the Apes



Artist unknown. [There's a whole Rulah cover gallery at The Comic Book Catacombs.]

Stream of Consciousness



By Robert Conrad [Collectors Showcase]

Penny vs the Cownt



By Jess Hickman from the upcoming Cownt Tales comic. The Bride of Frankenstein kitty is one of three hosts who narrate the comic Tales from the Crypt- or The Witching Hour-style.

Oz Monkey



By Jim Pearson.

Zatanna



By Cliff Chiang...



...and Charles Holbert. [Meagan Van Burkleo]