Today's post gets into books published by Marvel, but that come from far outside of the Marvel realm. Eric Shanower and Skottie Young channeled L. Frank Baum to tell the stories of some heroes from 1900. This is a project that first began with Baum's first book segmented into issues and turned into a lovely hardcover. This work was popular with the readers and earned them some prestigious awards as well. The primary focus today will be on the first book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", but excuse me while I gush a little about Skottie Young first.
Young's style can be very cartoony. There's usually sweetness and humor, but you could also find illustrations of Magik fighting demons in Limbo. His earliest work that I have is the Tsunami series featuring Johnny Storm. What really won my heart was a comic book issue with the students at Xavier's' (many of them Weir/DeFilippis characters) looking back on what had happened since House of M. There's roasted marshmallows, teen angst, Beast trying to examining newfound abilities of some students, and characters just hanging out. Amid a mess of teen drama, there was a page that I still think is one of my favorite X-Men scenes. The characters Loa and Wolfcub are eating ice cream, talking about who is the youngest mutant in existence. Pixie flies by leaving a big cloud of hallucinogenic powder. The next panel has Wolverine slicing through the cloud yelling "$#%^ING UNICORNS!". I wish I could see what Young's unicorns looked like. Since then, I think Skottie Young may be best known for making "X-Baby" versions of anyone in the Marvel U. for variant covers.
Shanower, (as I've learned from the forward) is a giant Oz fan. It tells the story of Baum's life and talks about a famous MGM film. Shanower was so excited that he started writing an illustrating retellings of the Baum books and co-founding a publishing house dedicated to all things Oz. There's even a Oz-related ballet on this man's resume. Fan? Oh, yeah. Who else should Marvel bring in to work with Young and colorist, Jean-Francois Beaulieu?
I'll say that even if you've watched the movie, or the Saturday morning cartoons, SPOILERS! This is some heavy stuff.
They were very earnest in trying to deliver a product as close to Baum's story as possible. Silver shoes rather than ruby, witches of many regions, more enchanted creatures, and obstacles, ..... Even waiting until the end for Dorothy to meet Glenda.
Long before Timely created a Marvel Universe or DC had one of their own, L. Frank Baum created the Oz universe. Each land was ruled by someone. I had never known of the Scarecrow's deep sense of inadequacy, the very sad background of how Tin Woodsman transformed from a lovestruck munchkin to a rusted humanoid, or the root of the Lion's cowardice. Faced with a first set of obstacles and enchanted creatures, Dorothy and Toto's three companions rise to the occasion and find newfound strengths. You meet people from the Emerald City living within or beyond the city line. Once you see the culture there and the tinted goggles that give everyone there a more emerald perspective, you start seeing that Baum was writing on socio-political subjects that didn't all make it into the film. The travelers' infiltrating the Wicked Witch of the West's castle didn't go as smoothly as one usually thinks. You see where Dorothy was kept in captivity and see the witch finally steal one of the shoes. The resulting conflict and this witch's well known to aversion led to her demise. Dorothy now has taken the golden cap from the vanquished witch and leaves to bring it back to the Wizard as proof of her victory. Like the silver shoes, this hat is enchanted too. The wearer is allowed to command three things of the winged monkeys. The first command is a ride back to Oz.
The Wizard, (as we know from the film) is reluctant to drop the facade and fulfill the promises he made. The wizard's projection is much more intimidating than the talking mask in my opinion. That makes it all the more significant where the Lion scares a mere human out from hiding. The Wizard reveals that he is from Omaha and can relate to Dorothy's predicament. Her companions haven't realized that inside they've already found the ability to love, intelligence, and courage, so the Wizard gives them placebos. Rather than a diploma, the Scarecrow gets his head filled with needles. Forgive the pun when I say it made him sharp. A plush heart was inserted into the Tin Woodsman's torso, and the Lion was given a bottle of "courage" to drink (Insert joke here.). When the Wizard takes off back to the states, the Scarecrow is left to lead the Emerald City. Dorothy can't find Toto in time to catch the balloon ride. The winged monkeys are summoned but can't get her back to Kansas. After a citizen of Oz suggests that Glenda could help, the Scarecrow makes the decision to escort Dorothy and his friends. They encounter dangerously animate trees, miniature ceramic people, giant spiders, ogres, and a tiger who would star in a later book). It's when facing the ogres that the monkeys are called for Dorothy's third command (safe passage to the north).
Upon receiving the golden hat, Glenda three commands to the winged monkeys are to bring the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Lion to their rightful homes. Like the Scarecrow, the Tin
Woodsman chose to take a position of leadership as well. The Good Witch of the North then gave the golden hat to the leader of the winged monkeys, granting them their freedom. Dorothy is told that with three clicks of the heels, the silver shoes could take her wherever she wanted to go. It's pointed out that if Dorothy had known this before, her journey would've been much simpler, but Dorothy doesn't regret being there to help so many. She departs, and races across a field to the embrace of her aunt.
Reading this in my 20's and writing this review now, I have a deeper respect for what Baum, Shanower, Young, and Beaulieu were trying to get across, and I see subjects that can relate to current events of the early 1900's and the mid 2010's. There's a common moral of the story that what we often desire from life, we've had the potential for all along. The emerald tinted goggles were like rose colored glasses in how they altered people's perspectives. Splitting hairs, and perhaps digging too much into this, could the power of the golden cap be a well intentioned (though not politically correct by today's standards) metaphor for the racism and slavery that has tarnished the history of the United States?
Aside from all these interpretations, (and some that may yet to be found), I really love that that this story depicted people not just having to be homo sapiens or even humanoid. It's like L. Frank Baum took a step back and viewed the world on a larger scale. I'd recommend this book to people of all ages because we all have something to get from it. It can even be people's gateway books to graphic novelizations. I'd even say that I can see this book used in an academic environment.
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