Oz Squad

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Oz Squad
FormatOngoing series
Genre
  • adventure
Publication date1991 – 1996
Creative team
Written bySteve Ahlquist
Artist(s)Andrew Murphy
Inker(s)Dan Schaefer

Oz Squad is a

Land of Oz series, "updated for a more adult audience".[1] It was created and written by Steve Ahlquist. The premise is that Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion are now part of "Gale Force" (not to be confused with the comic OzF5: Gale Force (2005) by Alias Enterprises), a Mission: Impossible type organization working to protect Oz
from all manner of bizarre threats.

Publication

The original series ran for 10 issues from 1991-1996. The first four issues were illustrated by

Dan Schaefer, and published by Brave New Words, which also later reprinted the first two issues with alternative covers. Millennium Publications
then produced a 48-page Oz Squad Special. Finally, Ahlquist and some friends created Patchwork Press to carry on publishing the book. Terry Loh drew the last six issues, and Mike Sagara illustrated a Little Oz Squad special.

Ahlquist published a new Oz Squad novel in 2011, Oz Squad: March of the Tin Soldiers.

Plot

The series adapts the mythology that Baum had created in the original children's books and updates it with the intention of appealing to a more adult audience.

Oz Squad's first issue featured

pregnant to Princess Ozma
.

In the 2011 Oz Squad: March of the Tin Soldiers, the Squad is in conflict with Rebecca Eastwitch and introduces Ozzy, Dorothy and Ozma's son.

Reviews

The series provoked a strong negative response from many fans of Baum's Oz. Pittsburg State University English professor Steven J. Teller reviewed it for The Baum Bugle and considered it worthless and disgusting.[3]

When the series was reprinted, the Bugle was much kinder to it, and referred to Teller's review, suggesting that with the Oz books so recently having fallen into the

Wicked
, it seems groundbreaking and not nearly as outrageous as it did at the time.

Characters

  • Dorothy Gale
  • Scarecrow
  • Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman
  • Cowardly Lion
  • Tik-Tok
  • Rebecca, Wicked Witch of the East
  • Kalidah
  • Jellia Jamb
  • Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, the Wizard of Oz
  • Hammerheads
  • Glinda the Good
  • Ozma
  • Jack Pumpkinhead
  • Mombi
  • Sawhorse
  • Jinjur
  • Professor Wogglebug
  • Gump
  • Hungry Tiger
  • Button Bright
  • Polychrome
  • Bungle the Glass Cat
  • Woozy
  • Betsy Bobbin
  • Trot
  • Cap'n Bill
  • Orks
  • Flying Monkeys
  • Santa Claus
  • L. Frank Baum

References

  1. ^ Markstein, Don. "The Oz Squad". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. ISBN 9781472110367
    . Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. ^ Steven J. Teller. "Oz Squad review". The Baum Bugle.

See also

  • Oz (comics)
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