I’ve been friends with Andy Mangels for 25 years and we have always been happy to help Andy spread the word about whatever he is working on. This time out he is teaming up with two of my former Archie Comics Anna-Maria Cool and Barb Kaalberg, so how could I miss the opportunity to talk to Andy about the Patchwork Girl of Oz?
First Comics News: Once you get past Dorothy and the Wizard, a lot of readers aren’t familiar with the rest of the world of Oz. Who is the Patchwork Girl?
Andy Mangels: The Patchwork Girl was one of many L. Frank Baum magical creations for the Land of Oz. Following the original 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum did not originally intend to do a sequel, but the book was so immensely popular that four years later he wrote a second book. He decided to end the series with the sixth novel, The Emerald City of Oz, in 1910, but fans would not let him stop. Even as he was developing the Oz projects for early film projects and for stage plays and musicals, Baum returned to Oz with his seventh book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, in 1913. That book was also adapted into the first feature film that Baum released through his Oz Film Manufacturing Company, in 1914.
Baum would eventually write 14 novels, and six early-readers shorts, prior to his death in 1919. Ruth Plumly Thompson picked up where he left off, and later, so did longtime Oz illustrator John R. Neill. There are over 50 “canonical” Oz books, and several hundred non-canonical Oz books that have been published. In addition to the well-known 1939 MGM musical film of The Wizard of Oz, there have been many more films, television shows, animated projects, stage shows, comic books, and toy lines, all set in the Land of Oz.
Put simply, Oz is the best-selling, longest-running, and most beloved series of books in history. Harry Potter, Tarzan, and Sherlock Holmes don’t even come close.
Eric Shanower and Skottie Young adapted the first six Oz books for Marvel Comics as sets of mini-series from 2009-2014. Despite exceedingly strong sales — which still continue to this day for the trade paperbacks — Marvel chose not to continue the books. I have been wanting to do an Oz project for over 30 years now, and have worked with various artists on samples. I asked Eric Shanower’s permission to continue the adaptations, as I felt he had domain there; he graciously gave it, and I put the fantastic team together for the Kickstarter campaign!
1st: Who is your team on the project?
Andy: The interior art is by Anna-Maria Cool (Barbie, Toto of Oz) and Barb Kaalberg (Barbie, ElfQuest), with colors by Roland Pilcz (Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman, Kalyber Joe) and lettering and graphic design by Kathryn S. Renta (Call of Duty, Crying Freeman). Production work on the series will be by Rich Fowlks (Image, IDW, TwoMorrows), while David Maxine (Oz publisher with Hungry Tiger Press) is a consulting editor, and Sean Wynn is my Kickstarter guru. Two variant covers for Book One will be by Eisner award-winner Eric Shanower (Age of Bronze, Oz books) and the incomparable industry legend, Alex Ross (Marvels, Kingdom Come)! Anna and Barbara’s cover will be a wraparound cover, Eric’s cover will connect to covers for Books Two and Three, and Alex will be doing a painted portrait of the cast of the series!
By the way, this is only the third time Alex Ross has created something for Kickstarter, so that alone says that this project is magical to everyone!
1st: How does the Patchwork Girl fit into the world of OZ?
Andy: As with many Oz books, the protagonists of the story have to go on a quest, and in this case, the quest is caused by Scraps, the Patchwork Girl. She is a living doll who is brought to life to be a servant to a Munchkin magician and his wife. In her excitement, she causes a terrible accident, and she must set out with a young Munchkin boy named Ojo — and a few four-legged companions —on a dangerous journey to find ingredients for a magical counterspell. As they go through the story, they will meet up with familiar faces such as Dorothy, Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Wizard, and the Cowardly Lion, and they will visit the Emerald City. But they will also meet dozens of other Oz citizens, including benevolent ruler Ozma, the hairy Shaggy Man, Jack Pumpkinhead (the inspiration for Jack Skellington), the giant Mr. Yoop, the warring Hoppers and Horners, and more!
1st: In your adaptation, what did you add to the character to help flesh out the Patchwork Girl to fit into the comic format?
Andy: Because the character is full of boundless energy, and doesn’t have a skeleton, she can be as dynamic as we want. She’s a goofy joy to be around — she hates dignity — and everyone can’t help but fall in love with her. Dare I say it, but she’s a bit anarchic, like Deadpool…
1st: The Patchwork Girl’s appearance is a central aspect of her character. In each adaptation of the book she looks a little different, Sometimes cute, sometimes scarry. What was important to include in your version?
Andy: Because she is patchwork, her visuals change all of the time, but we actually worked out some design sheets as to what goes where, so that we can try to retain some consistency. This is true not just for the art, but for some of the ancillaries we are offering for the project, such as a custom Mego-style doll.
What was important was that she look wild and carefree, and that she not scare kids. This book is All Ages, and it’s not that kids can’t handle scares, but there isn’t even a stitch of malice or danger in Scraps’ body, so we’re keeping her fun.
1st: What are the Patchwork Girl’s motivations?
Andy: She is very carefree, but feels responsible for the accident she caused at the start of the tale, so with the help of her growing circle of friends, she intends to put right what she made wrong. Scraps also has no preconceptions or prejudices ingrained in her; for all intents and purposes, she’s a newborn!
1st: The Patchwork Girl’s story is a journey of self-acceptance and embracing differences. How do you tackle these themes?
Andy: The Oz books have a lot of diversity in them, but it’s magical diversity. Like Dr. Seuss’s works, the differences between characters in Oz are generally magical in nature, thus allowing themes of empathy and understanding to be clearly understood, even as they are about characters and creatures that are not like us. There’s a reason nobody can understand why Dorothy wants to return to Kansas in the original story; Oz is so wonderful and so weird and so fun.
As a writer who came out as gay in 1987, near the start of my career in comics, I have always tried to include diversity and acceptance of others in my work. Writing a lot of Star Trek book projects helped that. So it’s not a question of “tackling” the themes as much as it is making sure that the themes get to play on the field with all of the other themes in the story, whereas some creators might leave those themes on the sidelines.
1st: Do you think The Patchwork Girl resonates with readers more today than when the book was first published?
Andy: I think it will once our project comes out. Truly joyous anarchic characters like Deadpool, the Animaniacs, Roger Rabbit, Bugs Bunny… they’re hard to come by, and almost never female. I think that readers will respond to the different flavor that Scraps will bring to Oz. And her sidekicks, Bungle the glass cat, and the dog-like Woozy are going to thrill any pet lover in the crowd.
1st: The World of Oz is a timeless classic. How approach to the world of Oz differ from previous versions?
Andy: It’s a mix of going back to the basics, and updating it for the modern reader. Artistically, we are being tremendously faithful to the original John R. Neill illustrations, with artist’s Anna-Maria Cool and Barb Kaalberg studying the compositions and linework he used and inking styles. Roland Pilcz is working with digital colors, but his making it look like textured watercolors, as the books originally looked. Even the lettering and designs, by Kathryn S. Renta, are based on fonts used in the original books.
Andy: When you say “timeless classic,” all of us on the project believe in paying homage to that. We are not creating a violent version of Oz, or a sexy version of Oz, two things that are so tremendously played out in comics. We are not creating a new artistic style like Skottie Young did at Marvel. We are creating a book that should also be a “timeless classic” that reads as very modern, and very classic, at the same time.
1st: What are the greatest challenges in adapting classic literature?
Andy: I have done a lot of adaptations in my career, and worked on a lot of licensed projects, including Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, Iron Man, Nightmare on Elm Street, Child’s Play, ElfQuest, Superboy, Batman, Justice League, and more. I know my way around adapting work for comics, so the challenges are not as great for me after 38 years as they might be for newer writers.
What I’ve challenged myself to do here is to incorporate material not just from the 1913 book, but also form the 1914 film, and a stage play that Baum did. In later issues, I will also be including new material based on segments that were excised from the original manuscript by the publisher!
1st: Who is Bungle, the Glass Cat?
Andy: Bungle is a creation of the Munchkin magician Dr. Pipt. She is an extremely vain cat who is made of glass. She is see-through, except for her ruby heart, emerald eyes, and pink brain. If you think an everyday cat is conceited and inconsiderate — and they are — imagine what would happen if they were cut crystal and spun glass, and could move!
1st: What is Woozy?
Andy: What is a Woozy is more the question! It’s a creature that is similar to a dog, but its body is made up of all squares and flat surfaces. Although some people think it’s made of wood, it’s actually got a thick almost impenetrable hide. It loves to eat honey-bees and jump, and is fearless. If you make it angry, it won’t bite because it has no teeth, but it will let loose a growl that it thinks is terrifying. And its eyes can flash fire if provoked. The Woozy is very important to the plot of The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
1st: Who is Ojo?
Andy: Ojo is a young Munchkin boy who is starving when we meet him. He lives with his silent Uncle Nunkie in the remote Blue Forest, and he has the nickname of “Ojo the Unlucky.” He was born on Friday the 13th, is left-handed, has a wart under his arm, and he has seen none of the world outside his home. Because he is a preteen boy, he sometimes acts without thinking things through, which sets in motion many of the conflicts that happen in the story.
1st: How many issues are in your series?
Andy: There will be three 48-page squarebound graphic novels for The Patchwork Girl of Oz. If the amount raised is significant, more pages may be added. We are currently only Kickstarting Book One, and once it is released, will do a second campaign for Books Two and Three. Sometime next year, we’ll do a hardcover and trade paperback collection.
1st: What is the minimum cost of a digital copy of The Patchwork Girl of Oz?
Andy: We decided not to do a digital edition of the main books. After a lot of discussion, and having seen how quickly any comics now are pirated on the internet — and knowing that the fundraising potential for low-priced digital copies is low — we decided to forego them. The physical copy will be the only copy at this time. A digital version of the collection may happen down the road though.
1st: What is the minimum cost of a physical copy of The Patchwork Girl of Oz? And what else is available?
Andy: Both the Anna-Maria & Barb wraparound cover and the Eric Shanower connecting cover will be $10. The Alex Ross cover is $25. You can get all three for $40. Retailers can get discounted bundles, with discounts comparable to Diamond and other distributors.
We also have a whole host of other items in the campaign: bookmarks, enamel pics, maps of Oz, heavily-researched historical Chapbooks (for anyone who knows how exhaustive my articles are for magazines like RetroFan and Back Issue, this will be a treat), and custom-created Mego-style 8” Patchwork Girl dolls! We have the ability for people to be a character in the book, get remarqued sketches, or become an Executive Producer on the project. And we have one pair of screen-worn silver shoes — not unlike Dorothy’s silver slippers — that have been donated and signed by Chad Michaels, winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race All-Stars!
1st: When will backers receive copies of The Patchwork Girl of Oz?
Andy: Our intent is to finish Book One in time to print for July, just prior to Comic-Con International. If we reach our goal that is… we need backers! If we succeed beyond our goal, those funds will go into production costs on Books Two and Three.
1st: Where can backers find The Patchwork Girl of Oz Kickstarter?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andymangels/the-patchwork-girl-of-oz-book-one
Please help support the project and make this a reality!
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