Super Teams are the Baum

When I was a youngster…and as I got older, too, I was always a big fan of the Super-Team. The X-Men, X-Factor, Alpha Flight, The Avengers…some of these were my favorite comics. And of course, the Super Friends was an old school cartoon that we loved as littl'uns.

A quick google tells me that the Justice League was the first superhero team in comics, in 1940. That made me happy because I thought I had an earlier example that made a big impression on me as a kid.

In The Wizard of Oz (1939), one of the classic scenes (in a movie full of classic scenes) is the poppy field sequence, where Dorothy and company encounter the poppies en route to the Emerald City. Excited, the group rushes forward.



There's a shot of the Scarecrow and Tin Man running full tilt before realizing that Dorothy, the Lion and Toto are all unsteady on their feet and wanting to rest. All three of them pass out. Of course, the Scarecrow and Tin Man do not. They are magical beings. So is the Lion, but the man of straw and man of metal do not breathe air, so are not affected by the poppies.

This made a huge impression on me as a kid for some reason. It just rang so true to me as a fan of comic books and superhero teams, to see certain members with certain powers or properties that set them apart from others: Each member has their strengths and weaknesses.

I think I read the book but didn't remember, so I looked it up and the poppy field scene plays out pretty much this way in the novel by L. Frank Baum from 1900! So that puts Dorothy's squad well before the Justice League. In the poppy chapter there's also a sequence where the Scarecrow is stuck on a raft in the river, and a Stork is able to lift him because he's featherlight, being composed mostly of straw.

The Scarecrow and Tin Man also have their specific weaknesses, fire and water, respectively. And all the cohorts have the mix between being more than human, and less than human (or believing they are).

Anyway, I don't know if this is stupid, but it came back to my mind this week for some reason. The Wizard of Oz is not a superhero story, exactly…but are they the proto-Superhero Team in a way?

Okay, IIIIIIIII'm off…

Banes



Don’t forget you can now advertise on DrunkDuck for just $2 in whichever ad spot you like! The money goes straight into running the site. Want to know more? Click this link here! Or, if you want to help us keep the lights on you can sponsor us on Patreon. Every bit helps us!

Special thanks to our patrons!!










Justnopoint - Banes - RMccool - Abt_Nihil - PhoenixIgnis - Gunwallace - Cdmalcolm1 - PaulEberhardt - dragonaur - Emma_Clare - FunctionCreep - Eustacheus - SinJinsoku - Smkinoshita - jerrie - Chickfighter - Andreas_Helixfinger - Tantz_Aerine - Epic Saveroom - Genejoke - Davey Do - Spark of Interest - Gullas - Damehelsing - Roma - NanoCritters - Scott D - Bluecuts34 - j1ceasar - Tinchel - PhillipDP - Teh Andeh - Peipei - Digital_Genesis - Hushicho - Sad Demon Comics - JediAnn Solo - Kiddermat - BitterBadger - Palouka - cheeko - Paneltastic - [https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/L.C.Stein/]L.C.Stein - Zombienomicon - dpat57 - Bravo1102 - The Jagged - LoliGen - OrcGirl - Miss Judged - Fallopiancrusader - arborcides - ChipperChartreuse - Jaybiejay - Chris_tar - Mogtrost - InkyMoondrop - Jgib99