The Nome King

The Nome King is the great Oz villain. He continually re-appears with plans to conquer the Land of Oz, and enslave the Oz people. Of course, he never succeeds although he does manage to get pretty close sometimes.

This character is first introduced in Ozma of Oz, the 3rd book in the series. Here I have two variants of an illustration by Dale Ulrey for the previously mentioned 1950's edition with new illustrations, which was never published.

The first is what I consider the finished drawing, showing the Scarecrow's attack on the Nome King. The second is interesting, as it is a moodier piece done of the same subject, but with an ink wash and more atmosphere, showing more of the setting. The Nome King is a bit different too, looking more like one of Snow White's dwarves. In the upper drawing, he's very much the same Nome King that John R. Neill drew.

Dale Conner Ulrey was a comic artist, who worked as an assistant on the strip Apple Mary. She took over the strip in 1938, when the name was changed to Mary Worth's Family, and drew it until 1942. This strip is still running today as Mary Worth. Her first Oz-related work was illustrating Jaglon and the Tiger Fairies in 1953.