Del Rey Speedy

Michael Herring created a somewhat macabre painting for the cover of the Del Rey edition of Speedy in Oz. Of course, that's not too difficult when one of the main characters is a living dinosaur skeleton! Here we see Terrybubble the dinosaur floating through the air, with Speedy and Gureeda tucked inside his rib cage.

I also have a preliminary sketch for this piece. The image is basically identical, except that the dinosaur bones are brown rather than white - probably a truer depiction, but the white bones do brighten things up a bit! The background hills have also grown, against a more dramatic sky.

John R. Neill also drew this incident as a chapter title. His Terrybubble looks a bit more flexible, but Speedy and Gureeda are difficult to distinguish.

This is the last of the Herring paintings I have. He painted one more, for The Wishing Horse of Oz, but the Del Rey series ended at that point. I've heard rumors of possible sketches for further titles, but I've had no luck in finding whether these exist.

Del Rey Ojo

The Del Rey cover for Ojo in Oz, by Michael Herring, is a lovely study in blues. We're obviously in the Munchkin Country, where blue is preferred. This certainly makes Snufferbux, the brown bear, stand out! The man with the twisty legs is the Elevator Man, who plays an important part in the climax of the plot.

Snufferbux is taken directly from a John R. Neill illustration of the character. However, Herring has once again created a much more finished scene as well as adding his own touch to X. Pando, the Elevator Man.












At 18" by 24", this cover painting is a little smaller than most of the previous Ruth Plumly Thompson covers. In the cropping of the printed version, Ojo almost doesn't make it onto the cover!

Del Rey Purple Prince

For the Del Rey edition of The Purple Prince of Oz, Michael Herring provided an image of Kabumpo, Jinnicky and Randy sliding down a rainbow crossing the Deadly Desert into Oz. This incident was written well before the MGM film and hit song Over the Rainbow.

Here we have another wonderful pink sky, and a very apprehensive Kabumpo. As the travelers are heading into the Winkie Country of Oz, where everything is yellow, I'd expect a more golden sky - but the pink is very effective.

John R. Neill also illustrated this scene, from a different angle. I think I prefer his rainbow, as it looks a bit more subtle in terms of color.

The image on the book cover is cropped, as always. In this case, I think it loses the sense of space and traveling through the air. Ruth Plumly Thompson did like to send her characters flying!

Del Rey Jack Pumpkinhead

Here we have Jack Pumpkinhead crossing a chasm by means of a magic beard. This painting by Michael Herring for the Del Rey edition of Jack Pumpkinhead in Oz, gives us another exciting scene of Oz antics.

In this case, Herring isn't following the text as closely as possible - the beard should be wrapped around a tree, and Jack should be pulling himself across. John R. Neill illustrated a couple variations of this scene in the original book.

One of the things I really enjoy in Herring's paintings are the skies. I may have mentioned this before, but they really do add to the sense of enchantment in the images - particularly when they are presented in such Ozzy colors as this. In this case, the pink/lavender sky would be appropriate for either the northern Gilliken country, or for the southern Quadling country where this incident takes place.

Del Rey Gnome King

I think this painting for The Gnome King of Oz is my favorite of the cover paintings done by Michael Herring for the Del Rey Oz books. There is something about the color and simplicity of the image that I really like. The Gnome King is shown soaring through the sky to the Emerald City, wearing a Flying Cloak of Invisibility (take that, Harry Potter!). The city is seen beneath the flying gnome, and the yellow hills in the background indicate that we must be gazing toward the Winkie country - originally in the west, but I don't recall at this point in the series if it was still in the west or had moved to the east. As I've mentioned before, compass points and countries have a way of shifting on maps of Oz.

John R. Neill did a drawing of this same incident for the original book. The image is very similar, but I do like the huge cloud Herring has placed behind the king. The Emerald City itself is adapted from the Neill illustration used on the original endpapers of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

As with all the Thompson covers, this image was cropped for use on the published book, losing much of the landscape and sky. On these editions the printed cover images do extend over the spine of the book, which accounts for some of the extra finished area in the paintings.

Del Rey Hungry Tiger

Michael Herring's exciting cover for the Del Rey edition of The Hungry Tiger of Oz features the Hungry Tiger and friends traveling down a firefall. This would be along the same lines as a waterfall, only different... I have to admit, this painting makes me think of a circus poster - it must be something about the tiger.

On the back of the tiger we have Betsy Bobbin, Prince Reddy of Rash, and the interesting fellow on the end is Carter Green, the Vegetable Man - the flames make his ears (of corn) pop. Yet another example of the puns scattered throughout the Oz books!

John R. Neill provided a color plate of this same incident for the original book. He provides a more fanciful vision of this event, with the travelers engulfed in the flames. The super-realistic style employed by Herring does remove some of the magic of the moment, but I think part of the fun of his paintings is the chance to see impossible events presented in a straightforward way. It provides an interesting contrast to Neill's images, which for me will always be the true representation of events.

The printed version of this painting crops quite a bit of the image. As usual, we are focused more closely on the characters.

Del Rey Grampa

I find Michael Herring's cover painting for the Del Rey edition of Grampa in Oz very interesting. The image is not taken from any specific John R. Neill drawing, and Herring has been far more accurate in his depiction of Urtha than Neill ever was. According to the text, Urtha's "...face, hands and neck were of the tiniest white blossoms, her eyes, deep blue violets, her mouth a rosebud, and her nose and brows delicately marked with pink stems." In the close up I'm showing of Urtha's face, the white petals of the skin are visible, as well as the flower eyes.

The book goes on to describe her hair made of flowering ferns, her skirt of blossoming vines, and her waist of every flower you could think of, with pansy buttons . This is one point were Herring slightly misinterpreted the text - I think by "waist", Ruth Plumly Thompson meant shirtwaist, or blouse, not just a belt around the middle.

I also have a preliminary sketch for this painting, which differs from the finished piece. Urtha appears much less human, in a slightly different pose, and there is a much more elaborate garden background that was dropped for the final image. Grampa himself is pretty much identical to the finished cover!

Del Rey Cowardly Lion

Michael Herring takes us into the sky, in the Flyaboutabus, in this cover painting for the Del Rey edition of The Cowardly Lion of Oz. He's taken elements from a couple different John R. Neill drawings, and combined them into a dramatic image with a real sense of soaring through the air. Herring's paintings all have a very theatrical appearance, very much like a stage tableau.

This is another large (2' x 3') painting, and the detail on the small figures is quite nice. The cropping on the printed version of this piece clips the tail feathers and removes some of the sense of open sky - but the effect is still good.

Del Rey Kabumpo

Michael Herring's cover for the Del Rey edition of Kabumpo in Oz features several of the main characters from the book. I think he goes a step too far in this piece, as he pretty much reveals the end of the book on the front cover - not always the best thing to do!

It's a fun painting featuring Kabumpo, Wag the rabbit, Prince Pompa, and Peg Amy the wooden doll. The overall image isn't based on any specific illustration by John R. Neill, although the characters are based on his concepts. Kabumpo himself is taken from a Neill illustration early in the story. Herring was less dependent on Neill's work for the covers of the Ruth Plumly Thompson titles.

The composition of this piece, with the large block of yellow wall at the top and the characters in the lower portion of the canvas, is obviously designed to provide background for the book title. The cover for Royal Book has a similar division. Most of the Herring paintings are not quite as divided as this, making use of sky and clouds to fill the areas that end up being obscured by type.

Not to be political, but I had to laugh when a relative of mine, with no Oz knowledge, was intrigued by this piece - he did his best to interpret it as a Republican elephant barring the way and shutting out a band of Democratic travelers. Not an interpretation I would ever have thought of!

Del Rey Royal Book

In 1985, Del Rey began to publish the first paperback editions of the Oz books by Ruth Plumly Thompson. These titles had all been out of print since the 1960's. Once again, Michael Herring created new cover designs for the titles, which were released at the pace of a couple titles a year.

Herring took inspiration from John R. Neill's characters, but worked them into a scene Neill never illustrated. The Scarecrow is based on an image from The Scarecrow of Oz, while the Wogglebug is taken from an illustration in Royal Book.
Here we see Professor Wogglebug challenging the Scarecrow to prove his lineage and earn a place in the Royal Book of Oz.

These new printings of the Thompson books were larger than the Baum titles, and taller than standard trade paperbacks.

Del Rey Magic

The cover of the Del Rey edition of The Magic of Oz is one of the most colorful and dramatic in the series. The painting is large, 2 feet by 3 feet, and definitely draws a lot of attention! For this painting Michael Herring chose to work on a masonite panel, which makes this a very solid and heavy painting.

The subject has again been taken from a John R. Neill drawing, although it has gained a certain presence that the original drawing lacks. Here the Wizard has grown into quite the showman, a far cry from the humbug that he was in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.











The photo I'm showing is a little misleading, as the wizard's coat does not appear quite as blue in person. On the other hand, the picture I have of the printed cover of the book makes the coat look black - just picture it somewhere in-between!

Del Rey Tin Woodman

Once again, Michael Herring has fleshed out an illustration by John R. Neill to make the cover of the Del Rey edition of The Tin Woodman of Oz. The fantastic creature, (called a Hip-po-gy-raf), is a straightforward rendition of the Neill drawing, except in color. However, as with the Scarecrow cover, Herring has added a greater sense of drama with the creature appearing out of the mist, and the characters preparing to do battle on the edge of the cliff. Of course, no harm is done to anyone in the story, and the Hip-po-gy-raf turns out to be rather helpful.

The painting has a wonderful mix of color, with very vibrant blues and lavenders. In cropping the image for the cover of the book, the cliff edge is almost lost - removing some of the drama of the image.

Del Rey Scarecrow

For The Scarecrow of Oz, Michael Herring broke away from his earlier practice of repeating a John R. Neill illustration as a full fledged painting. Here he has taken a moment in the book which Neill did illustrate, but has fleshed it out into a much more complete image.

The Scarecrow, Trot, Cap'n Bill, and Button Bright flying out of Jinxland on the backs of Orks (not the Lord of the Rings variety) was pictured by Neill, but in a very simple manner. Here we see a more dramatic image of the characters set against one of Herring's lovely skies.

They are supposed to be flying on a fine moonlit night into the Quadling country, although it almost appears to be mid-day in the painting - the moon must have been very bright! The red trees are correct for the Quadlings, but the ground seems rather lavender, more of what I would expect for the Gillikin country - but maybe that's the moonlight. Aside from these quibbles, it's a lovely image.

Del Rey Road

The cover for the Del Rey edition of The Road to Oz is once again based on a full page John R. Neill drawing. This is the smallest of the Oz cover paintings by Michael Herring. 

I find it odd that he was very inconsistent in his choice of materials and sizes for these pieces. Most of the Baum covers are painted on a rigid board similar to foamcore. Other pieces are painted on masonite, stretched canvas, canvas board, and stretched linen. The sizes range from this piece at 14.5" x 24.5" to pieces that are 24" x 36". I would have thought it simpler to have one size and one material to work with for the entire series, but that's just me. I suppose, since they were not all being done at one time, he worked with what he had on hand, or in the method he was currently comfortable with. The variety does add another level of interest to the pieces. 

 This is a straightforward adaptation of Neill's drawing without any major changes. On the painting, the Oz banner has been dropped a bit lower than in the drawing. When viewing the painting in person, you can see that the banner was originally painted higher, then painted out and lowered. This was done so that it would not intefere with the Oz in the book title. The jagged rocks have been added to the foreground, and due to the proportions of the painting, the composition is not as tight as that of the drawing.

As with all the paintings in the series, the image was cropped for the printed cover.

Del Rey Oz covers

In 1978, the Del Rey company decided to start reprinting the Oz series as trade paperbacks and market them as science fiction. As part of their re-packaging, new covers were created for the books. These covers were painted by Michael Herring in the super-realistic sci-fi style of the time. A couple years ago I managed to acquire a number of these paintings.

The first cover Herring did, to secure the job, was for Ozma of Oz. For this cover he took a Neill drawing from the book, and translated it into a full scale painting. This was the technique he followed for most of the Baum titles. It is interesting to compare the original Neill drawing, and the painting based upon it. The essentials are the same, but Ozma is now a blonde. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman have more of a resemblance to their MGM counterparts rather than the book characters, and Ozma has been given a greater sense of purpose. She now looks as though she's driving forth to conquer, not simply crossing the desert in her chariot. Also, the magic carpet the characters are using to cross the desert has been given a curve, rather than the severe straight line of the drawing.

Some of the whimsical quality of Neill's original is lost, along with the sun rays bursting as clouds scud across the sky. In the new version, an unobstructed space had to be left for the book title. On the published book cover, the image is cropped - more severely on the right side.

The originals of these cover paintings are very well done, and much larger than the paperback covers for which they were created - Ozma is 22" x 30", and an impressive piece. This is the best series of major Oz paintings that I am aware of extending past the first, and best known, title. Certainly these images are iconic for those reading the Oz series in the 1980's, as this was the most readily available set of the books. I've been unable to find any current information about the artist - there were a few articles in the Baum Bugles of the time period. Any more recent information would be appreciated!