"Little Nemo in Slumberland": dated April 19, 1908:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (OCTOBER 6, 1908):
It's really great to see that Nemo kept his promise! Today, after a couple of mentions, he is ready to visit the sick little girl that the Shanty Towner asked him about a couple strips back. - 1/19
The top tier features Nemo and the young Shanty Towner on their way to the sick girls house with a posse of other Shanty Towner's just singing Nemo's praises. - 2/19
When they arrive at the little girl's house, Nemo is appalled at the state of their home. Poor little Mary is laying on a mattress propped up by starch boxes… - 3/19
Nemo fixes that right away transforming her bed into a golden-framed four bannister bed. He also transforms her surroundings into a beautiful field of Easter Lillies… - 4/19
I'm interested as to whether he transformed the house into the field or transported them to a field… my gut instinct says it's the second mainly because the other characters are gone. - 5/19
But, another possible reason, could be because he subconsciously wanted to be alone with the little girl that he thought was cute. Not in a creepy way or anything like that, but in an innocent childlike way. - 6/19
In panel 5, he notes how "pretty" she is and he is coloured entirely in red in panel 7 almost as if he is blushing… it also seems as though he's flirting with her in that penultimate panel. - 7/19
Maybe his real wish was not only for her to be well, but also for him to have a moment alone with her? If that's the case, it could explain his blushing… he does say "he hopes he isn't dreaming". - 8/19
Obviously, we have Nemo performing a miracle here, which brings us back to that discussion that we had a few days back. There is definitely a religious tilt/angle to this series of strips (and especially this messianic moment) that is becoming more prevalent. - 9/19
There is one final piece of information that I think is vitally important to the discussions that we've been having over the last couple of days… - 10/19
Panel three has an eviction notice quite prominently displayed: "NOTICE! Tenants of this building must vacate"… does this mean that the Shanty Towners are, in fact, being replaced? - 11/19
I know that I've been discussing a reading that focuses on the gentrification of Shanty Town over the last few days, and it's just what I've been seeing; I don't necessarily say it's the correct or intended reading, it's just the reading that stands out most to me… - 12/19
That said, I think that the eviction notice allows us to renegotiate some past moments with a bit more emphasis on this (particularly, the "dats what moved us out" comment from yesterday). This meaning making across strips is a really meaningful thing, I think. - 13/19
Again, I'm not saying that McCay was making a conscious comment about gentrification (I actually really love the idea suggested by @AlexxKay that simply bringing the issue up to children is a powerfully political act), but there is something going on here. - 14/19
Someone *must* have evicted them… so who? And more importantly… why? - 15/19
Clearly, there are goings on in Slumberland happening behind closed doors that we aren't privy too and they also don't (directly) involve Nemo… - 16/19
Either way, I really think there is something to be read into Nemo's arrival here in Shanty Town, the strange gifting of the magic staff, his young desires to help, and now the evictions… - 17/19
Maybe read separately they are innocuous enough, but together they smell like a conspiracy to me… 😂 - 18/19
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #132. What's yours? -19/19