"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated May 31, 1908:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (OCTOBER 13, 2020):
This comic is yet again narratively boring… it's the same gag scenario we've seen play out for the last handful of strips… - 1/18
That said, it was ALMOST salvaged by panel 2. Which, in my opinion, represents a really cool experiment with the audial mode in comics. - 2/18
Obviously, comics have a bit of trouble with sound. Comics' solution has been the sound effects, grawlixes, and other indicators of sound/noise, etc. Indeed, we even get a "BOOM" in panel 3 as though to illustrate my point. - 3/18
But, comics have a much more difficult time expressing complex sounds, like music for instance. - 4/18
Obviously, many comics writers have taken many different approaches to this problem… some as simple as words and music notes to indicate musicality and others as complex as providing the chords and inviting a reader with guitar skills to play along. - 5/18 [INSERT IMAGES]
My personal favourite has always been from #VForVendetta. I've taught the comic in my classes many times and #ViciousCabaret is always one of my favourite interludes to discuss! - 6/18 [INSERT TIMAGE]
As you can see, the two are actually pretty similar. McCay though, focuses just on the band music without lyrics or text. It works just the same though and is totally playable! If you're trained, you could actually hear the music just by reading the score! - 7/18
The comment that it elicits from Nemo and Mary caught my attention, too. I didn't recognize the song from any Opera off the top of my head (not exhaustive, of course), and it'd be strange to have a marching band play those types of orchestral scores anyhow. - 8/18
More to the point though… how has Mary even BEEN to an Opera… I mean, they aren't cheap to attend and indicated high society much more in the early 20th century than they do now (although that still remains, for sure). - 9/18
When would Mary, who prior to Nemo's arrival was sick and living in squalor, have had the chance to go to the Opera? Does this suggest that Shantytown wasn't *always* a… well, shantytown? - 10/18
Ultimately, this panel *might* have saved this otherwise repetitive comic strip… except for the silent arrival of the group behind the band… Obviously, this is incredibly disturbing. - 11/18
By this point, it's been nearly 50 years since Emancipation… while we've certainly seen hints of racism through caricature and other problematic treatment of characters of colour, this is particularly awful and signals that Slumberland is very far behind the times... - 12/18
Even worse, the PRINCESS herself is implicated in this heinous practice… the banner stakes a claim of possession. This is a very bad look for the Princess. -13/18
It's terribly upsetting that the young readers of #LittleNemo, who were living in a time when Black Americans were fighting to be recognized as equal, could so easily encounter a depiction of slavery such as this. - 14/18
The sentiments that this strip presents to young readers is incredibly problematic. It suggests a maintenance of white supremacist ideals and almost looks back on the time of slavery with nostalgia… it's revolting. - 15/18
We've discussed previously how problematic these elements are and this is just another example in a long line of examples that needs to be challenged. We can't let them just silently exist in this strip; we need to call it out. - 16/18
In just a few short months, the Springfield Race Riots of 1908 would be sparked… and while I'm not saying work like what McCay has done here is to blame for it directly, it sure as shit was part of the problem. - 17/18
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #138. What's yours? - 18/18