"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated June 07, 1908:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (OCTOBER 14, 2020):
I don't have much to say about this strip. - 1/10
It continues the offensive caricaturized representation/depiction of Black characters from last strip and brings it to the forefront as they pass by Nemo and Mary… - 2/10
The fact that Nemo and Mary comment about it without mentioning how problematic it is to have slaves just stinks in a 21st century context… - 3/10
And I guess I just don't understand what this strip even offered to McCay's contemporary audience? - 4/10
The discussion that Nemo and Mary have about how many "servants" the Princess has is just gross… it reads as though slavery is a status symbol of some sort… could that TRULY have been the way people thought in 1908? - 5/10
And the choice of animals pulling the Princess' clothes… that cannot be an accident. Was this what McCay considered the gag of the strip? - 6/10
We've talked in the past about the dangers of simianization and how the caricature of the Black "savage" fed racism in the 20th century. This seems an egregious example of that. - 7/10
It just doesn't seem like a coincidence which immediately has me finding this strip revolting… even in light of the perspective shift that I've been craving for the past who knows how many strips. - 8/10
In the end, this strip is probably worth discussing if only to call out it's problematic elements. But, it offers little else, in my opinion. - 9/10
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #139. What's yours? - 10/10