"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated November 08, 1908:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (November 9, 2020):
Why have I never seen this #LittleNemo strip before! It's really cool! - 1/23
This strip, like #112 (December 01, 1907), features a metanarrative that, by the end, (d)evolves into an innovative use of page layout and spatial design. - 2/23
In strip #112, you might recall that the trio, in a fit of starvation, began to consume the paratextual title card of the comic strip in order to satiate their hunger… - 3/23 [INSERT IMAGE]
Though Nemo worried the artist might get mad, they reasoned that it was his fault they were so hungry in the first place and so their gluttony continued. - 4/23 [INSERT IMAGE]
That strip was the first time that there was any recognition from our characters that they existed within a fictional narrative and, more importantly, that they were fictional characters drawn, designed, and ordered by a higher external power. - 5/23
At the time, I also mentioned how this innovative approach differed slightly from McCay's previous experimentation because it was more narrative than formal. - 5/23
Here, McCay combines the two and I think it works really, really well! - 6/23
In particular, I like that it juxtaposes McCay's authorial power against his character's (Flip) comments. Flip says, "What do you want and I'll give it to you"! - 7/23
In other words, Flip is flaunting what he sees as his power to give Nemo whatever treat he chooses (because his Uncle--the Dawn Guard?--own the bakery). - 8/23
McCay subverts this when he begins removing the baked goods from the panel content, which prevents Flip from fulfilling his promise. - 9/23
And though Flip recognizes that "somebody is foolin' [him]" he doesn't immediately recognize the culprit as McCay, himself. In fact, it's Nemo who wonders "what is the matter with the artist" when he grabs onto the panel frame to prevent falling out of the content! - 10/23
While Nemo prevents himself from falling, Flip and Impie aren't as lucky. I wonder where they go when they fall out of the panel content? They didn't fall into the gutter and I don't know if that's better or worse in the long run? - 11/23
As Nemo balances on the frame, McCay begins to manipulate it. First, crinkling it slightly (panel 16), but leaving more than enough room for Nemo to stand before crumbling it like paper (panel 17) and cramming Nemo down with it. - 12/23
This too seems like more of a power move than anything else… why do this to Nemo? It was Flip that had been flaunting his power earlier, so I get making him look silly, but why punish Nemo? - 13/23
Is it a response to his recognition that it was "the artist" (aka McCay) erasing the panel content? Is Nemo the Dorothy to McCay's Oz, here? Revealing a secret of sorts? - 14/23
I don't know… but, regardless, I read this strip largely from the perspective of power relations… McCay demonstrates his power over the strip both visually (removing the food)… - 15/23
…and spatially (constricting Nemo's panel space) and thus demonstrates a sort of omnipotence over the characters… Nemo even shouts right at the end, "look what the artist has done to me". - 16/23
It's only then, that he wakes up; permitted to do so by McCay himself. - 17/23
It reads almost as an angry god who doles out punishment that only relents when the one punished admits his fault/insignificance. - 18/23
In this case, Nemo admits that the artist (or McCay) has the ultimate power by assigning blame for his collapsing surroundings to McCay and only then is he permitted to wake up. - 19/23
From the perspective of a "dream", one might wonder what power dynamics Nemo himself is being forced to handle in his waking life that make his dreams possess such a strong sense of powerlessness… - 20/23
I might argue that it is nothing short of the powerlessness of being a child (is it all that uncommon that children feel that they are powerless under their parents "rule"?), but I'm not sure if there is more to it than that or not. - 21/23
Either way, this strip serves as a really interesting reminder of how powerful simple visual-spatial manipulation can be to open up opportunities for meaning making. - 22/23
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #161. What's yours? - 23/23