"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated February 28, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (NOVEMBER 24, 2020):
This strip sees Flip's dreams of managerial stardom come "crashing" to a halt as our newest friend, the Professor, rolls down the road in a barrel. - 1/22
The thrust of this strip is centered on the juggling act being performed in the foreground of tiers 1-3. Before it's disastrous ending, it's actually quite impressive… - 2/22
… or at least it would be if he were more than just ink on a page and capable of literally any feat imaginable. - 3/22
I know that this series has focused much more on "realistic" dreams; ones that take place within a dreamscape informed by Nemo's waking world… but the introduction of the Professor signalled that, maybe, something more was coming… - 4/22
…especially considering his introduction, which featured skills/feats that even the world's greatest contortionist would have to acknowledge as wildly improbably! - 5/22
Yet, he never really surpassed his introduction, did he? The marathon was impressive, but the spitballs, and snowballs, and reading… where is the fantastical in that? - 6/22
Juggling, even with a broom in his mouth, isn't really all that special… I'm sure this is something that can be done. So… did McCay's imagination run dry for this arc? Or is there another reason that the mundane feats outnumbered the fantastic? - 7/22
I find tier two fascinating, but not for a great reason… - 8/22
Here, we're introduced to Ruth: a Mammy-style caricature that seems to be a servant of Nemo's family. Which prompts me to ask… what happened to Angelus? - 9/22
If you recall back in strip #160 (November 01, 1908), we met Angelus who was Nemo's family cook… another Mammy-style caricature within the strip. - 10/22 [INSERT IMAGE]
The Comic Strip Library identifies Ruth AS Angelus… but I'm not sure that they are the same person. Sure, they share similar characteristics, but most of them are the generic Mammy-style ones. - 11/22
According to #EthnicNotions, the "Mammy" was often a very dark-skinned, larger, black woman depicted as a desexualized being so as not to threaten her foil, the white mistress of the home (Riggs, 1987). - 12/22
Aside from these stylistic similarities, "Ruth" and "Angelus" are wearing different outfits/uniforms (which might not be all that telling; new clothes for a new day and all that), which could indicate they're different people… - 13/22
This begs the question… what happened to Angelus? Was she replaced? Nemo did think Angelus' job was in jeopardy following the dough incident… - 14/22
Alternatively, maybe they're both employed with Nemo's family. If this is the case, Nemo's family is in a much different social status than I previously believed… not sure what to think… - 15/22
Either way, the juggling act doesn't pull my attention away from the continued prominence of racial caricature and the negative implications that it promote(d/s). - 16/22
I'll end just by mentioning that I really love the tier 3 triptych. - 17/22 [INSERT IMAGE]
We've seen these before, but I really like how the Professor's motion propels our eye across the page and, by extension, through the Nemo family yard! - 18/22
I'm not sure how the barrel gets from its position in panel 10 to the top of the stairs in panel 11 (I guess it slides when he falls into it?), but I can forgive this apparent clumsiness. - 19/22
The continuous representation of the yard through the three panels creates distance (both figurative and, one must assume, literally) between Flip and the Professor, making the end much more meaningful! - 20/22
I do certainly hope that the Professor is alright… - 21/22
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #177. What's yours? - 22/22