"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 18, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (DECEMBER 02, 2020):
Oh, man… I LOVE this strip! It's really a lot of fun! - 1/21
I know that this is still quite early in the 1900s, and thus still early in the evolution of what comics can actually do… but all things considered, McCay did a really phenomenal job with the bannister gag. - 2/21
Sure, I really want to see it be integrated into the spatial communication of the page, it's a bit early in comics history for that. Though for a look at the possibilities you need only look to the eventual "Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland": - 3/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
Sure, this example is based on a much earlier #LittleNemo episode, but the potential for spatial communication is much the same here! Had McCay been doing this a century later, I bet it'd look much like this one! - 4/21
Panel 1 begins quite awkwardly with yet another example of word balloon placement that really just doesn't work well… We have the response from both Nemo and Flip before the reader (presumably) sees/hears Mama's request. - 5/21
Personally, I absolutely love the idea of a mundane area of Nemo's home transforming into a fantastical highway to the unknown… I know we've seen similar hints in the past, but this one is really well done. - 6/21
The pacing is expert, in my opinion. We begin with a normalized bannister that only begins to become more treacherous as the strip progresses… - 7/21
It builds up a sense of acceleration as we read too; beginning slowly enough but as the sharp turns come in, and we begin to lose Nemo and the Professor, the speed with which we see these characters descend the railing almost gets faster. - 8/21
Panel 14's spiral descent towards the launch point into the infinite vacuum of space is really wonderful! It reminds me of those old yellow donation bins that you could drop a penny into and watch as it spiraled down into the tub. - 9/21
The Professor's decision to speak most of the strip in a sort of proto-pig latin (is this the correct identification, we think? I know it isn't exact, but it's close) is strange… what brought this on? - 10/21
All of his dialogue is legible if the reader is adept at picking up the clues… "I am [ready]" in panel 2 probably sets up the understanding for the reader and prepares them for the rest of the Professors' ramblings. - 11/21
His warning though to "look out for the sharp curve" falls unheard… is it the language barrier that he's creating here? Very likely. As a result, Flip goes soaring off the railing. - 12/21
It also makes his "I told you to look out, didn't I?" in panel 7 quite ironic as he too gets bounced from the railing the panel immediately following his comment. - 13/21
I'm not sure why I'm wondering this now--maybe its because Impie has been absent for so long and the Professor, a character I didn't anticipate sticking around, is still here--but I'm very interested and distraught at the idea that Impie has been replaced. - 14/21
Could it have anything to do with the more grounded/realistic strips that we've been witness to over the last few months taking place, for the most part, smack dab in the middle of White America? - 15/21
Is there a suggestion here that Impie, previous playmate of the two boys would not fit into the dreamscape currently being explored? - 16/21
Is the Professor a stand-in for Impie until they return to the more magical and fantastic locales of Slumberland? If so, does Impie's absence represent White America's discomfort with the integration of Black Americans and the need to replace it with some(one)thing more… "acceptable"? - 17/21
Segregation was, of course, still a thing in the US at the time… so maybe it was deemed necessary to remove Impie from these strips that focused on higher society/middle class life? - 18/21
This would be in line with the intention of much racial caricature of the time intended to demonstrate the ludicrous notion that Black Americans could integrate into White Society (Riggs, 1987). - 19/21
It's an uncomfortable thought, and one that only today came to my mind. I'm not even sure what prompted it (though I think it is likely the pig latin), but I'll be interested to hear what others think about it. - 20/21
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #184. What's yours? - 21/21