"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated September 26, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 02, 2021):
Well, @AlexxKay. You were right! They weren't out looking for the boys… Doctor Pill and the Dancing Missionary were just out hunting when our friends stumbled upon them. - 1/10
This strip features a very stable grid with a high panel density and very little difference in the foregrounded position of our characters. Really, the only ones who move around are DP and DM… - 2/10
The real intrigue of this strip are the wondrous creatures that McCay has brought to life in the background for DP and DM to hunt. First a "Montemaniac" and then a "Peninsula". - 3/10
The "Montemaniac" seems poorly named as he doesn't do anything in response to the hostility shown him by DP and DM other then walk off panel… the "Peninsula", probably more aptly named had *he* been the "Montemaniac" is much more inquisitive. - 4/10
Whether he is hostile in return to the failed gunshots or not isn't really clear… he seems to have a big smile in the penultimate panel, which I quite enjoy! - 5/10
The main humour of this strip is obviously the absolutely and utter stupidity of DP and DM… the reader is meant to laugh at them right alongside Nemo and his friends. - 6/10
I really like this because we feel as if we are there, guffawing right alongside them. It blurs the boundary between fiction and "real" as we are meant to feel congruence with their experience. - 7/10
But… I mean… c'mon. Even the least gun-savvy individual on the planet knows that you don't point the barrel towards yourself or others… these two put their faces right into the bell of their hunting rifle… yeesh. - 8/10
Maybe a lesson for kids here (don't do what DP and DM are doing; this is dumb) could be gleaned by the young and impressionable readers of this strip… who knows? - 9/10
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #207. What's yours? - 10/10