"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated January 23, 1910:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 19, 2021):
We've already had a battle with pirates by sea, so why not a battle by air? - 1/15
I really enjoy the whimsical feeling created by a pirate airship… as if an airship in 1910, just 7-years after the Wright brothers' first example of sustained flight, wasn't unbelievable enough the idea that pirates would be prowling the sky is great. - 2/15
And the pirate's name! Oh, man! "Captain Skidd, the Sky Terrier" literally made me laugh out loud. If it wasn't meant to be funny, you could've fooled me! - 3/15
That the pirates get their comeuppance a the hands of Nemo and the Slumberland crew was never *really* in question, but the barrage of cannonballs in panel 5 and the explosion in panel 7 are sights to see. - 4/15
That being said… there end up being a lot of dead pirates by the time this strip is done. Like, I know they chose to be pirates, but wow… - 5/15
Now, you can say "it's a dream; they don't exist" or "they would've killed our friends" and you'd be right. But it's just sort of chilling to see Nemo in the penultimate panel care so little for the loss of life endured in the battle… - 6/15
In fact, where did this "large and in charge" Nemo come from? - 7/15
He doesn't even hesitate to talk back to the pirates, essentially telling them to buzz off, and when they challenge back he just orders the Slumberland attack. - 8/15
I actually love tier two because it juxtaposes the confident pirates (panel 4) with the "holy hell what is going on" frantic pirates (panel 5). That this change occurs so quickly is really formally fun! - 9/15
Arguably, the most shocking scene of the entire strip comes in panel 6 when, after having just narrowly escaped beheading, Nemo shrugs off the cannonball attack by saying he's hot and needed to be fanned anyway. - 10/15
Now that is bravado… - 11/15
Now, plot armour aside, what if the pirate had been in charge of a more capable crew who could've fired back on our Slumberland airship with more accuracy? His bravado could've put the Princess in grave danger! - 12/15
Then again, had he allowed them to board, who knows what would've happened… she could've been taken (it's basically happened before)… - 13/15
Nemo was placed in a bit of a predicament here and, I think, did as well as he could've given the circumstances… maybe someone else has a different perspective! I'd love to hear it! - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #224. What's yours? - 15/15
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