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Day #233: Farewell, Professor!

"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated March 27, 1910:


Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 28, 2021):


I think that the content of this strip makes it pretty darned clear that there was an editorial mix-up on the dates of March 20 and 27, 1910. - 1/16

I had my suspicions yesterday, but @pfxbryan solidified them when he too suggested that this was the case. - 2/16

Even without any real conclusion to the "King Morpheus' Gout" storyline, this strip begins in the palace (which we reached two strips back) and ends with Nemo, Flip, and Impie approaching the moon (where we begin the last strip). - 3/16

If Editorial published these two strips out of order, it would also explain the Professor's strange absence in the last strip! He had already jumped off the airship and made his way home! - 4/16

This has been a long time coming; the Professor's "I want to go home" pretty much defined who he was after his rather colourful introduction series. It was nice to see his story come to a full and complete end rather then him being simply abandoned from the narrative. - 5/16

That said, I still have questions… - 6/16

We're wondered before if he was another sleeping child or if he was a Slumberland construct… and I don't think this really answers it for us. - 7/16

I think, personally, that it leans us towards dream construct rather than sleeping boy (maybe his quick and unexplained disappearance would've signalled the opposite), but I'm eager to hear what others think. - 8/16

Throughout the strip, Nemo and Flip have a rather macabre conversation about the Professor's decision and seem to have the worst in mind for how it'll end for him. - 9/16

I don't really get the sense, as with many of these instances, that the Professor was ever in any real danger, but I wonder if that might have been different for a younger reader (as was intended?). - 10/16

The fact that Nemo and our friends have their own private pilot now is also interesting… it smacks (to me) of "He's here to make sure we don't get into too much trouble and be gone too long… as is our custom." - 11/16

The fact that, this time around, Nemo has asked permission from the Princess to go on some adventures (and been given her blessing) is bother fascinating and logical. - 12/16

I mean… it isn't his airship, so if he'd booked it without asking, I guess it would've been grand theft airship… on the other side, there's an interesting, almost domestic feeling, about him being granted leave by the Princess to go out with the boys. - 13/16

I'll just end by saying I really don't like the way Flip treats Impie. Though, to be fair, both of them do rush to his aid in the final panel and ensure that he doesn't harm himself by jumping from the airship in space. - 14/16

(I've decided not to broach the subject of their ability to breath in space on an airship because… well… it's both a dream and a comic strip, so there are some boundaries of (dis)belief that I'm not willing to challenge.) - 15/16

This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #233. What's yours? - 16/16

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