"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated June 05, 1910:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (FEBRUARY 7, 2021):
As a whole, I can't think of much to say about this strip… that being said, there are some really interesting moments peppered throughout that are worth bringing up. - 1/17
First, the Secretary tells us that, rather than being punished, Pirate Pete is going to be added to Mr. Gosh's Advisory Board because he's a criminal too (hence his owning all of Mars). - 2/17
If this isn't an indictment of Capitalism and those who profit most from it, then I don't know what is. McCay isn't usually this "on the nose" about these things, but I guess he wanted to drive this one home? - 3/17
I officially do not like the airship Captain. He is a very tiresome addition to the group… His treatment of Impie is what really does it for me. - 4/17
Impie finally decides to speak in this strip (our inability to understand what he says isn't really the point…), and the Captian immediately tells him to "shut up". - 5/17
No, Captain… why don't YOU SHUT UP!? - 6/17
There is some strange word balloon placement happening in panel 4 where the Secretary answers Flip's comment before it's even spoken… - 7/17
Though it's a bit awkward, you could theoretically read the panels as a continuation upward… they're sucked. *up* into the fogger and blown *out* in an upward direction in the next. - 8/17 [INSERT IMAGE]
If you read the balloons in the order that our characters exit the defogger, then it makes a bit more sense. It still isn't perfect, but it works. - 9/17
Now, it's the final tier that contains the most interesting moment of the strip and that is the visual depiction of the sausage train's conductor. - 10/17
In much the same way that I noted exaggeration in the visual features of Pirate Pete a couple days ago, the Conductor brings up similar questions for me. - 11/17
He has the exaggeration through colour in the eyes, nose, and mouth that might indicate some sort of ethnic caricature, but this time the skin tone is green. - 12/17
Is this meant to be an Irish-coded Martian through elements of caricature? The fact that it is Flip that comments on his appearance could suggest yes, but as before it's hard to be certain. - 13/17
I know that the early 1900s saw many recently immigrated Irish men working on the railroad, but my understanding was that it was on the building, not running, of the train system. - 14/17
We also know that typical stereotypes included depicting Irish men as "ill-tempered" or unable to control their temper. This was so prevalent that it continues to survive today in the colloquialism of the "Irish temper". - 15/17
Combining all of these clues makes it seem likely (at least to me) that the Conductor was intended to be representative of Irish caricature… but it is certainly possible that I'm reading too much into it. - 16/17
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #243. What's yours? - 17/17
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