"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated March 26, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MARCH 24, 2021):
Our arrival in Detroit with this strip marks two important things. First, we are nearing the end of the Airship Sightseeing
Series and, second, McCay's time at the NY Herald is quickly coming to an end. - 1/19
This strip actually plays with some interesting formal features again, which I really like after them being largely absent in favour of extravagantly detailed cityscape renderings. - 2/19
The central panel (#3) is a circle again, reminiscent of McCay's early strip experimentation with this spatial organization technique. - 3/19
What I like about this one in particular is the way that it functions as a "zoom" in on the action; the panels on either side are depicted from a distance, so panel 3 seems to almost imitate looking through a telescope for a closer view. - 4/19
It works quite well in my opinion and distinguishes itself from the early circular layouts because it has a communicate function beyond it's nature spatial one. - 5/19
At the same time, it could be argued that this is simply a reversal of what McCay did with our favourite Turkey-Kaiju, which was used to massively zoom-out of the action in Nemo's home to better depict the destruction being wrought. - 6/19
Either way, I liked it and was pleasantly surprised to see it's usage here. - 7/19
We also meet up again with Flip (rather quickly considering similar past events…) who is parading down the Detroit streets with a marching band and plenty of fanfare! - 8/19
Though he's only been there a short while before Nemo and the airship (having arrived on the boat from Toledo a bit earlier), he takes it upon himself to tell Nemo about how wonderful the city is. - 9/19
Now, I want to emphasize that I mean absolutely no offence by what I'm about to say… but the comments shared by Flip and the child guide about how pretty and swell Detroit was threw me for a bit of a loop. - 10/19
Growing up in Canada fairly close to Detroit (my grandparents live right across the river in Sarnia, ON), I have only ever really known the city in it's decline; the deindustrialized city (and all the challenges that have come with it. - 11/19
Detroit's reputation in my neck of the woods was (and if I'm being totally honest, somewhat still is) fairly poor. - 12/19
That said, this strip forced me to do some research on the city, and what I found is that Detroit has a very rich (if often complicated and misunderstood) history that I was completely unaware of. - 13/19
Now, I haven't become a Detroit historian overnight, so most of what I found is surface level at best (and if there is anyone out there who wants to share further insight, I would *love* to learn more), but it's a lot. - 14/19
For starters, I had no idea that Detroit was such a hub for Art Deco Architecture! No wonder McCay spoke so highly of the city: - 15/19
I was also largely unaware of it's rich musical history (this strip even features a short, single bar tune in panel 6): - 16/19
Needless to say, it became quite clear to me that McCay's descriptions of the city reflected the attitudes towards Detroit during it's heyday and allowed me an opportunity to learn more nuances about the city. - 17/19
Of all the places we've visited, this one surprised me the most. The strip challenged me to better understand the historical, cultural, and social factors that have contributed to the city's history and I have a much different perspective on it now, as a result. - 18/19
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #285. What's yours? - 19/19
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