"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 16, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MARCH 27, 2021):
The countdown is officially on. This strip marks the beginning of both the Tritone series (at least that's *my* term for it) and the final 15 strips of #LittleNemo published at the Herald. - 1/23
The final 15 strips at the Herald are unique from what came before in that they completely and utterly stripped the comics colour magic away. - 2/23
What was once the magical core of the strip (it's multi-coloured brilliance fostered by the Herald colour method) was reduced to only three tones: black, white, and another single colour that would change weekly. - 3/23
I mentioned this yesterday, but it's worth reiterating now that "the Herald's method of printing was far superior to any other newspaper of the time" (Canemaker, 3rd ed., 2018, p. 109). - 4/23
Though Canemaker (2018) doesn't explicitly state a reason for the change in these 15 strips, I suspect it was the Herald's way of sticking it to McCay for jumping ship to William Randolph Hearsts' rival "New York American". - 5/23
What better way to punish McCay than to strip away part of his works magic? It's petty, but plausible… - 6/23
Alexander Braun (2019) offers a similar thought when he makes note of the fact that #LittleNemo spent it's final days neglected and tossed into the back pages of the supplement (vol. 2, p. 9). - 7/23
The other characteristic of these upcoming 15 strips is that they soon become disjointed and highly episodic again. - 8/23
Braun (2019) suggests two potential reasons for this: a) McCay was only half-heartedly fulfilling his duties, or b) they weren't new strips at all, but rather unused episodes from the past stitched together by the editing department. - 9/23
Either way, it's clear that the Herald was no longer focused on promoting or highlighting the adventures of it's once prominent and most popular supplement character. - 10/23
That said, I read this strip in a really interesting way because as much as it is the Herald punishing McCay, I think McCay is also schooling the Herald through the narrative. - 11/23
The narrative of the strip continues forward with a bit of a twist surprise. Continuity is maintained, but there is clear movement away from the static Sightseeing formula of the most recent strips. - 12/23
Rather than being greeted by a throng of children today, Nemo is met by… no one. Instead, he learns that there is a young girl in another airship who the children are more interested in following. - 13/23
Nemo (very naively) has no idea who this young woman might be… until Flip runs into Doctor Pill and it dawns on Nemo that it must be the Princess! - 14/23
He is so happy to hear that Doctor Pill and the Princess might be there in Chicago and sets out to find her. - 15/23
So, how does the narrative act as a lecture from McCay to the Herald? Well, it tells the story of a previously popular character (Nemo) being abandoned for someone new (the Princess). - 16/23
As Nemo struggles to find the crowd of children, they have moved on to following the Princess and Nemo resorts to playing catch-up; trying to keep up with her and her crew. - 17/23
I read this as McCay's laughing retort that the Herald (Nemo), once immensely popular as a result of McCay's readers, would soon find themselves playing catch-up to the next best thing in town, the American (the Princess)… again as a result of McCay. - 18/23
So… I like to think this is McCay firing back, as well. - 19/23
I'm not afraid to admit that I loved panel 5! Seeing the Princess and the Candy Kid (two characters that I really like) after they had been away for so, so long was really wonderful! - 20/23
Doctor Pill I can take or leave, but even his appearance (and the remembrance of the conflict forever bubbling between he and Flip) brought a sense of joy to me! - 21/23
Will Nemo and the crew ever make it to Milwaukee? How will we transition from the current existence into "In The Land of Wonderful Dreams" (#ILoWD)? 14 more strips will help us find the answers to those questions and more. - 22/23
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #288. What’s yours? - 23/23
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