"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated May 06, 1906:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JUNE 26, 2020):
I want to start by noting how the removal of the synoptic content at the start of the strip creates a neat temporal effect. - 1/21
What we are engaging with in tiers two on is really a recollection of the past as told by the Slumberlandian in his call to King Morpheus. - 2/21
Though he does recount the events of the strip, the fact that it occurs within the diegesis of the panel is meaningful, because it can be approached in ways that evoke new readings (beyond narration). - 3/21
So, while we know Nemo doesn't land here and won't see the Princess, there is a feeling of temporal suspense created as we (the reader) consume the page in order to "catch up" on what we've missed. - 4/21
As a Sunday cartoon, it reads as though Nemo's experience has continued while we were away and that the strip is recounting for us what we missed while it wasn't being published. - 5/21
All of this from the removal of caption boxes. I really love it. - 6/21
I really like this strip. It's wonderfully designed and looks marvellous (that panel labelled 7 is… wow.). Tier two acts to further the plot, while the rest of the strip screams out affective meaning form each panel. - 7/21
We learn about the firework conceit in panel (labelled) 1 and learn that poor Flip & his geese have gotten himself tangled in the spires following that… It's sad that he was able to overcome the blind gate, but not the architecture of the city… - 8/21
Now, the composition of panels (labelled) 3-6 are brilliant. As Nemo and friends descend towards the ground, so do the panels. Panel 3 is short, panel 4 extends downward, panel 5 more so, and panel 6 the farthest yet. - 9/21
The spatial design of the page simulates the descent of the team as they attempt to reach the ground. This makes for a wonderful juxtaposition with panel (labelled) 7... - 10/21
… when they don’t land. Not only do they not actually make it to the ground, but we're instead transported through the gutter back into the sky. - 11/21
The panel transition from closest to the ground we've been all the way back to the night sky is sharp, disorienting, and maybe even frightening. Obviously, the comic wants us to feel this way, affectively replicating Nemo's own experience. - 12/21
Nemo says, "I'm afraid", and it's likely the fear of being unable to escape the onslaught of fireworks that wakes him up in the end, but the penultimate panel at least gives us a bit of room to breathe. - 13/21
It's large enough that, even though the fireworks are still plentiful, they are spaced out and in less close-quarters to our hero. The narrow height of the tier 3 panels made the experience so claustrophobic that you can't really blame Nemo for being afraid. - 14/21
But the reward for getting through that gauntlet is the panel (labelled) 7, which is breathtaking. The night sky is just full of the (silent) pop and boom of fireworks, so much so that you can almost hear it. - 15/21
It's a small detail, but I really love the bodies in buildings of the third tier. None of the figures have distinctive features though, which I read as their homogenization with Slumberland. - 16/21
They are simple "extras" in the dreamscape and thus are unidentifiable… Instead, they blend and meld into the architecture because, without Slumberland, they don't exist. Thus there entire person is wrapped up in the dreamscape. - 17/21
That they gather at the window cheering for the arrival of Nemo speaks to his importance. It is, of course, his dream that we are witnessing & in many ways, he is their creator too. This moment could be read then as a self-reflexive pat on the back for McCay from McCay. - 18/21
At 30 strips in, #LittleNemo has been a success and this might be a personal moment for the strip to congratulate it's creator. If Nemo as stand in for McCay is accepted, then it also points out the creator's insecurity with the accolades (in Nemo's fear). - 19/21
Regardless though, the strip is pretty congratulatory and, even though Nemo doesn't reach Slumberland in the end, seems to celebrate itself and relish the opportunity. - 20/21
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #30. What's yours? - 21/21
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