"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated September 10, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (APRIL 13, 2021):
Ok. So, we're two strips in to the new series at Hearst's American, and it's already *very* obvious (even from reproductions) that the printing process doesn't hold a candle to the Herald. - 1/24
The vibrancy of the colours is entirely missing, which leads to an almost muddied effect throughout the strip… maybe muddied is the wrong word. "Dulled"? - 2/24
The sharp contrasts that used to be a staple of the #LittleNemo series are simply just not being recreated here. Thankfully, McCay's thick art nouveau lines are still able to provide a crispness that works well, though. - 3/24
Another fairly formally simple strip, regular panels in a regular grid, the American's readers haven't yet been treated to McCay's innovative formal tendencies. - 4/24
I'm working to remind myself that this is very early in a new relationship here and though this strip's background panel content is almost identical for 9 straight panels, the foreground/narrative is actually quite fun. - 5/24
I don't know about you all, but I am so happy to be back in Slumberland proper. I'm delighted that the Princess is back in a more steady role and even though the shenanigans are reinscribing the past (as my reading mentioned yesterday), the nostalgia impact is high. - 6/24
Of course, McCay's contemporary readers may (or more likely would) not have shared our nostalgia for these old hijinks; their fun none the less. - 7/24
Now, a door that becomes a portal is very Slumberland… well, I guess it would be more like a door? Though the Princess and Nemo slide in with barely a ripple, Flip smashes it (twice) and actually passes in on his second time around. - 8/24
This also explains why the big fella forces Flip roughly to the ground in panel 4; he has to reseal the mirror before Flip gets up and follow them through. - 9/24
A foolproof plan… had they not left two suits of armour for Flip to use! What follows in panels 8-10 is just wonderful absurdity… Flip, cigar in mouth, dons armour completed with shield and axe (getting noticeably slimmer form panel 7 to 10). - 10/24
The five big fella's all standing guard behind the broken mirror (interesting wearing logo's that seemingly imitate the shatter hole that Flip has just walked through) all look stunned… - 11/24
Almost as stunned as our friends (and the snow men?) in panel 11. Just 13 dots and 5 small line noses is all it takes to depict abject dumbfounded-ness across the faces of all five characters. It's GREAT! - 12/24
As we (the reader) stand there positioned almost alongside Flip, it's like they're all looking at us, too! We are complicit in Flip's actions, which are initiated (at least partially) by our reading the strip! - 13/24
It's an awkward moment… but one that works really well and that I find super fun! - 14/24
Now, this strip is also unique because it features a *major* change in tradition with a newly styled wake up gag that is both fresh and reminiscent of the past. - 15/24
Early #LittleNemo strips were a little bit more inventive with the way that Nemo was woken up from his sleep; in later strips, it was mostly someone calling for him to get up or him waking on his own. - 16/24
This one returns to the notion of something external jolting him awake. Falling out of bed is pretty standard and has caused Nemo to prematurely wake up many times throughout the series… - 17/24
But he's never fallen out of a hammock. - 18/24
This also suggests that it isn't Sunday morning when he wakes up (unless his parents let him sleep in the hammock overnight). Alternatively, I suppose it could be a Sunday afternoon nap? - 19/24
But then I wonder what caused him to *not* dream of Slumberland the night before? That would've been a strange occurrence for a boy who had been regularly used to these dreams for the past six years. - 20/24
And yet, Nemo had just gone an entire month without being published so, by this point, the rules are wide open for rewriting. Maybe this is one of them? - 21/24
Ultimately, I like this strip. It is fun and almost screams of the return of McCay's joy in writing and creating the strip. The surreality and magic is back, replacing the stuffy and sometimes difficult to wade through realism of more recent series'. - 22/24
Though I continue to note Impie's absence. - 23/24
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #304. What's yours? - 24/24