"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated April 07, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 11, 2021):
Well, this strip starts off much differently than I thought it might given how the last one ended… somehow, we've skipped all the ruckus and reached some common ground! - 1/20
Sometime in between these two strips, a truce has been reached and Flip has promised to be troublesome no more! The fact that it starts with Doctor Pill claiming to have it all worked out is really meaningful; I don't think it would've rung as true from anyone else. - 2/20
But, of course, the peace doesn't last long… Impie decides that he wants the wand for himself and, after tripping Flip, takes off with it leaving a lot of wacky fun in his wake. - 3/20
I really enjoyed this strip. Like Nemo, I found myself giggling and laughing out loud at all the craziness depicted on panel. - 4/20
Impie is a HIGHLY adept magic user it seems… not only does he effortlessly transform himself into a kangaroo, but he also forces Pill to dance, turns real horses into rocking horses, and drinks down King Morpheus, God of Slumberland, himself! - 5/20
Nemo's reaction in the penultimate panel, and how it plays into the wake up gag, is the cherry on top of this Sunday Fundae. He knows it really *shouldn't* be funny… but Impie has easily bested everyone in record time! - 6/20
Though this is a highly narrative-based strip, I've a few visual/formal comments, as well. - 7/20
First, the King's depiction is quite different here than any we've seen in the past. Gone is the laurel on his head, covered are his normally bare arms and sandaled feet… his crown and robe seem very misplaced to me. - 8/20 [INSERT IMAGE]
He seems a much different King here… a Medieval King more than a Greco-Roman God-King. This is only reinforced by the final tier where he appears in armour, ready for battle! - 9/20
Up to this point (maybe a bit last week), I've felt Morpheus' presence (even when he *wasn't* in the strip) as an all-powerful deity within a pantheon of deities (Flip's father--the sun--being another). I've thought of him as one of near limitless power and influence. - 10/20
In this strip, he seems far more… human. Far less a God and much more a King. I wonder if this signals an impending shift? - 11/20
I also want to mention how much I love Impie's gestural fluidity in the top tier. - 12/20
When he was first introduced to the strip, his only method with which to communicate was gestural and McCay did a fabulous job utilizing Impie's movement, motion, and gesture to do just that. - 13/20
We haven't seen as much of that in the years that followed. Impie became a much less important character near the end of the Herald run, and now he can speak a bit and communicates differently. - 14/20
But can't you just feel him swing his leg, taking out Flip, catching the wand, and running away here? The depictions and closure just work together perfectly and it feels quite authentic. - 15/20
That same feeling works well in the third tier when the forward motion of the horses transforms into the forward motion of the *rocking* horses, which (obviously) causes them all to tip forward and pile in a heap. - 16/20
Finally, there were a lot of animals that McCay could have chosen for Impie to transform into as he escaped away in panel 4. A Kangaroo is one that I like (personally) because I feel as though it avoids common stereotypes associated with Black American caricature. - 17/20
I don't think there is much to be said about McCay transforming Impie into an animal here because we've seen a series of strips prior that have narratively rested upon that premise and the choice here is a unique one. - 18/20
Whether intended to subvert these common stereotypes or not, I think it was a good choice. That said, if anyone reads something that I'm missing here, please share! - 19/20
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #331. What's yours? - 20/20
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