"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated May 12, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 16, 2021):
Well… the title says it all. The magic flute is back. But that isn't all… Impie is also back for the first time in a month! - 1/24
Continuity wise, the strip picks up right from where we left off after the last one. Having been hurled away, we find Flip and the flute have landed in the first panel of today's strip. - 2/24
Nemo reminds us that he isn't hurt (something he said last strip, as well), which isn't all that surprising. That said, Flip declares that the flute scares him, which I would say is pretty surprising. - 3/24
Flip often gets into trouble, and even finds himself in situations that might cause personal injury as a result… but he rarely expresses this level of emotion. - 4/24
Of course, the fear doesn't stick around for long because he is overcome by jealousy that Impie can play the flute so much better than he can. - 5/24
When he steals it back from Impie in panel 7, determined to play it again (this time well after having watched how Impie did it), we can pretty much guess what's coming next. - 6/24
What I like about this strip, is that while Flip does behave in the manner we've become accustomed to, he also expresses reasons for why. - 7/24
This level of emotional detail is not common, particularly when it comes to Flip. Understanding his character on a deeper level is something we've inferred and guessed about previously, but now we have words right out of Flip's mouth. - 8/24
From a character perspective, we also learn a little bit about Impie. - 9/24
Doctor Pill and Flip, in particular, express that they are surprised at Impie's skill on the flute. His prowess shocks them and the insults they usually hurl at him (though present) turn to compliments about the music, as well. - 10/24
Unlike the big fella who came from the flute last week, and the amphibious monkey that comes out of the flute today, Impie's music elicits magical fairies in a beautiful colour hold that dance around the panels while everyone else follows Impie around. - 11/24
Panels 5-9 also feature, what looks like, Candy kids in the background! They are depicted in colour hold like the fairies that come out of the magic flute, so I'm not exactly sure if they are magical or if they were accidentally coloured wrong. - 12/24
It just isn't very clear. I suppose, regardless of whether it was a mistake or not, we need to assume that they are from the flute because of the colour hold. It just seems a bit strange… the fairies I get, but the Candy kids I get less… - 13/24
Now, when Flip gets a hold of the flute again, the beautiful colour hold fairies disappear and are replaced with a polka dot monkey with amphibious feet. - 14/24
A pretty interesting combination of animals here, he also comes equipped with a board that he can use to smack Flip into next week (literally). - 15/24
Sure, this strip ends the same way as the last one did, but it really is a fun little meta element (especially because Nemo reminds Flip about "what happened last week" in panel 8. - 16/24
Finally, I want to discuss Impie's prowess with the flute. - 17/24
When it comes to Impie and the frequent evidence of early 20th century racism in his depiction, some of what McCay does is more noticeably racist than others. This one though, I'm not exactly sure how to take… - 18/24
On one hand, Impie is finally being given a moment to shine. On the other hand, the history of black music in America is riddled with examples of exploitation and mistreatment at the hands of white folks. - 19/24
Again, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. Is it entirely innocuous? Is there something I'm missing? - 20/24
The first connection that jumped to mind was obviously the early history of American jazz music. While the form hadn't really matured yet, it's early iterations (ragtime and blues, most notably) were in full swing by 1912. - 21/24
I racked my brain thinking about possible connections here (based largely on my surface-level knowledge of the period from my music history training in University), but I couldn't come up with anything compelling enough to discuss. - 22/24
Anyone else have any thoughts about this? I'd be eager to hear them. - 23/24
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #336. What'ts yours? - 24/24