"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated July 21, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 27, 2021):
One of the things that I'm noticing most evidently about the NY American strips, is that many of them re-introduce, reuse, or (as is the case with today's episode) subvert tropes and trends that we saw previously at the Herald. - 1/19
In this case, what we're seeing is twofold: First, we're seeing the re-introduction of McCay's usage of magical and surreal creatures. - 2/19
The Woozik is, at least to me, a pretty unique creation. He is both horse and camel like, but also has a beak-like face and webbed feet. His weakness, water, might not be entirely unique, but his reaction to it seems to be. I like the creature immensely. - 3/19
Though it reminds me of the series of hunting strips and the many wonderful creatures we met there (exampled here from 1909), it also brings to mind the important subversion, as well: The hunting is less deadly. - 4/19
Though the gang were… well, to put it mildly… awful hunters and no creatures were ever harmed during the hunting series, there was always (at the very least) the slightest possibility that one of the gunshots might wound a creature. - 5/19
Here, the hunting is being done with water, which is not deadly to the animal. Sure, it adjusts their disposition, but it won't kill them. - 6/19
While the Woozik's are really great, there are some other elements that I found a bit confounding. - 7/19
I'm still having a difficult time finding my bearings with Doctor Pill… one minute he's fine with Flip and the next he's trying to ditch him. It's a whirlwind. - 8/19
I'm starting to wonder if it's best to just recognize that their "relationship" may always be like this. It is interesting because we've seen very different relationships with the other characters. - 9/19
Both the Princess and Nemo have (more or less) come around entirely about Flip and are now positioned within the camp of his defenders. Pill, on the other hand, waffles back and forth by his whim. - 10/19
Impie is, yet again, silent, unspoken to, and simply along for the ride… the continuation of a troubling trend. - 11/19
The added salt in this long-standing wound is that the Woozik can talk, but Impie cannot. McCay has chosen to give more agency to his surreal creature than one of his human characters. - 12/19
This dehumanizes Impie even more because he is represented as having *less* human ability than even an animal/creature (mythical, surreal, or otherwise). - 13/19
Finally, Flip is really to blame for the events of this strip as they unfold… even though Pill drives off after leaving him with the Woozik, the chase really is Flip's fault. - 14/19
Even without the guns and deadly hunting aspect, we still see animal cruelty here as Flip picks up the club and whacks the Woozik with it for loving him too hard. - 15/19
Until Flip snagged the club, I hadn't even noticed it! That said, McCay's intentional placement of it in panel 5 sets up the gag pretty well… if you notice it, you likely have an idea of what's to come. - 16/19
I feel terribly for the Woozik that is mistreated in this strip… all he wanted to do was love Flip and give him affection. Maybe a valuable lesson for young readers to learn about their own pets; they love you and you should treat them right, lest they turn away from you. - 17/19
It's a stretch, most certainly, but we haven't been out in left field for a while and thought we should revisit! - 18/19
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #346. What's yours? - 19/19
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