"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated August 04, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 29, 2021):
You know… for the slightest of moments, I really thought that Magoozla might make a reappearance here in this strip. Not that I dislike the freakishly large fish that tugs Flip out of the diving bell, but Magoozla rocked. - 1/18
For anyone wondering who Magoozla is, see one of the series' earliest strips from way back in 1905: - 2/18
Even though he only appeared in that one strip, his big smile really imprinted itself on me. He is probably, at least for me, McCay's most wonderful surreal creature. - 3/18
Back to this strip though, we have yet another example of Doctor Pill promoting the abandonment of Flip and Impie. - 4/18
Personally, I feel as though it is really becoming tiresome. I have much less patience for the return of this trope after having temporarily moved on from it previously… - 5/18
That said, we also continue the trend of the Princess (and maybe Nemo) supporting or defending Flip. Some of the comments in his defence are said from quite a distance (like panel 9 and 10), so it's tough to identify a speaker. - 6/18
It's probably safe to infer they are the Princess' though. Between Nemo's increased passivity and her frequent defences in recent strips, I would put money on it being her. - 7/18
Now, one thing I found particularly interesting is that the men in the battleship had no idea who Flip was… that is uncommon. - 8/18
Previous strips set in Slumberland almost always featured characters that recognized Flip; as the son of the sun and nephew of the Dawn Guard, it was not common to find anyone who wasn't aware of who he was. - 9/18
That said, we've moved newspapers now and it's entirely possible that this has been retconned. Still, it's intriguing to see characters in Slumberland, who must be members of Slumberland navy since their on the battleship, not recognize him. - 10/18
While they question who Flip is and why he "talks like he has some authority", they do as he instructs them to and lowers the diving bell onto him and Impie. - 11/18
Of note is that between panels 5 and 6, Flip somehow loses his fireman's hat. It just sort of disappears… maybe the big fish eats it? - 12/18
While Flip doesn't notice the fish coming, Impie seems to catch sight of him almost immediately. From panel 7 onwards, Impie is tracking that big fish and even tries to warn Flip in panel 9. - 13/18
Unfortunately, Flip is too busy cussing out Pill to really notice (even though the groups in the sub can't even hear him) and gets himself pulled out from under the bell and into the water… - 14/18
…which he can somehow speak under. This is certainly a new skill. - 15/18
I'll just end by discussing the water in this strip. It's still pretty great… but a little *less* great than past examples. The water lines that indicate being underwater are a little less featureful and distinct… they're a little too straight and unwavering. - 16/18
I'm not sure if this is McCay starting to be less focused on the detail or maybe the American printers simply couldn't handle the level of detail and intricacy that the Herald's could, but it's slightly less impressive than the past. - 17/18
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #348. What's yours? - 18/18