"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated August 11, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 30, 2021):
This strip marks the most active that Nemo has been in months… heck, maybe years! - 1/16
Not only does he basically suggest the entire thing by unintentionally spurring Doctor Pill into action with the Mosquito Guards, but he is also the sole defender when they get in the thick of it. - 2/16
It's also a clear example of Pill and his antics putting the larger group in danger. We've spoken a bit about this over the last few days, but it really comes out here. - 3/16
One could argue that it was the guard who suggests the mosquito bait (after Pill only asks for blanks in Flip's gun), but Pill instigated the prank against Flip and doesn't talk the guard down from using bait over blanks. - 4/16
This is a very dangerous move, as we see, because it is obviously pretty potent stuff… in panel 7, when Flip blasts himself in the face with it, the mosquito's start swarming almost immediately! - 5/16
Since the Princess and (apparently) Doctor Pill stayed topside, Nemo is the only defense against these monster sized mosquitoes! - 6/16
Had the group not refused to give Impie a weapon, maybe he'd have been of some help too, but Flip shuts that down pretty quickly in panel 4. - 7/16
He doesn't explain why he believes that Impie can't handle a gun though, so when the time comes, Impie is forced to (yet again) suffer stings to the head reminiscent of the Martian bee incident. - 8/16
Impie isn't the only one who takes stings this time around though. Since Nemo is simply unable to keep up with the swarm of mosquitoes after Flip, he too takes some to the head in panels 9 and 10. - 9/16
By panel 11, he's out of ammo and he and Flip are swinging their guns around swatting at the blood-suckers while the Princess looks on (and Impie is attacked). - 10/16
Panel 11 is interesting because Flip makes mention that his grandfather talked about Gettysburg, which, one has to assume within the context of his situation, is a reference to the Battle of Gettysburg: - 11/16
I will admit that, as a Canadian, I'm rusty on my American Revolutionary history, so I'm not sure if there is a connection here beyond the fact that both are battles, but hopefully some of you folks can fill in the blanks if they exist! - 12/16
Ultimately, I'm pretty pleased to see Nemo become more active in the strip again. It really is nice to have him be a character as opposed to a bystander or observer. - 13/16
It also allows Nemo and Flip's relationship a moment to shine; something that has been sorely lacking from the NY American strips because they've focused so much on the other characters at the expense of Nemo. - 14/16
McCay's monster mosquitoes are probably a close second for the best part of this strip. The blurring of boundaries between dreaming and waking worlds created by the final panel is great and their design is pretty neat (those eyes are creepy…). - 15/16
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #349. What’s yours? - 16/16
Comments