"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated August 18, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 31, 2021):
This strip is interesting to me because, for pretty much the first time, Flip doesn't get the last laugh… - 1/15
It features many proverbial "kicks" to Flip, including a dive into the water and falling off the ducks back into the drink, but Flip doesn't stay down until that penultimate panel. - 2/15
It's at this point that Flip, sitting dejectedly on the wooden duck that he can't command to fly, saying "the laughs on me"! - 3/15
It is a really affective tactic, I think. Sure, we've always felt badly that Flip is excluded, but he causes so much trouble in his efforts to join the group that we sometimes forget that it is forged by attempting his exclusion. - 4/15
But here, as the Princess, Pill, and Nemo soar above, Flip sits sad and that not only was he excluded. That said, it isn't like he didn't share the experience… at least he got to fly the duck? It's a small consolation when being abandoned by your "friends". - 5/15
Impie, on the other hand, continues to be ignored entirely. - 6/15
In the background of a few panels, we can see that his experiences on the duck are similar to Flips. His duck dives into the water (panel 8) and then he falls from it's back (panel 10), but his exploits are *not* the focus. - 7/15
He too seems sad in the penultimate panel, frowning at his experiences and at his new flightless wooden duck… no one consoles him or even tries to speak to him the way Nemo does to Flip. A continuing disappointing trend… - 8/15
What's worse, is that Impie is set up by the comic in such a way that *less* pathos is created for him than Flip. In panell 3, we see Impie choking the duck, and in panel 4, his fist is raised in a manner suggestive of an incoming strike. - 9/15
Why is Impie being so rough and violent with the animal? Any reader might see these actions and excuse Impie's duck for dunking and dumping him. - 10/15
Flip, on the other hand, was treating his duck gently (panel 3) and so the duck seems to hold at least part blame (along Pill, as well), for Flip's exclusion. - 11/15
I mention all of this because even though the strip has almost entirely relegated Impie to the background (yet again), his experiences in the background are not pleasant or even neutral… - 12/15
The strip almost always finds a way to inflict some damage or harm to Impie even when it has no effect/impact on the story in the least. - 13/15
Also, on a personal note, panel 7 looks great! After the disappointing depiction of water in the diving bell strip a couple back, the underwater indications look much more natural here. - 14/15
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #350. What’s yours? - 15/15