"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated December 08, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JUNE 15, 2021):
This strip revolves, at least for the most part, around Impie and his mischievous decision to fire the cannon at… a less than opportune moment. - 1/17
The Princess makes it VERY clear from the first panel that this is, indeed, the Navy of Slumberland and not (Dre)America or any other nation's fleet. - 2/17
For the Admiral to not recognize *any* of the members of the group means that this ship must have been at sea for a *very* long time… Considering their recognizability throughout the rest of the series, this is my head canon anyway. - 3/17
After convincing him that the group is not a collection of pirates, but royal emissaries of Slumberland, they transform their outfits into those perfectly suited the Royal Navy of Slumberland. - 4/17
Yet… Impie isn't given a costume. As is frequently the case, he remains costumed in his stereotypical jungle imp attire and all the problematic elements that come with it. - 5/17
Admittedly, the Princess doesn't receive any new attire either (which could also be explained by early 20th century prejudice; in this case, misogyny), but there is another curious thing… - 6/17
The Princess and Impie are also not chained in panel 1… Though Nemo, Flip, and Pill are all forced to carry and ball and chain, neither Impie nor the Princess are in a similar position. - 7/17
Is this because they felt as though the two weren't threats? That seems strange when the strip then goes on to prove that Impie's mischief is, indeed, a threat… though that could also be the point, I suppose. - 8/17
I'm genuinely interested in your takes on this moment. I found it… confusing. I wasn't totally sure what to make of it. How about anyone out there? - 9/17
Now, after Impie fires the cannon, the entire group, plus their tour guide, begin to chase him in an attempt to make sure that he doesn't cause anymore trouble. - 10/17
Any strip that features Impie's mischief is likely to also feature unfortunate language and name-calling. This strip is not different. - 11/17
At panel 9, Flip insists that "you know better than to run from me", which has a very uncomfortable insinuation of ownership and property that I immediately cringed at when reading. - 12/17
It rings as language used by slave owners against their slaves and knowing *how* Impie came to join our group all those years ago back at the Herald, it's hard not to think this is the implied implication: - 13/17
In panel 11, we have another unfortunate use of simianized language against Impie when Pill refers to him as a "baboon". Again with the monkey insults to reinforce Impie's caricature as the savage, animalistic Other. - 14/17
All this said, I have to give the Princess some credit. She not only speaks *about* Impie (for one of the first times literally ever I think), but she defends him: "Poor Impie! He didn't mean to do any harm." - 15/17
Was it their shared experience of being thought as less-than by the Admiral early on that causes this moment of pathos? Something else? Either way, it's nice to see her stand-up for him when many others in the strip are ready to wallop him. - 16/17
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #365. What's yours? - 17/17