"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated December 29, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JUNE 18, 2021):
As we close out 1912, I'm reminded that McCay's work is at it's absolute best when he leans into the absurd and outlandish. - 1/19
This strip does just that. Sure, it's a holiday strip, but it also features a bear. Which I find hilarious. Unless I'm really missing something, a bear is a very untraditional animal to see featured in a Christmas story. - 2/19
Deers or Reindeer? Certainly. Donkeys? Of course. Dog or cat? I'd buy it. But a bear? - 3/19
This strip is filled with examples of the subversion of expectation, so I really thought that this was a neat way to kick it off. - 4/19
Impie's reaction as he pokes Flip to make him aware of the bear that is staring at him is also quite funny… his facial expression says a lot about his surprise and trepidation. - 5/19
Now, the next example of a subverted expectation is that of Doctor Pill, who assumes (as expected) that Clarice is actually Santa Claus! - 6/19
Even though their relationship has certainly become less outwardly antagonistic of late, they've never really stopped jabbing at each other when the opportunity arose. So, even though we haven't really seen a Pill vs. Flip strip in a while, it tracks. - 7/19
Flip's plan is to ruin the Christmas speech that Pill has been asked to give and, as far as that is concerned, his plan works really well. - 8/19
Clarice kidnaps Pill and begins to run away with him! Was this part of Flip's plan? If not, maybe Clarice saw the opportunity for her own Christmas feast and couldn't pass it up? - 9/19
This is where the last, and funniest, subversion occurs. Instead of letting her run away with Pill… Flip rescues him. - 10/19
He gets into a scuffle with her and, in panel 10, is tossed into the ocean like a ragdoll before being pulled up and out by a stick. - 11/19
Who would've guessed that Flip would try to rescue Pill! Is it a Christmas miracle? Or was it all part of Flip's plan? - 12/19
It's entirely possible that the plan went sideways and he just jumped in so as not to let things get too out of hand… but, alternatively, maybe he had always planned on making himself the hero in this moment? - 13/19
Both are plausible given Flip's character… I'm not sure which one I like better. What do you all think? One of these interpretations? Is there another one I'm unable to see? - 14/19
A few other points: First, Nemo and the Princess are pretty ticked off when they believe that it is Flip causing the trouble. Nemo goes as far as to claim he'll write him off if he's in the Santa suit! - 15/19
When he comes out of the dining hall in panel 8 and realizes that Flip isn't the Santa, he is elated! Is there any way that he'd have followed through with this plan? I don't personally think so, but we'll never know… - 16/19
Also, note that Santa's hat changes colours in panel 8. It's gone from red the panel before to yellow and will return to red in panel 9. - 17/19
My final impression is that this was a lot more fun than the last few strips we've endured. Now, onto 1913! - 18/19
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #368. What's yours? - 19/19
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