"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated July 22, 1906:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JULY 7, 2020):
Look. There is NO reason for Candy, the Princess, and Dr. Pill to look so stunned in this first tier because this strip features the return of the wonderfully magical, though understandably frightening, dragon carriage… let's quickly recap how that went the first time. - 1/15 [INSERT IMAGE]
Nemo was terrified of it then… and he's terrified of it now. Why they expect any different is truly beyond me… - 2/15
BUT, to be fair, it has been many strips since December 10, 1905… I guess I can forgive them for thinking Nemo might be better acquainted with Slumberland's more surreal elements by this point. - 3/15
This really is a defining characteristic of our protagonist (at least at this moment). He still seems to be affected negatively by all of the strange and wondrous things in Slumberland… - 4/15
It's important to remember that we are 508 strips away from this series concluding… so we're still very much in the early stages of character development here. Nemo'll grow, as all characters do over that much story, in time. - 5/15
Until then, we get wonderful moments like the one in the top tier here, where the three characters stare at the reader, wide-eyed and perplexed at yet another premature awakening by Nemo. - 6/15
It seems as though they thought that once Nemo arrived at the palace, all would be well and he would wake up less frequently… or at least, that's how I read Candy's statement. Their utter shock at Nemo's continual awakening is thus a genuine one. - 7/15
Dr. Pill does lighten the moment though with his declaration that, "it was I who brought that boy here!" Even though Candy has seen Nemo through far more than Dr. Pill, and Pill's medicine actually woke him up more than it helped,… - 8/15
…his enormous ego won't accept that he isn't the one who deserves the credit for Nemo's arrival to the Princess. He truly does think very highly of himself, which is one of the reasons that I find him so utterly hilarious and pathetic at the same time. - 9/15
Truthfully, there is very little action in this strip; it's purely driven by emotional force. - 10/15
Nemo and crew stand as the parade goes by waving his banner before the dragon trainer and the dragon show up… immediately, Nemo's face changes to one of complete surprise! - 11/15
That it mimics the faces of the characters in the top tier is just icing on the cake for me! I actually laughed out loud when I saw it (look to panel 2; I tried to enlarge, but it looked awful)! - 12/15
I also really enjoy the gibberish language that the trainer speaks to the dragon as he tries to get him to obey and open his mouth. It adds that extra layer of humour; Nemo is already terrified, but to see it doesn't immediately obey commands is even more concerning! - 13/15
I wonder… is the trainer speaking dragon or a common Slumberlandian tongue? Are the characters we meet speaking English for Nemo's benefit or is it their mother tongue too? It's a fascinating question for me and one I'll keep an eye out for the answer to as we continue… - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #41. What's yours? - 15/15