"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated June 21, 1914:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 13, 2021):
Another month has gone by since the last strip… periods between them are growing longer and longer as we begin to reach the end of Little Nemo's time at Hearst's paper. - 1/20
A few things of note here. First, I think it is actually a pretty kind gesture on the part of Dr. Pill to draw Flip and he in a positive way. - 2/20
Their relationship has been one literally defined by animosity, so it's interesting that his impulse here is to extend an olive branch through his drawing. - 3/20
Especially worth discussing, in my opinion, is the drawing in panel 8. In it, he draws Flip reaching down to pick up a brick with which he intends to "soak [him] with it". - 4/20
This doesn't seem like a Flip-like thing to do; rarely is Flip outwardly antagonistic for the sake of antagonism. Indeed, he often behaves quite well when he's treat respectfully. - 5/20
The drawing here seems representative of Impie and his troublemaking behaviour more than it does Flip… Indeed, the next panel over, Impie demonstrates this by smacking Pill with the vase and putting him through the canvas. - 6/20
So then… why does Pill draw Flip in that way? Well, it seems as though Pill has internalized Impie's behaviour as Flip's behaviour… - 7/20
Our group seems to believe that Impie's behaviour is a direct reflection of Flip and that it is Flip's responsibility to keep him in line. The Princess basically says as much in the final panel when she suggests that Flip must manage his access to the palace. - 8/20
Flip doesn't fight this "responsibility" either… in panel 9 he says, "shucks, I've got to handle that kid again, I see that." He is very calm and matter of fact… - 9/20
So, in this way, Pill's drawing is representative of the fact that (to the group, or at the very least, him) it doesn't really matter whether it is Flip directly or Impie who misbehaves, everything comes back on Flip in the end. - 10/20
Again, this is problematic because it denies Impie the responsibility normally assigned to a person… his identity is intricately bound up with Flip's in such a way as that it becomes dehumanizing. - 11/20
The final panel is very uncomfortable… Flip calmly passing his coat and hat over to Nemo as he prepares to "work on" Impie… While it's suggestive in it's abuse, it really bothered me. - 12/20
Thankfully, Nemo steps in and tries to defend Impie from the beating… though we'll never know if it worked. - 13/20
Finally, I just want to mention that we used to speak about how strips that took place in the Slumberland Palace did not feature Impie because he was always excluded from entrance to it. - 14/20
Now, Impie is permitted to participate in strips that take place at the Slumberland palace… and yet, a running commentary from the last few strips is that he shouldn't be allowed to… or that he should be kept away. - 15/20
Was Impie truly permitted participation only for the purpose of declaring his unsuitability for the palace? - 16/20
With each passing strip, and each passing example of his misbehaviour, the strip seems to be saying that Impie, a Jungle Imp, is simply not cultured enough to exist within Slumberland's high society. - 17/20
Of course, this fits with the white supremacist values espoused during the Jim Crow era, that Black Americans could not successfully integrate into White society. - 18/20
So, again, we continue to see the racist attitude of the 1910s depicted here in subtle, yet no less harmful, ways. Readers of #LittleNemo who read this would surely have picked up on the messages (consciously or unconsciously). - 19/20
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #418. What’s yours? - 20/20