"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated July 29, 1906:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1906 (JULY 8, 2020):
Well, it looks like #LittleNemo has finally gotten over his fear of the dragon carriage! Yay! - 1/23
I really like this strip because the dragon gets it's moment in the spotlight (even if it isn't in the best way possible…) and we learn much about it in this strip. - 2/23
Most importantly, we learn that it's wingless. I guess this means that it must simply walk to get around in Slumberland. I guess I just assumed that a dragon carriage would be a flying dragon, but does it really change all that much? A dragon is a dragon… - 3/23
I really love the backside image of the dragon in panel 4 (though I don't love what Flip is doing to it…). Maybe I'm projecting here… but I see a Gertie-prototype here! - 4/23
Sure, they're different beasts… sure the dragon is far more ferocious (see panel 5) than McCay's lovable 1914 animated dinosaur, but I can't help but see early inspiration for her in this strip… - 5/23
The dragon's body, the feet, the neck, it's encoded gestural motion (which I just see moving EXACTLY like Gertie…). I don't know… Like I said, I could just be projecting, but you judge for yourself: - 6/23
Either way, that 5th panel is brilliant! The dragon just looks so (understandably) PISSED about the shocking pain that it must have feel and those wide open jaws (that only panels ago seemed harmless) are ferocious! - 7/23
Obviously, this has much to do with the eyes and the characters falling out of it's mouth… but the larger atmosphere created by the colouring of the sky is also hugely affective here. - 8/23
We've gone from bright, single colours in panels 2-4 and switched to two-tone black and blue sky in panel 5. It's like a storm is coming in… dark clouds and the dark sky heavily contrast the bright warm colours of the previous panels and immediately shift the atmosphere. - 9/23
I really love the moment for this, but also because of the gestural motion of Nemo's body! As he is flung out of the dragon's mouth you can almost feel him falling and landing on the floor of his room in the final panel below. - 10/23
Another meaningful formal bit here is that this is the first strip where McCAy labels the top tier as panel 1! I want to celebrate this because it has been driving me CRAZY!!!!! - 11/23
It's a really meaningful change relating to how McCay sees the strip (if less so the reader). Now, the top tier isn't a disconnected floating "prologue" but an integrated part of the narrative sequence. - 12/23
That said, of course, there is a trade-off because we lose the gorgeous stylized panel frames which have emphasized the out of narrative feel of the previous strips top tier in the process… It's one that I'm ok with though. How about you? - 13/23
Panel 2 depicts the "Honey Buds" which are beautiful blonde flowers with faces that one can't help but connect to Lewis Carroll's "Talking Flowers" in the 1871 #AliceInWonderland follow-up, #ThroughTheLookingGlass (image by John Tenniel) - 14/23 [INSERT IMAGE]
Finally, I'll just end by discussing Nemo and Flip, briefly. - 15/23
Nemo, though riding in the dragon this time, still seems very uncomfortable with the idea at first (he asks if they can ride anything else). - 16/23
But, as the strip goes on, we see him become braver… panel 2 suggests he's comfortable enough to interact (pick) one of the Honey Buds (if allowed) and panel 3 implies that he's excited and wants to see more of the unusual Slumberlandian sights. - 17/23
I really enjoy seeing Nemo shuffle off his fear a little bit and this strip, at least in the beginning, shows us just that. - 18/23
Now, Flip, is back to his old trickster ways… ruining the evening for everyone with his cigar. - 19/23
Flip very dramatically contrasts Nemo's tentativeness with decisive and unthinking boldness. - 20/23
He doesn't even consider the repercussions to his person for burning the dragon… He stands there and faces the beast as it turns to "roar" at him in pain! This bravery (stupidity?) is not something we can imagine from Nemo… - 21/23
But it is also cruel and unkind. The Nemo that we know is (for the most part) the exact opposite of those things and I'm, again, entirely ok with that trade off. - 22/23
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #42. What's yours? - 23/23