"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated August 5, 1906:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JULY 9, 2020):
I don't have a ton to say about this strip… it is very basic and driven entirely by a narrative that covers only a (presumably) short temporal period. - 1/15
Panels 1-3 can all easily be lumped into a single, continuous moment, but how much time elapses from panel 3 to panel 4 is unknown. - 2/15
It's obviously enough for something awful to happen to Bosco, though (the name of our dragon carriage)… it makes you wonder what exactly Flip has done?! - 3/15
The strip begins with Flip demanding Bosco or another dragon like him, to which the Princess agrees. Her aside to Nemo indicates that she believes that Bosco will close his mouth trapping Flip inside and so her permission to ride him is truly only for this purpose. - 4/15
When we last see Bosco, he looks incredibly content… smiling, even? Like he's getting revenge on Flip for the mistreatment he suffered at the lit end of his cigar last week. - 5/15
This is very quickly turned on it's head in the penultimate panel as Dr. Pill rushes by Nemo and the Princess at the soda fountain! - 6/15
The strip doesn't really explain what's happening here… Dr. Pill just proclaims that "something terrible has happened to Bosco" and, though I hate to say it, I… I think Flip kills him. - 7/15
First, the sky is blood red in the second-last panel. Sure, not a true indicator in and of itself (we've seen red skies before), but it still gives off an ominous atmosphere… - 8/15
Then you couple it with Nemo's final panel declaration: "Oh! I was dreamin' an awful dream that time, ooh!", which is strange, because… we don't really see anything awful about it, do we? - 9/15
I mean, Flip is trapped in Bosco's mouth, sure, but with the chair in the way it isn't like he could swallow him? - 10/15
And, the moment depicted before Nemo wakes up isn't in any way awful either; he and the Princess are lounging by the soda fountain… so, what's awful? - 11/15
Well, you put together Dr. Pill's hurry, the red sky, and Nemo's declaration and you might get an interpretation that suggests Bosco is fatally harmed… - 12/15 [INSERT IMAGE]
Add this, the fact that we never again see Bosco for the remainder of the strip's existence (I'm pretty confident about this, but please correct me if I'm wrong) and you get a very sad strip :( - 13/15
I really, really, REALLY hope that I'm wrong about this one… does anyone else have a different reading? - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #43. What's yours? - 15/15
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