"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated October 12, 1924:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 28, 2021):
Oh, wow… this strip is so cringe worthy it's hard to read. - 1/20
Honestly, while many of McCay's strips have aged poorly (mostly those that lean heavily into racial and ethnic caricature), this is one that stands out, as well. - 2/20
The perception surrounding Christopher Columbus has shifted enormously in the nearly 100 years since this strip was published and so getting through this one was a bit tough. - 3/20
It isn't the first time we've met Christopher Columbus (he visited Slumberland during it's run at the American, as well): - 4/20
It's interesting to compare these two strips… in the previous, he was much less the hulking mass that he is in this strip. Indeed, his physical presence in today's strip reminds me of the Morpheus of old! - 5/20
He is much larger than everyone else, which creates the same affect it used to with Morpheus. It signals importance and near godliness. - 6/20
That makes sense in a strip that is basically Columbus propaganda… not only is he depicted this way, but he's receiving a throne in Slumberland and being cheered and celebrated. - 7/20
So, while the last strip featuring Columbus focused on his supposed mental prowess (the egg trick), here we see him depicted as the physical "discoverer" (though, as we recognize today, "conqueror" might be more accurate). - 8/20
Even the delightful sequence at the beginning with Flip, Impie, and Slivvers can't really save this strip… I'll admit, it's nice to see them being so jovial together… but it all serves a larger purpose for the celebration of Columbus. - 9/20
Now, his comment to Flip in panel 8 is interesting… Columbus looks down at Flip and says, "You look like a real American kid, young man!". - 10/20
As we know, Flip has an interesting connection to Americana as a Slumberlandian and he continues to be an ethnic caricature of Irish American… read in this way, one could see this as Columbus bestowing citizenship upon Flip. - 11/20
I don't mean citizenship in the literal sense, but more figuratively… if the "discoverer" of America is claiming that the Irish American caricature in his comic strip is a "real American" then that seems like political commentary about the position of Irish Americans in the waking world. - 12/20
We know that McCay doesn't shy away from these political comments within his work, so I don't for a second believe that it's a toss away comment. - 13/20
By contrast, Slivvers comment to Impie is both ignorant and the opposite of what we see with Flip. - 14/20
Slivvers demonstrates that he has no idea where Impie comes from… and frankly doesn't care. The snide comment makes it seem as though all "others" are the same to Slivvers. - 15/20
Impie is not a Native American, he was taken from a Jungle Island far from America (and Slumberland/the palace for that matter). Neither Impie, nor his people, would've been anywhere near Columbus when he landed in America… - 16/20
This distasteful comment might be one of the most vile that I've seen in McCay's work to date. Would young children in 1924 have been capable of recognizing this falsehood? I'm not sure, but I doubt it… - 17/20
In that case, the comment perpetuates racism in many different ways and does harm to both Native and Black Americans while doing it. - 18/20
It's hard to read this strip and, though it probably has some usefulness within the classroom, it's not one that I'm eager to return to anytime soon. - 19/20
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #432. What's yours? - 20/20
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