"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated July 19, 1925:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (OCTOBER 17, 2021):
Today, McCay continues his interest in giant sized animals; this time, those of the aquatic variety. - 1/21
First, we have the Princess, Pill, and Figures riding on an old and tired whale. Truthfully, he doesn't seem too "giant" to me… if anything, he seems sort of small. - 2/21
Is "whale" just being used colloquially here? Maybe it is just a giant fish that the Princess calls a whale? It looks more whale-like than fish-like, but the size discrepancy is strange… - 3/21
By contrast, Nemo, Flip, Impie, and Slivvers are riding what Flip claims to a super-fast giant fish! - 4/21
This creature looks much more of a true giant-size… who would've thunk that his weakness would be a giant fishing hook wielded by a giant fisherman. - 5/21
I'll admit, as embarrassed as I am to admit it since we had giant farmers last strip, I just didn't see this coming… - 6/21
I read Slivvers comment about the butterfly before I saw the string attached and thought it was strange that a butterfly was underwater… Of course, once I saw the string I literally smacked my forehead and said out loud, "of course!" - 7/21
All the while, because I was focusing on the butterfly, it took me a good couple second to question the fact that they were talking underwater… which is equally (?) outrageous. - 8/21
For whatever reason, this absurdity struck me the right way and I found it pretty funny. Sure, we can dismiss the talking underwater as a dreamscape element, but because it is ignored so thoroughly diegetically, it struck me as funny. - 9/21
Watching the boys tumble off the back of the poor fish as he is reeled in was also worth a good laugh! - 10/21
Now, earlier in the strip, we see the Princess longing to be with the boys on the fast fish, as opposed to stuck on the "tame" whale with the geezers. - 11/21
This made me wonder what kept her from joining them? The obvious answer is Pill's position as her chaperone and the fury of her father's that would follow if anything happened to her. - 12/21
As I paused on this panel, I thought about what other reasons there might be… exclusion by gender came up… safety outweighing desire (Flip's antics can be dangerous)… etc. - 13/21
Interestingly enough, a few of these thoughts were touched on in the panel that followed. For instance, it confirms the reason she isn't with the boys is because of Pill acting as her protector. - 14/21
But, more interestingly, the Princess makes a comment about how she is never afraid when she's with Flip: "he somehow always knows what he is doing." - 15/21
This was so opposite to one of my original thoughts about her keeping her distance out of concern for her safety that it struck me as very interesting. - 16/21
It demonstrates some significant growth in the relationship between Flip and the Princess. - 17/21
That said, I'm a *little* unhappy about it too… because one of the defining characteristics that made the early Princess one of my favourite characters was her willingness to take charge and demonstrate her leadership skills. - 18/21
Here, it seems as though she is falling back as the idea of Flip as protector… *He* knows what he's doing and can keep them safe, as opposed to her keeping herself safe and out of harms way. - 19/21
Maybe I'm digging a bit too deeply for something that isn't there in this moment, but it struck me as profoundly important. - 20/21
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #473. What's yours? - 21/21