"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 25, 1926:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (NOVEMBER 28, 2021):
This strip is beautiful and magical! It's design is really something special and it leads to some amazing gestural motion! - 1/17
McCay's putting on a masterclass on using static images to suggest motion; the gestural impressions of this strip are amazing and so such cool things! - 2/17
Each tier is a triptych that shows off the action within the ring panel-by-panel. It gives the strip a fun rhythm and provides the reader with many different reading pathways. - 3/17
For instance, take panels 3, 6, and 9. Since Impie only appears once every rotation around the ring, it's only possible to read his action in an up and down pattern. - 4/17
[insert image]
Of course, you can simply read in a normal pattern and see what Impie is doing naturally, or you can read it vertically and watch Impie smack Flip with the hoop very clearly! I love that! - 5/17
Now, the real gestural beauty comes from the Equestrian show that Nemo and the Princess are putting on. - 6/17
McCay smartly positions the horse facing the opposite direction than it will be riding so that the motion start off fresh in panel 3. But, from that panel forward, the circular motion is so clear and smooth! - 7/17
I suppose the *only* hiccup in this position occurs within the closure between the right panel on one tier and the left panel on the next. - 8/17
The rotation around the one side of the ring to the other is a large gap to fill (especially when it's being represented in a more succinct and smooth manner in front of our eyes), but it doesn't cause too much friction. - 9/17
I can easily forgive it because the action is so amazing elsewhere. As Slivvers lifts the hoops and Nemo and the Princess jump through (into a headstand in 8) the movement is awesome! - 10/17
The colour is another really elegant part of this strip. The Herald Tribune's colour department (previously led by the incomparable Alfred B. Hunt) is living up to his legacy here! - 11/17
Of course, that's predicated on the fact that it is the age of this particular scan that has faded the pages here… I think there is a missing vibrancy, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to blame the colourists for that (I think the culprit is time). - 12/17
Of course, this wouldn't be a Nemo strip is Impie didn't get the blame for causing the chaos. That same moment that led to a fun vertical reading pathway above also points to Impie as the reason the show ends. - 13/17
As Flip is hit with the paper hoop, he grabs Impie who (somehow) falls into his other hoop, scares the wonderful colourful elephant, and the glorious white horse that Nemo and the Princess have been riding. - 14/17
It's a pretty standard end to a Nemo strip, but it also functions as a really great exclamation mark! Because of how smoothly the horse has been trotting along the strip up til now, it abruptly ends that motion. - 15/17
McCay's expertise with animation really comes in handy here and creates one of the most incredible comics that McCay has done in recent memory (it's up there with #510). - 16/17
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #513. What’s yours? - 17/17
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