"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated November 14, 1926:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 17, 2022):
Well, this isn't the best strip we've ever had… in fact, I find it to be wildly disjointed, jumpy, and just overall not very smooth… but it has a nice little musical ditty at the beginning! - 1/12
Here's what it sounds like: - 2/12
The lyrics to the little piece "Read, Read the Paper Everyday" doesn't seem to have much to do with the narrative of the strip (although the "Extra" does warn them of the Orangutan's escape/approach), so I wonder what it's purpose was? - 3/12
It's entirely possible it was McCay just trying to positively influence young kids into becoming news readers, but it could also be a plea for readership… - 4/12
Remember, we're in the home stretch now… we have eight more strips before the #LittleNemo proper is finished forever. Could this be a last ditch plea to get more readers? - 5/12
I do wonder if contemporary readers would be interested in hearing that music… maybe they asked their parents to play it for them (if possible)… maybe "read the paper ever day" was sung a lot on November 14, 1926? Who knows? - 6/12
The narrative itself is pretty straight forward. Flip's bravado gets him captured by the Orangutan, but he somehow finds a way to turn the tables and train the fella. It's impressive, but also occurs off panel so we don't see how it happened. - 7/12
The scene changes throughout this strip are drastic… HUGE expectations of closure exist throughout and while it works… ok… it really just feels disjointed in my opinion. - 8/12
Also, where are Nemo and the Princess going at the end of the strip? Does the Princess even know that Flip is safe? She was previously very concerned with his safety, so I'm wondering if she sort of left with Nemo following for support? - 9/12
One positive element of this strip is that it seems to steer very clear of the previous simianization issues that we've seen in the past when monkeys are included in the strip. - 10/12
At least, I didn't notice anything that stood out in this regard. I'd be eager to know if someone else sees something I don't. - 11/12
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #541. What's yours? - 12/12