"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated March 24, 1907:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 11, 2020):
Yet again, Flip just takes charge and knows how to get business handled! He pretty quickly changes these fellas from scowling, cut-throat pirates to whining and sniveling babies in the matter of just over 30 words! - 1/24
I'm really enjoying the pirate strips so far! The scowls on the faces of these ne'er-do-wells is just wonderful; they are perpetually sour-faced and angry! - 2/24
It's great gestural communication and, actually, something that this strip does REALLY well! - 3/24
The second tier sees the pirates awaiting their Captain's decree, the third tier demonstrates a smooth transition between panels as they climb up to swarm Flip, and tier four presents them almost supplicating (arms outstretched) to the Captain begging for mercy for Flip. - 4/24
It's quite an effective use of the gestural mode (for me anyway) and I find it really reinforces the narrative. That it is juxtaposed by Flip's cool and collected demeanour throughout is also fun! - 5/24
We learn in this strip that the Captain isn't the flamboyantly dressed fellow from last week (maybe that was the quartermaster?)… No, this Captain looks LEGIT! - 6/24
He is large, sitting in a massive wooden throne and looks like what Morpheus might look like if he were Captain of a pirate ship instead of King of Slumberland. - 7/24
His clothes are exactly what one would imagine a pirate wearing, though I'm missing a parrot which would've just put the cherry on top of Pirate aesthetic here. - 8/24
Now, I wonder if some of this is to capitalize on the contemporary interest in pirates that grew out of J.M. Barrie's 1904 stage play, "Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up": - 9/24
Barrie once said that Captain Hook was created as a result of his recognition that children were fascinated by pirates. If you're McCay, why not take advantage of that in combination with the popularity of Barrie's villain, as well! - 10/24
And, aside from the fact that he's got both hands, I get a real Captain Hook vide from this dude with his tailcoat and massive buckle… much more so than the quartermaster of last week! - 11/24
I'm also really interested in the pirate in brown who a) leads the trio to the Captain and b) stands behind them in his presence… who is he? Why do we not see his face? - 12/24
The only reason I wonder is because his head is beyond the hyperframe in panel 2 (not an uncommon trick of McCay's, admittedly) and his back is to us in panel 3… it's almost like McCay made a conscious effort not to show us who he was… - 13/24
Now, back to our three heroes! While I certainly don't think any of them lose their cool (which is notable because, had this occurred 40 strips ago, Nemo probably would've woken up to soggy sheets), Flip stays ice cold the whole time!- 14/24
He's so bold that he literally interrupts the pirate Captain mid-sentence! It's brave… what if the Pirate had been so insulted that he hadn't made Flip walk the plank, but rather gave him a permanent smile instead? - 15/24
Obviously, the plank helps with the pirate imagery that McCay is embracing here for the children to enjoy, but it's worth noting that Flip knows nothing about this Captain and waits until the very possible minute to show his cards. - 16/24
It seems to pay dividends though; the Captain orders his crew to get Flip all his jewels and decorate him up! Clearly some fun foreshadowing for next week's (tomorrow's) strip! - 17/24
Finally, I want to end by discussing this: - 18/24 [INSERT IMAGE]
Some will look at the word "plank" as it rises upwards along the interior wall of the word balloon and see a careless letterer who cared little for the placement of his balloons or the way that they were constructed so as to fit text… - 19/24
I see something a little different. I think it was @MackDaddyJ way back on Day #1 who first reminded me that what we see here is McCay's actual handwriting because he did his own lettering. - 20/24
At the time, I thought that was a neat fact, but it's striking me more and more as we go through this process that when we read these strips we are bearing witness to the marks of the creator in really unique ways. - 21/24
Winsor McCay made the decision to slope that word upwards some 113 years ago and we can still see the evidence of that decision today when we look at this page reproduced, restored, digitized, mediated, or however else we read it. - 22/24
There is something really important to be said there about memory and history… it's a slight shift in the way we approach the strip (maybe less as a text and more as an artefact), but it's meaningful, I think. - 23/24
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #76. What's yours? - 24/24