"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 21, 1907:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 15, 2020):
That top tier is a thing of beauty, isn't it? I absolutely love the attention paid to making the crashing wave against the hull of the boat seem so brilliant. - 1/21
I've always really enjoyed the way that McCay handles water; there is a dynamism in every wave that he draws and it really makes the ocean feel alive. - 2/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
Here, the ocean (responding to the storm) is most certainly acting as character in the strip… there is a real "person vs. nature" feeling going on here. - 3/21
In the top tier, we learn that the Slumberlandians are taking the trio to the Candy Islands; a place they claim to be the most beautiful in all of Slumberland. - 4/21
Here, we're provided this information from an Officer of the ship (and indeed we can see him in tier one, from a distance, clearly a bit taller than the other three), but from that panel onward, there is no Slumberlandian in sight. - 5/21
Flip declares that they are going to have a "beaut" of a storm and I immediately wondered how he could possibly know that? Is it that he has some second sense about the weather? Does he feel it in his bones? - 6/21
Maybe he just recognizes that all the other Officers have left the deck and knows what that means? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason, he tried to warn his friends about it… - 7/21
The Princess seems unconcerned about the storm, confident in the Slumberlandian ship. Nemo, for his part, speaks for the first time since Strip #77 (March 31, 1907) to say that he is eager to see a storm at sea! - 8/21
Well, they both get their wish! In the proceeding panels, McCay depicts the ship tossing the trio back and forth on the deck before he causes the ocean to spray them with a massive wave that has crashed against the side of the ship. - 9/21
My absolute favourite part about this strip is the build up of the ocean's strength from panel to panel… - 10/21
In panel 1, McCay foreshadows it's might with the crashing wave that the ship splits in half across it's bow, but he doesn't really start working any magic until panel 2. - 11/21
Here, we see the waves, small but present, as Nemo and his friends stare out into the ocean. - 12/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
In panel 3, the waves pick up a bit as the wind turns the Princess' umbrella inside out. - 13/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
In panel 4, the waves have gotten so bad that the ship is no longer steady having been rocked to one side as a result of the increased power of the ocean's assault. - 14/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
Finally, in panel 5, the last panel before the monstrous wave that soaks the trio, we see the crashing waves making it onto the deck as it rocks the ship from the other side, knocking everyone over. - 15/21 [INSERT IMAGE]
The visual crescendo really works wonderfully to enhance the moment; it's affective at not only ramping up the drama, but also confirms Flip's previous comment about the storms strength. - 16/21
So, while the trio does indeed take a good "sousing" (LOVE that word; Thanks Flip) it's a really affective moment that, at least to me, reads very well. - 17/21
On the plus side, Nemo seems to have overcome whatever has kept him silent for the past few strips (with no mention of why just as you predicted, @onlinealchemist 😉). - 18/21
The strip ends with Nemo falling out of his bed, which brings back a wake-up gag that we haven't seen in many weeks (since February). - 19/21
I, for one, am glad that this isn't being used as much anymore… I like some of the other more inventive wake-up gags that we've been seeing and am eager to see what else McCay has up his sleeve! -20/21
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #80. What's yours? - 21/21
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