"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated August 11, 1907:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 31, 2020):
Ugh, I hate this strip. There's so much about it that just rubs me the wrong way… - 1/19
For starters, I JUST finished defending Flip as someone who'd grown-up a little because he wasn't calling his Uncle and Daddy as much anymore and the *very* first thing he does in this strip… is call his Uncle and Daddy. - 2/19
I guess the "well, he had no access to the Dawn Guard so he couldn't call the sun" position regarding his character was more accurate than "he's grown through his experiences and acceptance by the group" suggestion. Way to let me down, Flip. - 3/19
That he does it for *no reason* other than to prove some point to Impy, while not caring at all that he's punishing the rest of the group because of it, is also seriously frustrating. - 4/19
In panel 6, Flip enjoys the fact that Impy is supplicating before him while he demonstrates the awe-inspiring might of… well, his dad, not him (though he sure takes credit for it). The whole thing is so gross. - 5/19
On top of that, his choice of words (calling Impy a "monkey") once again promotes the simianization discussion that has been noted (and challenged) previously. In my opinion, this strip demonstrates all of Flip's worst qualities. - 6/19
I know the CSL version is incredibly hard to read in panel 6, so here's a shot of the Taschen: - 7/19 [INSERT IMAGE]
The Princess doesn't fare much better either. Her comments in panels 1 and 3 aren't just ignorant, they make no sense… - 8/19
Now, I'm going to give the Princess some benefit of the doubt (though I'm not sure why) and assume that the reason she thinks Impy doesn't understand English is because he doesn't communicate in English. Otherwise, her rhetoric is even *more* problematic… - 9/19
I say this because I want to believe the Princess is smarter than suggesting he doesn't understand because he comes from the jungle imp culture that is unlike her own. It would be a ludicrous assumption to make… - 10/19
…when we witnessed other jungle imps, like Impy, who spoke English just fine in strip #83 (May 12, 1907). This, combined with the fact that the Chief speaks English, means individuals from their culture can/do communicate in English (if only rarely). - 11/19
Assuming that just because Impy hasn't yet communicated in English means that he can't is one type of wrong, but assuming he can't because he's from a culture unlike hers is a whole different kind of wrong. - 12/19
Both are pretty awful and place her in a very unflattering light personality wise, so I'm not sure if there is any defending her in this moment either way… - 13/19
So, between the Princess and Flip, characters that I really like just look terrible and I'm not a fan of this backslide. If it's because they're back in Slumberland proper then I want to see them get out again… I don't like who they are in this moment. - 14/19
Maybe I'm being too hard on the strip, overall; I'd *maybe* accept that criticism. But I just can't be anything other than utterly disappointed by it… and I haven't even mentioned how it revolves around making Impy fear Flip… what kind of relationship is that? - 15/19
It's operant conditioning at it's worst. Introducing a negative stimulus (the sun that melts them) as punishment in order to reduce behaviour in Impy that Flip find's offensive is, in behavioural terms, positive punishment. - 16/19
This strip makes us question if Flip wants a friend or a pet… No friendship built on fear is a healthy one and the insinuation of Flip training Impy just gets worse by the strip… It isn't a lesson that I'd want my young boys to learn (and this is a children's comic). - 17/19
Ok, I'm done. I still hate it, but I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks. Tell me I'm overreacting; it's ok. Alternative perspectives, as always, are more than welcome here! - 18/19
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #96. What's yours? - 19/19