Winsor McCay

For me, comics have always been simple little blurbs that come in my Sunday edition of the Washington Post. Comic books are old, weathered, plastic-sheathed objects sitting on the shelves of overpriced antique stores. Saturday morning cartoons and animated posts on blogs and websites are flashy and entertaining. Never before have I taken the time or had the interest to analyze these various forms of media for any purpose other than the moment’s amusement.
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While "How a Mosquito Operates" was a very entertaining/creepy animation, it is important to realize WHY.

The relatively simple nature of a black and white animation must surely be accompanied by something. No, there aren't any voices narrating.. no there isn't a terrible laughter in the background.. but there is something that remains truly key to successful animation. Music.
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Since I was thinking about comics and narrators, I'm kind of curious how I could apply the same thoughts to the animations we've viewed. There are often multiple levels of story going on in the clips we viewed; McCay himself appearing and drawing the animation tends to deprive the animations of a level of sincerity usually present in stories. We've been shown that McCay himself is creating these animations, so it takes away some of the believability of the animations themselves.
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This is going back in time a little bit, but it is worth visiting. When Nemo returns to Slumberland after his arctic adventure, he finds the King in incredible pain, and he must have Dr. Pill. This storyline brings out a side of Nemo that has not been seen before.

Nemo's character and personality goes through many changes throughout the series. At first, he is curious and somewhat rebellious, as he does not listen to what he is told. He is also very scared and confused. Later, however, he becomes more excited to dream and journey through Slumberland. He becomes more adventurous.
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There's no doubt that "Little Nemo" sets a high standard for comics--it's beautiful, it engages the reader, and it's survived this long without losing its charm. The convention created by McCay wherein Nemo has to wake up at the end of every comic does become a tired pretty quickly, but the lushly imagined Slumberland makes up for it. It's interesting, though, to look at Little Nemo in the context of the rest of the narratives we've been examining during this class.
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After reading the first 41 entries in Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland," I am stuck by two ideas, both pertaining to the development of comics as a new form of narrative.
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