Week 3 - Winsor McCay (2 points)

    Winsor McCay is great when he’s not being racist. Yes, his works are from the early 1900’s but there is an undeniable consistency of racist caricature throughout his work. Given that the protagonist of his “Little Nemo” series is a child, it is very odd to me to find so much racist caricature, violence, and romance with older women in his series.

    Aside from the racism, the consistency in “Little Nemo in Slumberland” is that a young boy goes into a dream world in his sleep and wakes up, often crying for help. As the series progresses the Slumberland residents seem very aware of their location and want to bring Nemo to them, begging the question if Slumberland is actually a real place with real consequences.

    In Nemo’s adventures, he often encounters clowns. I cannot figure any specific reason as to “why are there clowns” other than clowns are entertaining and fun to draw. What I find more interesting is that the clowns are dubious by nature. They play pranks on Nemo, create obstacles and even wish to harm him sometimes. The clowns seem to be a nefarious catch all. If this series is meant to teach lessons to children, much of it seems pointing towards not trusting strangers, or not being too naïve. However, I tend to doubt that this series was meant as a moral mouthpiece and more for exploring fun new worlds.

    That is one thing I’ll give McCay. His worlds are extremely imaginative, even by today’s standards. It would not surprise me if McCay’s “Slumberland” world had taken off in popularity instead of the equally surreal “Alice in Wonderland” which popular media still recognizes to this day.

    Overall, his work is extremely readable and visually interesting, save for the racism.