Volume 2 Times 2

A heads up on two new collections of Little Nemo comics coming out this month - both of them sequels to fabulous first volumes...

"Many More Splendid Sundays" is a best-of collection, reprinting another 115 digitally-restored Sunday pages at their original size: 16 x 21 inches... huge! Volume One, "So Many Splendid Sundays" truly is astounding (you can see my previous report). It's no wonder Volume One's first printing sold out in just 90 days. I can't wait to come across this sequel... Visit Sunday Press for more details.


The other book being released is "Little Nemo in the Land of Wonderful Dreams." It's the second half to the complete collection of Little Nemo comics. Checker Publishing's Volume One is my favorite of the full Nemo collection's I've seen. Visit Checker's site for more details too...

For Inspiration

See Dreams and Obsessions on Shelf and Screen, in which Huib van Opstal gives an analysis of the groundbreaking innovations made over a century ago in Winsor McCay's series ‘Dream of the Rarebit Fiend’. It's a commentary on the fantastic collection put out by Ulrich Merkl. (Spring Lake Library does have two copies now by the way. It's a Great book. It's massive... solid... it's like holding a brick)

Complete Little Sammy Sneeze

The Spring Lake District Library continues to expand their McCay references. Stop in to enjoy the complete collection of Sunday color "Little Sammy Sneeze."

Little Sammy Sneeze was one of McCay's first comic strips. Every episode is the same joke, just a different locale. The first panels show Sammy slowing winding up with larger and larger inhales, until he let's his sneeze loose in the 2nd to last panel causing much havoc, and he gets booted in the final panel. Same thing every week. Poor kid. The fun is seeing the new environment. One week he destroys a grocery store. One week a circus. One week a skating rink. We know the outcome, so it's the anticipation that's the fun.

It's great to flip through these one after the other. The first thing I noticed when seeing them all together in one place was that, not only is the gag the same week to week, but Sammy's pose as he gets booted in the final panel is Exactly the same - at least for the first half of the series. Just different clothes, different "booter."



The next thing you quickly realize is how close these panels resemble frames from a clip of animation. (Of course, these all pre-date animation.) The background is a stationary "stage," while the figures make subtle changes in their action over top. No wonder McCay later went on to pioneer animated film. Clearly his mind already worked that way. It would be great to scan some of these and play them one after another in a little six or eight-frame movie...

As a bonus, in this book we also get a collection of another of McCay's cartoons "Hungry Henrietta." Every week she throws a fit until someone gives her something to eat. The comparison/contrast to "Sammy Sneeze" is fascinating. Both are one-gag series. The thing that makes "Henrietta" interesting is that she ages over the course of the series. In episode one, she's a baby. Every week she ages just a bit until eventually she's portrayed as a young lady. Both strips show us the passage of time. While "Sammy" does so weekly in consecutive moments, "Henrietta" instead crawls slowly over the course of years.

There's even a great crossover strip where Sammy and Henrietta meet. Sammy sneezes onto a plate of food. Henrietta picks it up off the floor and eats it. Great fun!

It's yet another great volume from Sunday Press.

Dream of the Rarebit Fiend

This is the next Winsor McCay book I would LOVE to see the Spring Lake Library acquire:


"Dream of the Rarebit Fiend" is a book that collects the entire run of McCay's comic of the same name. The strip pre-dates his Little Nemo comics but is parallel in its content. Every episode takes place inside a wildly fantastic dream and ends when the dreamer awakes. While the Nemo series continues its story from week to week, "Rarebit" episodes are self contained. Each episode has a new protagonist. And while Nemo fantasies are adventuresome, Rarebit's dreams are downright bizarre! Very creative and crazy. Like real dreams (or nightmares).

The book just came out and has been getting lots of nice reviews -- I came across some at Drawn and at BoingBoing and at CartoonBrew.

And there is a super video review put out by the Boston Globe -- definitely check that one out!

What is rarebit by the way? Take a look:

The Arrival

I fell head over heels in love with illustration when I first laid eyes on the picture book "The Cinder-eyed Cats" in 1997. Looking at that cover -- those tigers staring back at me -- it touched something deeply intrinsic to who I am and drove me to be an illustrator.

I've not had that degree of inspirational excitement since then.

Until now.

"The Arrival" by Shaun Tan just came out, and flipping through it I was struck again with that same awe and inspiration. It is a story of Immigration, told through powerful images. The setting is a fantastical landscape, so the effect is that we journey with the immigrant, seeing what he sees, feeling what he feels, confused as we also see the odd arrangement of foods and buildings and modes of transportation for the very first time.

The illustrations are gorgeous -- mind-blowing in their detail and scope. The work is, in a word, "Epic." One of the most amazing books I've ever seen.

So why mention it here on this blog? Two reasons -- first, to plug the book! It's super!

And second -- there is a Winsor McCay tie. On the back cover in the midst of the praise quotes, Jeff Smith author of Bone says,

"Wordless, but with perfect narative flow, Tan gives us a story filled with city-scapes worthy of Winsor McCay."

So how far back do you have to go to find a comparison worthy of the decade's most wonderful book? Yep - you stop at Winsor McCay...

So Many Splendid Sundays

At the first meeting we had to discus possible steps to re-introduce the Spring Lake community to Winsor McCay, I did my best to impress upon the librarians present that they HAD to get "So Many Splendid Sundays." It's a pricey enough book that I knew I personally would never own it. But I thought perhaps I could convince the library of its importance.

They listened.

They purchased.

It came.

It is a thing of beauty. To approach the book is like being in the presence of a giant bowl of candy that you could never possibly finish in one sitting.



The book measures 16x22 inches and consists of original-size reproductions of 110 of the best "Little Nemo in Slumberland" Sunday comics, lovingly reproduced by Peter Maresca. I had first learned of this book online after its initial printing had already been quickly snatched up. Then when I went to Book Expo last year, I stumbled across the Re-print. I didn't know it even existed. I gasped and approached the table in wonder. "I've read so much about this..." I whispered. The booth-worker eyed me suspiciously. "I never thought I'd see one." The booth-worker hovered closer, obviously very protective of this display copy. I sensed that I should ask permission first if I planned to flip through it. She granted, but with a hint of disapproval. I flipped through quickly, not able to let my brain soak everything in. I walked away wondering if I could somehow sneak back in disguise so I could flip through it again.



As soon as I heard our library was interested in McCay, I made sure they knew about this book. It's a book that Every library system should have access to -- but especially the library in McCay's hometown.

Spring Lake District Library has their copy proudly out on display, and I encourage all you locals to take a look. If I'm around, I'll do my best not to protectively hover too closely.

You can check out reviews and see sample pages at Sunday Press