notes from the editor

Little Revolution in Comicland
It was a most incredible time, full of fantastic events and amazing accomplishments. A time of World’s Fairs, of trains running underground, machines flying in the air, unreachable ends of the earth being explored; and the daily newspaper brought these wonders into millions of American living rooms. Then, one Sunday morning in October, 1905, through a medium only beginning to discover itself, mirroring that era’s blend of fantasy and technology, Little Nemo in Slumberland arrived.
Color Sunday comics were barely a decade old when Little Nemo first appeared. Right from the start, this groundbreaking feature was a critical success but less than a big hit with newspaper readers. Yet the genius of McCay became appreciated over time, and Little Nemo, some 50 years after its appearance, became the first comic strip to bridge the culture gap between popular pulp and fine art. (In the 1960s the comic was the subject of exhibits at the both Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.) From the 500 or so pages created between 1905 and 1926 came art, design, and story concepts that continue to influence how comics are created today.

Why such a big book?
I first discovered Winsor McCay’s masterpiece in the early 1970s through a fortunate find, part of a large collection of old newspaper Sunday comic sections. Folding open the pages, I immediately recognized that Little Nemo was in stark contrast to the other strips uncovered in the collection. There were no reprints books at the time and few beyond the comics cognoscenti were aware of this work, mostly through bits and pieces. Even when reprints did appear in several books of the 1970s and 1980s, the majesty of McCay’s work was only hinted at through these reduced reproductions, many printed with weakly reproduced colors or in black and white.
My own was the ideal introduction to this historic masterpiece, the way its creator intended — and through the years it has been a dream to see these pages made available in their original size. The need to see the artwork in this form is perhaps more essential with Little Nemo than any other comic strip. Although most Sunday comics up until the 1930s, some even till the 1960s, appeared in the full broadsheet format, only Nemo took full advantage of it, evoking a feeling of grandeur through size and McCay's attention to minute detail.
This book was originally planned for 100 pages, to mark the 100th anniversary of Little Nemo in Slumberland. Not an easy task, as it was hard enough to narrow the selections down to the 110 pages presented here. I hesitate to call them the best of the first series, but they are certainly favorites, of mine and the many people who have written about Little Nemo over the years. Some of their comments are included below. In addition to selecting particular pages, care was taken to keep the story continuity intact.

Splendid Sundays – the comics and the times
The Sunday comics were truly the first example of popular culture as we know it today. In 1905, dime novels brought popular stories into homes, sheet music spread popular songs, but with comic strips, every home across the country was seeing the same humor and adventure open before them at the same time on the very same day.
Nowadays, few people remember those pre-TV Sundays where the high point of the morning was spreading the comics pages out on the living-room carpet, where we savored each panel, delighting in the action and colors. Far fewer can recall the original Little Nemo arriving in their home each week. It is my hope that this volume will give the reader some sense of that experience

Reproduction – how true is true?
When reproducing newspaper comic strips, the question of restoration, and the degree of such, is a major issue. Just how far one should go is of some debate among historians and fans, for reasons of both integrity and aesthetics.
Some say it is more natural to leave the aged yellow look of the page, while others feel that a pure, proof-sheet white is the best way to see the work the artist intended. This volume tries to do some of both, attempting the look of a “new” newspaper page and recreate the reader’s experience of a century ago. This meant strong, but not garish coloring on a grayish off-white background.
Along with an original size broadsheet come many of the imperfections of this most ephemeral of media. Many of the flaws of the pulp paper (fiber specks, discoloration) and the printing process (smudges, off-register colors) remain, but those caused by time and handling for 100 years (tears, holes, yellowing) have been corrected toward a desired aesthetic. Hours were spent on each page to accomplish the imperfect ideal, one which we hope will appeal to Little Nemo fans, old and new alike.