This is it! I just read the final comic book for Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland. This has truly been one of the best four-part comic book series I’ve ever read. I’ve throughly enjoyed Nemo’s adventures, but I’ve appreciated more the brief look into the world of Winsor McCay.
If we can remember as far back as December, we last saw Nemo and Flip Flap being chased through the confusing Tessellated Tower. But, after being shrunk, writer Eric Shanower left us with a major cliffhanger, as Nemo found himself being tied to fireworks by “not-so-bright” fireflies. One could only hope this would have awoken him from this terrible nightmare!
In Issue #4, the conclusion of Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, Jimmy and Flip are both saved by their friends, the Princess and Bon-Bon. But, before Nemo can return home, he has one last adventure with rock people, a lava queen, and one very powerful geyser. And, after all that fun, Nemo might want to change his mind about being the Princess’ playmate . . .
I not only want to commend everyone who worked on such a beautiful project, but I also want to THANK them for creating such a spectacular tribute to Winsor McCay. Our story, of course, would be anything but a story without the wonderful words of Eric Shanower. I truly had a lot of fun reading this series from beginning to end, and I honestly think I had just as much fun as Nemo did. But, it’s the illustrations by Gabriel Rodriquez and colors by Nelson Daniel that really brought McCay’s work to life. If this team could see me now, they would see that I have cloned myself into the Candy Kids and am giving them all a standing ovation! Brava!
But, what did we all learn from a comic book series such as this one? Is it to not judge a person by their first appearance? Is it to seek adventure in everything we do? Although the first question seems to be more on track, the lesson I learned, rather, is to forgive others. We can all be Flip Flaps at times. We’ve all judged someone based on their appearance. And, we all have our uppity Princess moments. (I know I do!) But, what if we didn’t? Well then, the answer is quite simple. If we only knew how to forgive, then the entire world would be our very own Slumberland . . .
Happy dreaming, dreamers!