Winsor McCay Early Works

    (Checker, 2005–2007)
™ and © Checker Book Publishing

Featuring three substantial chunks of his early comic strips plus a cross–section of his editorial cartoons, this third volume of the work of Little Nemo in Slumberland creator Winsor McCay serves as a testament to his versatility. Regardless of theme, all of McCay’s strips took place in a delicately drafted genteel world that is gradually thrown into chaos by something. In Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend, a less visually imaginative precursor to Nemo, it’s cheese sandwiches (Was the American palate ever really that sensitive?) inducing nightmares in various victims. And in Little Sammy Sneeze, cozy domesticity is overturned by a boy’s powerful sneezes. Each strip is another variation on the same joke, and frequently the “humor” seems as antique as the characters and situations. Like something in a museum, it seems they’re more to be appreciated than actually enjoyed. Of more interest is A Pilgrim’s Progress, a dour, quirky rumination on man’s existence. But the highlight is McCay’s exquisitely rendered editorial cartoons, which are more concerned with lofty ideals than scandals of the day.

— S.A. Bennett
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