Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Eric Shanower
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
Release Date: 20th August 2014

From 1905 to 1924, Windsor McCay pushed the boundaries of the early comic medium in was that are still being felt today. Little Nemo was a serialised full-page weekly strip following the adventures of a little boy in the dream world he entered upon falling asleep every night. Although following a set formula in the beginning (Nemo invariably ended up being abruptly woken out of his dreams), the visual storytelling was anything but formulaic, with panel and pacing structures that mirrored the dream psychology and surrealism of the strips, with McCay’s consummate perspectives grounding everything.

I’ve been looking forward to Eric Shanower (author of many Oz adaptations) giving us new stories from Slumberland. He’s effective at getting inside the mythic landscapes of other author’s works, and tends to bring out the best in the artists he works with. This début issue is solid – introducing us to Jimmy Nemo Summerton, a new lead, and the new intended playmate of Slumberland’s Princess. He’s awoken by the King’s envoy, Popcorn, and encouraged to come to Slumberland, but he refuses – because he doesn’t play with girls. The next evening, Bon-Bon, the Candy Kid, takes Popcorn’s place, and is more successful – thus embarking on a series of adventures with Jimmy/Nemo as he tries to get him to Slumburland. They are thwarted along the way many times, each climax resulting in Jimmy falling out of bed back in his room, much like the original series.

Told over a full issue instead of one page, but separated into strips of increasing length that make me wonder if we’re going to get some longer tales to follow, Shanower does a great job of breathing life back into the myriad weird and wonderful residents of Slumberland, and captures a good deal of the original’s wonder.

Top props have to go to Gabriel Rodriquez (Locke & Key) though, credited here as co-creator, who has the unenviable task of taking on the visual heavy lifting. And lift it he does – his “clear line” style beautifully echoing McCay’s original European sensibilities, with a dash of Moebius thrown in to his characterisations, and his world-building is extraordinary. A double-page splash allows him to show off his perspective skills with a wide-angle shot of Slumberland, and he also chooses unusual angles that give the dream world an appropriate wooziness.

He even gets to take on some of Windsor McCay’s pioneering panel layouts – a particularly excellent rollercoaster ride begins with panels slicing at extreme angles across the page, before breaking out of the panels entirely in an audacious loop the loop that plays with the 2-dimensional page in a fun and yet technically very clever way.

Nelson Daniel gives clarity through the colours, although I’d have liked a little less saturation. I’m maybe just spoiled by reproductions of those original newsprint strips.

Overall, this is a great first issue to introduce Nemo to a new audience, and the relaunch is in the hands of the perfect creative team – but I’m looking forward to them letting loose a little and perhaps trying out some new narrative structures for our new Nemo’s forthcoming adventures.

Rating: 4/5

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PREVIEW TRAILER.

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PREVIEW ARTWORK.

[Click thumbnail for full size image]

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The writer of this piece was: Garry Mac
You can follow Garry on Twitter
You can also keep up to date with all his latest comic releases through the Unthank Comics website.

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