Winsor McCay (1869–1934) was one of the key figures in the American entertainment industry at the beginning of the 20th century. As a comic artist, his influence was inestimable: he set standards in narrative technique, panel layout, and graphic refinement that still apply today. His virtuoso play with perspective, color, and narrative levels influenced many artists after him and, over the years, has lost none of its appeal. He was also one of the most important trailblazers in animated film: beginning in 1911—one and a half decades before Walt Disney—McCay defined standards for animated films that would remain relevant for decades to come. Additionally, he toured the United States with his own stage show, in which he combined reality and illustrated fiction for vaudeville audiences in an astonishing way. Though McCay was a master of illusion, he never shied away from revealing the hidden “mechanics” behind the magic to his audience. TASCHEN's sumptuous Winsor McCay: The Complete Little Nemo 1905–1927 collects, for the very first time, all 550 episodes of “Little Nemo in Slumberland”—the iconic comic strip in which a little boy's fantastic and surreal dreams come to life—in full, glorious color and in the original large format in which they first appeared in the comic supplements of the major American Sunday newspapers. In his extensive accompanying text, illustrated by historical photographs and documents, comics expert Alexander Braun describes Winsor McCay's life and places his work within the cultural history of the U.S. media and entertainment industry shortly after the turn of the 20th century. This publication is a tremendous monument to one of the most innovative pioneers of comics that no comics fan will want to miss.