Though today the name “Nemo” probably brings to mind a tropical fish, in regards to comic strip history there’s a Nemo of a different kind – Little Nemo. Little Nemo first appeared on October 15, 1905 as the protagonist of Little Nemo in Slumberland, a full-page weekly strip that followed him through his fantastical dreams.

Little Nemo appeared in two different comic strips, Little Nemo in Slumberland and In the Land of Wonderful Dreams – though they followed the same format, the name was different depending on if it was running in the New York Herald or in the New York American. It flipped between the two in its 21-year run; the strip ended on December 26, 1926.

The strip was run by cartoonist Winsor McCay, who used an Art Nouveau-inspired style in his work. McCay’s work with Nemo was highly influential in terms of what he was able to do with the space allotted in a given page. Many contemporary artists, including Alan Moore and Art Spiegelman, have paid homage to McCay’s style in their work.

The Little Nemo stories were popular enough to inspire a musical in 1907, though financial hardships ended the show by 1910. More recent stage adaptations have been held as recently as 2013, however. There have also been a number of film adaptations, which began in 1911 and with the most recent of which being a 1989 production called Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. The latter also had a video game tie-in, produced by Capcom, called Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

Little Nemo returned in 2014 when IDW revived the character in a series called Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, with Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez as the creative team.