Mr. Twee Deedle, Johnny Gruelle's masterpiece, has been unjustlyforgotten by history. Gruelle's creation was the successor to Little Nemoin the New York Herald. The title character in the Sunday color page, Mr. TweeDeedle, is a magical wood sprite that only appeared before the strip's twohuman children, Dickie and Dolly. Gruelle depicted a charming, fantasticalchild's world, filled with light whimsy and outlandish surrealism. Yet the wood sprite and his fanciful world have been strangelyoverlooked, partly because Gruelle created Raggedy Ann immediately after thestrip's run, eclipsing not only Mr. Twee Deedle, but almost everythingelse the cartoonist ever did. Mr. Twee Deedle stands as a bizarre time-warp: ata time when most children's literature and kids' comic strips weresomewhat violent or starkly moralistic (the Brothers Grimm; the KatzenjammerKids; and even Little Nemo itself, which often depicted nightmares, fears, anddangers), Mr. Twee Deedle was sensitive and whimsical. Instead of starkmoralizing, it presented gentle lessons. It reads today like a work for the 21stcentury... indeed for all times, all ages.… (more)