Judge — November 5, 1904 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Nervy Nat and the Infernal Machine" - Judge Magazine This comic strip satirizes early 20th-century anxieties about anarchist bomb plots. "Nervy Nat," a shady character with a suitcase, encounters various suspicious situations while traveling through the city. The humor relies on period fears: a suspicious suitcase is repeatedly mistaken for an anarchist's "infernal machine" (bomb). Each panel escalates the comedy—from a friend's curiosity, to police involvement, to military concern. The final panels show authority figures (police, military) increasingly panicked about the innocent luggage. The satire mocks both anarchist hysteria gripping America and the overreaction of officials to perceived threats. The "foreigner" appearance of Nat plays into contemporary xenophobic anxieties about immigrants and political violence.