Judge, 1905-01-21 · page 5 of 16
Judge — January 21, 1905 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This six-panel comic follows "Nervy Nat," a character who announces plans to become a highway robber, comparing himself to famous historical outlaws Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin. He steals Farmer Todd's sleigh to begin his criminal rampage. The satire lies in Nervy Nat's grandiose incompetence: his robbery attempts repeatedly backfire. He's thrown from the sleigh, crashes the vehicle, and creates chaos—all while maintaining his theatrical self-aggrandizement about being a fearsome bandit. The humor targets blowhards and con artists who fancy themselves dangerous criminals but are merely destructive nuisances. His claim to "breathe flame" and the farmer's final comment about Nat being "a deacon"—suggesting moral hypocrisy—reinforce the mockery of his pretensions. It's a slapstick takedown of false bravado and wannabe criminality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
__Nekvy Nat—"I am going to make Messrs. Jack Sheppard and Dick 0 Turpin look like a couple of sneak-thieves. Here comes Farmer Todd in ot. to go Into effect immediately. | haven't my card with me, his sleigh. I will borrow the vehicle and rampage through the country but lam *Nervy Nat,’ and | breathe flame on Tuesdays and Fridays. on a tour of pillaging and sacking.” 15 leat ‘em alive! Now, out with you, and no back talk!" ut lat like farmer f Nexvy Nat—"*Whoa!l Who-o- eeered ie afte a spilled if this keeps up. | wonder wh ouryou, with anineh tine of black a any way? I'm nol as crazy about this bi devily gone to a popular winter resort and There's going to be something gotten into this automohorse, yman business as | though Pulte AEs eau me out, gol-ding yer! Ef I hadn't ben Gabr'el blew h Why, ate! ul eI" ter git even with y © er | get out into the country and try to lea ome- w, what do you think of that for an unchristian hing always happens. Wish I'd grabbed that pussy-cat lap-robe!" er he’s a deacon at that!” NO. $8.—NERVY NAT AS A GENTLEMAN OF THE ROAD. comicbooks.com