Judge, 1906-10-20 · page 16 of 16
Judge — October 20, 1906 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical comic strip featuring "Nervy Nat," a combative character who intervenes in a street scene involving a poor child (a "gamin") eating an apple. Nat attempts to warn the boy about the apple's historical significance (the Fall of Man), but the child ignores him. The satire escalates absurdly: Nat becomes philosophically disturbed by the sour apple, speaks in blank verse, then encounters French villagers whom he attacks, claiming to "protect" the boy. A sergeant arrests him for assaulting eight defenseless men. The joke appears to target do-gooder busybodies and their self-righteous interventions—Nat's pretense of protection masks violent arrogance and inappropriate behavior. His grandiose language and dramatic overreaction to minor situations mock the type of person who meddles in others' affairs while convincing themselves of noble motives. The French characters' mockery reinforces this critique of sanctimonious meddling.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
T. Nervy Nat—"Gamin, if | should tell you that nothing could be 2 Nerve Nar , very Di nt shall Rave to protect yo worse for your stomach than that apple—thai the ancestor of that partic- against yourself, at no matter what risk to myself. And if you grow ularly fatal fruit was the cause of the downfall of our sex—would you up into a big, healthy grenadier, remember that it was Nervy Nat who persist in eating it? * saved you when you were a child. tot Gamin—* Oul, monsieu’."” 3 Nervy Nat— That was strangely sour. It has basely joined 4, Cuonus oF viLtaceRs—" Bravol Epatant: Coed! Bon! Outof- my conscience, and hand in hand they storm the citadel of my constitu- sight! Ripping! Merveilleux tion. Gee! I'm thinking in blank verse. If I could get a peck of those Nervy Nat—"'Great nutmegs! do those anthropoid apes imagine pommes | believe | could write an epic poem pat | an astunt? That is more than mere gristle and red corpus cles can bear. "| will slay them!" 5 Nervy Nat “Now, you Gallic barnacles! the next time you see an 6. Sercent Capuc—" Nervous Nat, you are a coward! You atlack American gentleman minding his own convulsions don’t look up—just eight defenseless men—yes ?° keep on sipping your fool-kilier absinthe. Otherwise you might as well Ni I submit to arrest peacefully because I natu- slap a wildcat.” ut if you are going to preach | shall leave you— that's all. Corrmant it by soak Coupany rusuanens 28 roUNTH AYE. EW YOM ~NERVY NAT, THE KID, AND THE APPLE. comicbooks.com