Judge, 1907-08-10 · page 5 of 16
Judge — August 10, 1907 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a six-panel comic strip titled "Nervy Nat, Surprised by O'Toole and the Real Lord Reginald, Plays a Little Trick" from Judge magazine (copyright 1907). The story follows a character named Nervy Nat who encounters O'Toole (described as "a plain-clothes detective") and claims to be "Lord Reginald." The narrative involves a moving van and appears to satirize common urban crime and fraud. Nat attempts to convince O'Toole that he's a nobleman, while stealing furniture into the van. The humor derives from Nat's scheming and his attempt to manipulate both O'Toole and an alleged English nobleman who may or may not exist, culminating in what the title promises will be "a little trick." The satire targets gullibility, class pretension, and petty urban theft common in early 1900s American cities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1. O'Toote (as @ plain-clothes detective)—"* Av coorse, me lard, yez realoize thot we are on th’ thrail av a cangerous criminal, an’ yure not bein’ able to Gidintify him meks it all th’ more difficult. We wull hov to surphrise him— thot's th’ only way we kin tek him. But lave it to O'Toole, an’ we wull hov Nervy Nat—"‘It's downright scurvy, the manner in which King Ed’s th’ divil soon."” . subjects are imposed upon when they hit this country. I thought I recognized Lorp Recinap—*It's beastly extrawdinary, O'Toole. the dulcet tones of that Hibernian pest. Algernon, | am sorry to have dis- Nervy Nat (looking up)—"* Oh, be me eyes, see who's here?" turbed your slesta; but the atmosphere fs suddenly polluted, and at present it fs best for us to look busy." ‘3. Nervy Nat—‘This is my only chance. It's good this scene {s laid in 4. Nervy Nat—"‘ Nathaniel, me boy, as a strategist you have Napoleon the remote regions of the Bronx. Hey, driver! when are you coming after and Carrie Nation frazzled toa shoe-string. Did you ever see two bigger that furniture fish in all your checkered career? | guess O'Toole will realize after this that O'Toote—“* Ha, hal Th’ double cross fer yez this tome. Shwipin’ he is dealing with a past master at the game of bluff.”” furniture! Into the van, me lardship, an’ we'll pinch him in th’ very act av committin’ another theft.” 5. Nervy Nat—‘It's a good thing for me—also for you, Algernon—that I 6. Nervy Nat—' There's a choice consignment of bugs in that van, Mr. Srove the rhinoceros-wagon in a circus once. Handling three ribbons is Keeper, and they are pretty desperate. One imagines he's a cop, and the ple to me. I pity his lordship, as | believe he isn't a half-bad sort of chap. other has an hallucination that he’s an English nobleman. If they grow des- But when O'Toole realizes he's kidnapped—oh, mamma! Git ap, Romeo!" perate use the big stick—especially on the cop. Just hold them while I go and see the superintendent and make arrangements for their board.” NO. 1O—NERVY NAT, SURPRISED BY O'TOOLE AND THE REAL LORD REGINALD, PLAYS A LITTLE TRICK. COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE., KEW YORK. comicbooks.com