Judge, 1907-10-12 · page 10 of 16
Judge — October 12, 1907 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous six-panel comic strip following "Nervy Nat," a cocky character who discovers an old, worn-out racehorse named "Gracie" and convinces himself he can enter it in a horse race. Nat borrows tack without permission and coaxes the reluctant animal into competition. The joke unfolds as Nat's brash confidence meets reality: the horse, initially stubborn and difficult, surprisingly runs well. Despite Nat's rough treatment and constant complaints—he's thrown around, can't breathe from dust, worries about his appearance—the horse somehow wins "by a nose and two snorts." The satire mocks overconfident hustlers ("Nervy Nat") who succeed despite incompetence, sheer luck, and disregard for decorum. His casual theft of equipment, crude horsemanship, and vanity ("strike an attitude") contrast amusingly with an improbable victory. The period slang ("old skate," "plunks") and references to baseball and vaudeville ground this in early 1900s Americana.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1. Nervy Nat—"' Hello, Grace, you old skate! I can tell by the fire in your 2. Nexvy Nat—"‘ After borrowing this saddle and bridle, unconsciously, of eye that you are a defunct racer. I have an idea in my topknot that if | were course, we're not so bad, even if you have got a head likeahammer. That's to annex you and enter you for the free-for-all handicap at the Cowtown Fair right; spurt up a bit, and I'll bring out some of your old-time speed. Elec- there would be something didding. So, boss! Come, Gracie!” tricity I. is your name, Gracie, henceforth. Now, push out your feet.”” |) ee eal 3. Nervy Nat—"" Whoa, you brute! What do you think | am—a circu 4. Nerve Nat—" Suffering grasshoppers! we're off all right, and the rest actor? You're Lord Reginald Somerville's entry for this race, and of the bunch is smothered in a cloud of dust. The book-makers will go broke are shrimp pink and terra cotta. If you don't stop pirouetting like a show-girl on this skate. Where in blazes did you learn to travel like this? Gosh! | Til kick in three or four of your slats."* can't breathe."* 5. Nervy Nar—" That's right; slide for the home-plate. You must have been a baseball player in your ingenue days. Of course it makes no differ- two snorts. The plaudits of the multitude are ours. | was going to have you ence if my whiskers are scraped off. I'm used to such horse-play—only, if sold to a canning-factory, but you've earned a few plunks for yours truly. Lever get out of this alive, the glue-works for yours.”* Strike an attitude, now; we're having our pictures tooken.”” NO. 19.—NERVY NAT ANNEXES AN OLD-TIME FLYER AND WINS BY A NOSE AND TWO SNORTS. COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK. NOTK.—The First Series of Nervy Nat's Adventures ts now ready, handsomely bound, tn book-form. Price, 75 cents; 10 cents additional for postage when ordered by mail. Address JUDGE COMPANY, 225 Fourth Avenue, New York. comicbooks.com