Judge, 1908-11-28 · page 10 of 16
Judge — November 28, 1908 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This six-panel comic strip satirizes early automobile culture and a roguish character named "Nervy Nat." The humor centers on Nat's audacious theft or commandeering of a streetcar, his evasion of police, and his casual criminality. Key points: - **The setting**: Urban transportation (streetcars, bicycles, cops) in what appears to be the early 1900s - **The character**: Nervy Nat is a con artist/criminal who steals a car, outruns a bicycle cop, and attempts to bribe an arresting officer with ten cents - **The satire**: The comic mocks both Nat's brazen disregard for law and the ease with which he apparently operates—suggesting social commentary on urban crime or police corruption - **The joke**: Nat's supreme confidence despite obvious criminal activity; his casual bribery attempt This appears to be part of an ongoing comic series marketed to Judge magazine readers as a book series.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
2. Nervy Nat— What in blazes is this that darkens the doorway? ‘That ape 1. Nervy Nat—* Yon chariot looks like a good place to take the chill off -vy Nat. i 4 ‘one on acool day like this. As the captain and first mate seem off duty, I'll must think this car is bound for the Zoo. What strange freaks one sees in a just step inside and warm up a bit.” public conveyance!” When does this car start?” 4. Nervy Nat—' There's bicycle cop taking upmy scent, I never had much “san idea! At once, madam." love for that breed. I will whip up Romeo, here, and see if T ean’t make him take my dust."” the conductor?” 5. Nervy Nat—“V'll bet every cop in this district is on my trail. “This com- 6. Cop—* Do yer know thot ye'll be electrocuted fer this?” pany fabricated when they called this a cross-town line. It only goes two Nervy Nat—"1 know nothing; and, furthermore, cease such drooling blocks, but I'll drive it across town, just to give them the lie."* talk. [have ten cents in my clothes, which will buy a couple of goblets of suds, if you will accept a bribe.” NO. 69—NERVY NAT DRIVES A CAR. CoryRianT, 1968, wy sUPaR OMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 PIFTIL AVENUE, NEW YORK. NOTE.-The Firat Series of Nervy Nat'n Adventures tw now ready, handsomely bound in book torm. Price.75 cents: 10 cents additional tor postage when ordered by mail. Address JUDGE. COMPANY, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York. comicbooks.com