Judge, 1909-07-24 · page 9 of 16
Judge — July 24, 1909 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a multi-panel satirical comic featuring a character called "Nervy Nat" (likely a recurring Judge character) encountering African animals and people during what seems to be a colonial-era African adventure. The satire works on several levels: Nat engages in absurd interactions with hippopotamuses and other wildlife, treating them as if they were human (mimicking period "nature faker" literature that anthropomorphized animals). The final panels mock colonial attitudes, with Nat commanding Black African individuals using condescending orders and racial stereotypes—he refers to one as "Chicken Gumbo" and makes jokes about "drawing the color line." The humor, by Judge's standards, targets both Nat's foolishness and contemporary colonial pretensions. The "nature-fakir" reference alludes to President Theodore Roosevelt's well-known criticism of exaggerated animal stories popular in that era. The overall tone reflects early-1900s American attitudes toward Africa and African peoples as subjects of ridicule.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
a tew-sy shouldn't I like kid knees too?” 3. Nervy Nat—" Keep your chin up, you beef trust, while I tie these utterly false grass you skk keep out of the mud for ten days. “That sort whiskers on you—and for Pete's sake hold your breath. Every time you inhale | feel as if a he loveanimals. What would Oliver Herford say to vacuum cleaner was going through me.” n't fogato wipe your feet.” Kid—“ Mla!” aud, 94 you ate a nature-fakir, an undesirable citi- 6. Nervy Nat—“ Now, Chicken Gumbo, here 's where I draw the color line. You shuffle by Gee! Boba, you and Bogwomma escort this back to the Colonel and say unto him he might at least have called a taxicab for me, and here- ; after to do his own hunting. Now don’t stand there looking like the deuce of spades. Make a dea't K Africa is a very nice continent. I believe noise like a pillow and slip away!" URSS UP IN AFRICA vELSESTTE AVENE AnD WADIBON SQUARE. NEW TORK. A xD MADISON SQUARE comicbooks.com