Judge, 1917-06-23 · page 15 of 28
Judge — June 23, 1917 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This six-panel comic strip satirizes the supposed romantic and patriotic benefits of military service during World War I. The narrative follows a soldier named Jack who, upon enlisting or deployment, becomes physically transformed—notably thinner and more disciplined through "limbering up" (panel 8) and military training. The satire's point: Gladys, Jack's sweetheart, finds him *more attractive* after he's been worn down by military service, declaring she loves his newfound thinness. The final panel presents this as a triumph of patriotism—the implication being darkly ironic that military service (which visibly diminishes men's health) is somehow beneficial and romantic. The accompanying text about wives' duties mocks domestic expectations, further emphasizing how this era weaponized patriotism and gender roles. The humor is cynical: the "bride" is won not through romance but through a man's physical degradation by war.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
8—Limbering up. 10—Jack—I've come to say farewell. Gladys—Oh Jack, you have grown so beautifully thin! 1—Gladys—I love you with all my heart! 12—Thus patriotism won—a bride! PATRIOTISM WINS assurance that he will behave just as you have trained him to; and you will have the satisfaction of hearing your friends declare he does you credit. Awakening his mind.—This is one of the chief duties and responsibilities of wifehood. It cannot be shirked. For while no husband is expected to know anything at marriage (the fact that he got married attests that), he is expected a year or so later to look intelligent when the lady next to him at dinner discusses pragmatism and Rimsky-Korsakov, and to know that Botticelli is not a cheese but the subject of antique jokes. For him not to know these things would be a reflection on his home training, or, in other words, his wife. She will be con- sidered negligent unless she has instilled into his rudimentary mind a smattering of whatever is accounted smart. For every wife is judged by the way she brings up her husband. (Avtuor’s Note.—If in the above treatise I have borrowed from the learned doctors who have written concerning the Care of the Baby, I am very sorry; for I see no prospect of ever being able to pay them back. E: is small note of mine will be discounted.) Add crop failures, 1917: The farmer’s work is from sun to sun, but he watches the son tise in the city. comicbooks.com