Judge — July 19, 1919 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Judge magazine cartoon satirizes pest control efforts, likely during World War I (suggested by references to "German shells"). The narrative follows characters attempting to eliminate a fly—depicted as a persistent nuisance requiring escalating, comedic methods. The "pest" serves as metaphor: the fly represents either an actual public health concern (flies spread disease) or a wartime enemy. Early panels show confident attempts ("swat the fly!"); later panels depict increasingly chaotic, destructive responses involving explosions and chaos. The final panels reference German military capability ("German shells have nothing on this devastation"), suggesting the cartoon compares civilian pest-control efforts to wartime destruction—likely mocking either overblown responses to minor problems or the actual devastation of war itself. The black cat functions as comic observer throughout, highlighting the absurdity of the escalating battle against one small insect.