Judge, 1919-10-04 · page 15 of 36
Judge — October 4, 1919 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic strip satirizes marital conflict resolution and domestic interference. The narrative follows a "self-appointed peace commissioner" (a busybody character) attempting to mediate between a quarreling couple. The satire mocks: 1. **Naive intervention**: The commissioner pompously declares himself "master of the situation" while everything spirals into chaos. 2. **Contradictory advice**: He offers platitudes ("speak the truth," "be fair") that backfire when the couple actually takes him seriously, escalating their conflict. 3. **Domestic authority**: The joke hinges on the irony that an outsider confidently presumes to govern private marital disputes, citing fake legal/moral authority ("Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!"). 4. **Social meddling**: The final panel suggests the commissioner's interference has made things worse—the wife has taken a lover, and he watches the "assassination" of the marriage unfold. The humor targets overconfident busybodies who insert themselves into others' private affairs while possessing no actual wisdom or standing. The Poe reference reinforces the absurd pretension of the "commissioner."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
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