Judge — May 17, 1924 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Curse of the Taxi-driver Who Overcharged a Magician" This comic sequence depicts a humorous revenge narrative. A magician (top left) discovers a taxi driver has overcharged him and apparently casts a curse in retaliation. What follows is a series of escalating misfortunes befalling the taxi driver: his cab repeatedly flips and crashes, he experiences increasingly chaotic accidents, and objects appear to spontaneously malfunction around him. The final panel shows the magician collecting payment (suggested by the hand holding money marked "CENTS"). The satire targets the widespread practice of taxi drivers overcharging passengers—a common urban complaint in early 20th-century America. The joke plays on the idea that wronging a magician brings magical retribution, suggesting such cheating should carry supernatural consequences. It's lighthearted social commentary wrapped in fantasy.