Judge, 1925-03-28 · page 12 of 36
Judge — March 28, 1925 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This page contains a serialized comic strip called "Oatmeal" that parodies melodramatic serialized fiction popular in early 20th-century magazines. The "Synopsis of Previous Installments" deliberately makes no logical sense—it piles absurd, disconnected plot elements (a 60-year-old debutante, fires, Algeria, war declarations, crossword puzzles) into incoherent chaos. The satire targets two things: (1) the overblown, deliberately convoluted plots of serialized stories that kept readers hooked week after week, and (2) the fourth-wall-breaking complaint from "Harry" that "these serials certainly are grueling on us poor characters"—mocking how serialized fiction prioritized commercial continuation over narrative coherence. The small cartoon joke about the emu's pride in appearing in crossword puzzles is a light gag unrelated to the main satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Oatmeal (A Cereal) Synopsis of Previous Installments MM" Biossom, a charming débu- - tante of sixty, wishing to do something that will put some pep in her coming-out party, fires her father’s servants and his house. With the servants in flames and the house indignant at the sudden dis- missal the news comes that St has retumed. This is too much for trude. She jumps from a base- ment window of the building expect- ing to land ina fire net but she lands in Algeria instead to bad weather and a broken propeller shaft. As she stands on the dock wonder- ing whether to kodak as she goes or to save the surface and thus save all who are in peril of their lives she spies the mysterious stranger who has crossed her path so many times causing it to be taken for a tenement in which a murder has bee mitted. Stella becomes indignant at this and bites off the head of one of the merry picnickers thinking it's an aspirin tablet. In the meantime Slavstark has e Make the home life attractive to the young folks and they will stay in declared war on Bulgmania and Psycho-Analysis has joined with an alien nation severing diplomatic arteries with a number of other prominent suicides. The price of eggs has risen and high winds are blowing in from across the street. The market, which has been “What makes the Emu so proud these days?” “Crossword puzzles. His name is in the papers hundreds of times every day.” slumping steadily since the James- town flood finally reaches its peak resulting in the Wall Street explo- sion, Mildred's father is suspected but through the aid of her clever young district. attorney friend he gets off with a sentence of hanging and a recommendation from the bench of leniency. At this point Billie’s boy friend comes home from Annapolis to spend his allowance. Chapter IMCONVILFGHZ “Are you hurt?” asked Miriam as she simultancously swabbed his wounds with a bottle brush and looked trim and attractive in’ her starched new Red Cross uniform. “No,” murmured Harry as he sank into her arms and the sofa at the same time and asked for another helping of Larfilterfish, “But these serials certainly are grueling on us poor characters, to say nothing of our public.” (To Be Continued Nezt Week) Read how Napoleon and Josephine finally decide that two can lite as cheaply as one and die happily. Carroll ey comicbooks.com