Judge, 1926-06-05 · page 13 of 36
Judge — June 5, 1926 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Dark Deed" - Judge Magazine Satire This story presents a dark domestic tragedy played for satirical humor. E.W. Hedges returns home unexpectedly after forgetting his eyeglasses, discovers his wife in an intimate embrace with another man in the library, and shoots them both dead in a crime of passion. The joke's cynicism lies in the bottom cartoon: while Hedges commits murder upstairs, his *wife* downstairs calls out to a burglar to leave the radio alone—implying she's the unfaithful party, yet her concern is petty theft, not her husband's violent discovery. The satire mocks both domestic hypocrisy and the melodramatic "man of principle" justification for murder. Judge magazine frequently satirized middle-class morality and marital infidelity as contemporary scandals. The juxtaposition of tragedy with mundane property crime creates dark comedy from the contrast between the couple's secret affair and the wife's casual priorities.
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A Dark Deed E. W. HeEncEs care- L. fully inserted his key into the lock, so as not to disturb the family. Three hours earlier he had left for Boston, but upon at- tempting to read in his berth discovered he had left his eyeglasses at home. Now he hoped to secure them and make a later train. As he tiptoed across the living-room floor, low voices reached his 4 ears and as he gazed ; ahead into the library ‘| he discerned a woman closely locked in a man’s fervent embrace. Tears of grief welled up in his eyes. His JUDGE shoulders shook as sobs racked his frame, but being a man of prin- ciple, there was only one course left open to him. Opening his bag, he removed his re- volver. Two sharp shots rang out and the loy- ers fell dead, their lips | still cemented, even in | THe WireE—John! A bub-burglar! death, | “Sh-h-h! Let’im alone—I think he’s swip- Trembling and shiy- ing the radio!” (Continued on page 23) comicbooks.com