Judge — August 21, 1926 — page 35: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a **reader participation contest**, not a political cartoon. Judge magazine invited readers to complete an unfinished comic strip for a $25 prize (significant money in this era). The three panels show absurdist or surreal situations: the first depicts two men at a table with a large thought bubble above; the second shows a figure in bed at night with someone on the roof; the third shows a nighttime scene with figures and what appears to be a gun. The humor lies in the **incongruity and absurdity** of these scenarios—readers were challenged to devise funny, logical, or clever conclusions to these bizarre setups. The contest emphasizes originality of idea over artistic skill, democratizing humor-creation. The cartoonist is credited as "Milt Gross," a known humorist of the period. This reflects Judge's interactive approach to humor and its confidence that ordinary readers could generate entertaining content.