Life — June 13, 1918 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a comic strip titled "The Ex-Movie-Comedian Goes Out to Take a Prisoner." The eight-panel sequence depicts soldiers in WWI-style uniforms (spiked Prussian helmets) attempting to capture an enemy soldier through increasingly chaotic and comedic means. The humor derives from slapstick warfare: the soldiers repeatedly fail, tumble, and bungle their capture attempt across successive panels. The "ex-movie-comedian" appears to be a reference to Charlie Chaplin or similar silent-film comedians who performed in military-themed comedies. The satire contrasts the absurdity of actual combat with entertainment portrayals of war—suggesting that real warfare is messier and less controlled than Hollywood depictions, while also mocking the glorification of military action through comedy.