Life, 1921-04-21 · page 9 of 36
Life — April 21, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be an illustration from Life magazine (April 21, based on the header) depicting a medieval or fantasy scene. The caption reads: "Sir Lancelot: 'IS GOD'S NAME, SIR KNIGHT, NOT SO FAST, MY GOOD GIRL! THE REPORTERS HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED; BESIDES, THERE ARE THE SERIAL RIGHTS AND THE MOTION PICTURE ROYALTIES TO BE CONSIDERED.'" The satire juxtaposes medieval romance imagery—a knight, maiden, castle, and fantastical creatures—with modern commercial concerns: newspaper reporters, serialization rights, and film royalties. The joke mocks how early 20th-century media and entertainment industries had commodified even legendary romantic narratives. Sir Lancelot's concern for business deals rather than chivalrous rescue satirizes the era's transformation of classic stories into profit-driven entertainment properties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Maiden: 18 cov’s NAME, HASTEN, SIR K iT! save me! Sir Launcelot: Not So FAST, MY GOOD GIRL! THE REPORTERS HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED; BESIDES, THERE ARE THE SERIAL RIGHTS AND THE MOTION PICTURE ROYALTIES TO BE CONSIDERED, comicbooks.com