Life — August 30, 1923 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "Skippy Decides to Start the Fly Paper" This page depicts **Skippy**, a popular comic strip character from the early 20th century, in a series of sequential panels showing a child's mischievous activities culminating in starting to make or deploy flypaper. The humor is entirely **non-political**—it's domestic comedy about childhood pranks and misadventure. Each panel captures exaggerated physical comedy: Skippy running, jumping, colliding with furniture, and generally creating chaos around a house. The final caption indicates he's begun the "fly paper" project, suggesting messy, destructive play typical of a rambunctious kid. This represents **Life magazine's** use of established comic characters for light entertainment rather than social satire. The appeal is visual slapstick humor targeting family audiences.