Life, 1925-04-30 · page 9 of 42
Life — April 30, 1925 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a comedic retelling of the Adam and Eve story from Genesis, presented as "the first comic strip." The six-panel narrative depicts two nude figures in the Garden of Eden: one character offers an apple to the other, who initially refuses ("Leave some for me!"). After eating, the second figure becomes ill ("Now you've done it!"). The final panels show them blaming each other for the fall of man. The dark final panel delivers the satirical punchline: blaming woman for humanity's downfall, framing it as an eternal consequence—"the woman that pays" for breaking God's rules. The joke targets both biblical literalism and contemporary gender politics, sardonically suggesting women bear responsibility for human suffering itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
You KNow I NEVER THATS RICHT EAT APPLES-- ONLY py |BLAME 1 JUST LIKE A woman! .tF IT HAD TURNED OUT DIFFERENT You wovto WAVE sA\O IT was ALL YouR own local i--- IT'S ALWANS THE WAY. «UF ANYTHING GoES WRONG ITS THE WOMAN THAT PAYS ! --- 1 never WoULo HAVE SPOK- -EN TO THE SERPENT \E you HADN'T Toto ME HE wAs THE SALT OF THE EARTH --- °° AND SO,FAR FAR INTO THE CENTURIES e Head ~ with aurur at Briss THE FIRST COMIC STRIP comicbooks.com