Life, 1927-12-15 · page 16 of 40
Life — December 15, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical comic scenarios from Life magazine: 1. **"Candidly Speaking"** mocks courtship euphemisms—a man asking "Would you marry her?" after hitting someone with a brick, absurdly treating violence as casual. 2. **"The Spirit of Christmas"** satirizes commercialism: a stranger asks what Christmas means, and the response is materialistic (presents, church, eating, singing) rather than spiritual. 3. **"Realism in the Comic Strip"** critiques how comic strips ignore physics—a character hit with a brick should realistically collapse, not heroically continue, exposing the artificiality of the medium. 4. **"The Complete System"** jokes about censorship and parental control of reading material. 5. **"An Advertising Victim"** shows a prisoner citing dental visits as his parole reason—satirizing how advertising creates manufactured needs and compliance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Candidly Speaking “About that daughter of yours—"" “You would marry her?"’ “Not if I can get into your business any other way ad The Spirit of Christmas TRANGER (arriving on earth December 25th): What's all the excitement about? Birt: Why, it’s Christmas, Srnancer: What's that? Bit: Oh, it’s a holiday. Give presents, Go to church. Laugh. Eat turke: Sing. Love everybody— but what's the ning—you know? : Aw, come on and have an- other drink, + mes Life Realism in the Comic Strip A Scenario UTT throws a brick at Jeff. The brick lands with terrific impact on the back of Jefi’s head, with a sound closely approximating the sound a brick makes when it hits somebody on the back of the head. Jeff does not fly ten yards through the air in a graceful dive, nor does he promptly arise and take part in a ial conversation. He doesn’t even fly two feet through the air. To come to the point, he does what any normal per- son does after being hit with a brick —he slumps to the ground 1 stays there. Mutt dashes to his side. He is terribly frightened. A policeman comes along. He asks, “What's this?” Mutt blubbers, “I—I hit him with a brick.” The policeman calls for an ambulance and arrests Mutt. Jeff dies in the hospital next The Complete System day from concussion of the brain. GIRST FLAPPER: Did you get Mutt is tried and is to see that p! found guilty. you shouldn't se him to death Seconp Frarrer: No, worse luck! dium of another comic strip in which I was sick last week and the best I his wife hits him with a could do was to stay home rolling-pin and fractures and read the book that she his skull. N. F. said I shouldn't read. “Look among the ‘Church Services’, dear, and see what the Christmas program is at the Cathedral of the Motion Picture.” for murder he Judge condemns death through the me- your mother said An Advertising Victim PAROLE CHIFF: Are there any other reasons you'd like to advance for being paroled at this time? PRISONER: Yes, Lam supposed to visit my dentist every six months. comicbooks.com