A complete, restored issue of Judge from 1885-12-05 — all 16 pages of color political cartoons and topical humor, free to page through at comicbooks.com.

On the cover: # "Let the Investigation Go On" - The Judge, December 5, 1885 This cartoon satirizes New York City's municipal corruption and the Mayor's Grace (identified in the caption as M.I.C.—Member of Investigation Committee). The central figure, dressed as a gentleman, stands before stacked bureaucratic boxes labeled "Bureau of N.Y. City Departments," "Bureau of Taxes," "Mayors Bureau," "Bureau of Justice," and "Bureau of Police"—all apparently containing corruption ("dirty linen," "blackmail," etc.). The Mayor claims he's investigating these departments while clearly complicit in their dysfunction. The satire mocks the performative nature of investigations into entrenched city corruption, suggesting the Mayor profits from the very "dirty linen" he claims to expose. The cartoon criticizes the hollowness of municipal reform rhetoric.

🖼️ Every page has a plain-English note on what you’re looking at — the figures, the references, the point of the satire.

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