Puck #262

In this striking 1882 satire, Puck #262—written, drawn, inked, and colored by Joseph Keppler—delivers a vivid allegory of corporate greed and judicial failure. The cover by Bernhard Gillam depicts a shipwrecked vessel, the Wrecked Corporation and Insurance Co. Bankrupt, stranded on rocks beside a lighthouse extinguished by the figures of Judge and Corruption, while desperate figures labeled "Policy Holder" and "Pillaged Policy Holder" struggle in the waves. A rope from ship to shore is tugged by a Receiver, a Lawyer, and a Shore Shark, coiled around a money bag marked "Fee," while another Lawyer reaches for a floating barrel labeled "Fees," underscoring a system rigged against the vulnerable.