Making the world a better place by brutally murdering anyone who’s slightly misbehaving, one at a time.
The strip feels like a Larry David wish fulfillment power fantasy. I can imagine it was pretty satisfying to people in growing, modernizing cities.
I like these, I just wish there was a joke beyond “Everett attacks shitty dudes”
It does seem to be his whole gimmick, lol
I’ll see if I can find any that break the formula.
There are some where he complains to his wife and ends up the target of her anger.
I wouldn’t expect there to be any since him attacking shitty people is a match for the comic’s title.
I am absolutely loving these for showing someone in the early 1900s was making art about how absolutely shitty people were.
On the downside it is clear that society has learned nothing.
Not just art. They were making memes. Every strip has the same structure: Everett makes a statement of common decency, some random dude disagrees, then Everett physically assault the random dude. This is literally a meme template, from the early 1900s.
Question is: will the meme evolve in a similar fashion that we see modern memes evolve? Or does the fact that it has a single author prevent this natural evolution?
There’s also a pun, since conflagration can also mean conflict.
Sometimes the pun’s more obvious
Hm, is that a pun? The movie title happens to also be describing what’s happening in the frame, I think that’s another literary device.
Situational Irony?
(I’m always scared to mention irony online)
True.
The man himself
Here you go… Library of Congress collection. I like the one’s where his wife teaches him…
Uhh, did this mean something different back then?
Yes. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t implying homosexuality, but talking about general partying and gallivanting around, promiscuity, etc. I don’t think “gay” came to mostly mean homosexual until later in the 20th century. I believe Everett is just telling him he doesn’t want to hear him bragging about his immoral lifestyle or gossiping about someone else’s. There were a lot of prudes back then. That’s my take, anyways…
Did men actually call their wives “wife” rather than their name?
I’ve heard it as late as the 2000s from boomers, so it’s not completely died out. Shit I’ve known people who aren’t Mike pence that called their spouse “mother” and “father”, though that’s usually only silent and greatest generation, so that’s largely gone.
I know a guy who addresses his wife as Woman. It started as a joke and stuck. She loves it. When he needs to get her attention in a public place he just shouts, “Woman!” and she cheerfully responds. It gets great reactions from people who don’t know.
As a joke I can see it, but unironically it’s pretty strange!
![Everett cares about fire safety [Outbursts of Everett True, 1914]](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2d19854a-26a8-484e-b2aa-86b459e8b737.jpeg){kind=link}