The Prehistoric Man
The artist in person is revealed in this series, where, previously, only his "hand" appeared. In an idle moment he outlines upon a large sheet the figure of a conventional prehistoric ogre of forbidding aspect and threatening demeanor, armed with a prehistoric stone hammer. To the artist's own dismay the creature becomes possessed of life and movement and walks out of the wooden frame. Evidently looking upon the draughtsman as responsible for his being, he attaches himself to that unfortunate person and accompanies him wherever he goes. So disastrous is the havoc he creates in twentieth century streets, houses and lanes, and so fearful the impression, that the unlucky artist in vain tries to escape: the gaunt incongruous figure is not to be shaken off. After calamities innumerable and consternation unbounded, a happy idea suggests itself to the artist, who, returning to his studio, hastily draws a prehistoric animal, which also assumes life. The man, entering the studio in search of his artist friend, is seized between the fearsome jaws of the weird creature and swallowed whole. Only his stone mallet remains, and this the artist uses as a weapon, which cuts the inoffensive canvas upon which the creatures were drawn, thus increasing the illusion.
