Li'l Genius #21

Li'l Genius, eager to impress Mr. Coldcash—his father’s new boss—tries out his magic tricks on the visiting executive, only to accidentally unleash a cascade of bizarre mishaps when his elaborate illusion goes hilariously awry. As the boy scrambles to fix the chaos, Mr. Coldcash’s coat becomes a tangled mystery of fish, overshoes, a wallet, and a chain, leaving everyone bewildered.

Li'l Genius steps in to help Buster, who’s devastated after his mother’s malted machine breaks, promising to fix the problem — but first, he whips up a special malted shake to cheer the boy up, all while keeping the machine’s repair a mystery. With a playful wink and a confident grin, Li'l Genius declares that if you’ve got a problem, you can just leave everything to him.

Li'l Genius, exploring a department store with his mother and father, accidentally activates the escalator’s control board and sends it into reverse, causing chaos. After a series of mishaps, he improvises a flying toy airplane using a lawn mower motor, impressing the store owner and earning a surprise reward—though his next idea for improving the escalator is quickly cut short.

Li'l Genius and his father, Henry, attempt to drain water from a flooded basement by drilling a hole in the floor, only to discover the water still won’t leave. When the situation escalates, Li'l Genius suggests using the hole as a fishing spot, turning the flooded basement into a makeshift pond. As they continue bailing and fishing, the boy wonders how much longer he’ll have to keep his hand on the hole, while Henry jokes about how many fish they’ll catch.

Li'l Genius bets he can spend the day in the haunted house on the hill, convinced the rumors are just a joke. As he explores, eerie sounds and creaks make him jump, leading him to believe ghosts are real—until he realizes the spooky noises might just be the old house itself.