There’s a book I think by John Barry about the 1918 flu and everyone did literally the same things as in 2020. Politicized it, refused masking, fought vaccinations, the whole thing. Great read.

I found a couple examples from November 18, 1918. But comics syndication worked different back then, and it might have been a reprint:

• https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ndnp/oru/batch_oru_belknap_ver01/data/sn88086023/00202194813/1918111801/0497.pdf
• https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ndnp/uuml/batch_uuml_julich_ver01/data/sn85058396/print/1918111601/0532.pdf

Edit: interesting Help Wanted ad on the second link: “U. S. Department of Labor U. S. Employment Service: JOIN THE INDUSTRIAL ARMY Be a patriotic worker, aid the government to build the $50,000,000 plant started at Nitro (near Charleston) , West Virginia. Laborers $4.40 per day. 10 hours’ work 11 hours’ pay. Double time on Sunday. Free railroad fare. Meals free en route. Room rent free and board at commissaries, cafeteria style at about $1.00 per day. Medical attention and amusements free.”

Oh yeah, see !truecomics@midwest.social for more of Everett True’s doings.

Masking was an issue during the Flue Pandemic 1918-1920. The date suggested by @Rolando@lemmy.world is more plausible.

That one was about the Titanic. A guy wants to tell Everett about a Titanic joke and Everett smashes him on the floor and tells him to joke about that for a while