I love the lavish detail in the last panel.

After watching a couple L&H films from yesterday, it dawned on me that they were unusually silent in many places, frequently leaning on looks and gestures instead of words. And sure enough, checking their filmography, it seems they performed in 3doz+ films before talkies became regular around 1930.

Meaning that even though everyone involved in production must certainly have understood the leap in technology, evidently it was agreed to not completely jump in to it, maybe due to a level of comfort with what both they and audiences were familiar with. Compare that for example to the Stooges, who started up only 4yrs later, but chattered away almost rapid-fire at times. With that in mind, it's kind of striking how L&H both seemed to make an effort to enunciate slowly and clearly much of the time.

Personally I find L&H's frequent head nods and body vocabulary rather charming, myself. Not to mention, as someone who's sometimes annoyed by how loud and talkative Americans can be, it's even refreshing.

I was watching a few Laurel & Hardy episodes, or shorts today and was noticing how much gesturing they did, some of it almost looking like sign language.

You are correct, so much of their stuff could easily be silent. There was a scene in The Music Box where they make a terrible mess, they decide to clean up. Stan picks up a pile of debris, he carries it to the far side of the screen and sets it down where Ollie has done the same. They continue to do this for far too long.

Then there is the hat swap gag, where Ollie's hat is a size too large and Stan's is two sizes too small... something causes them to swap hats, resulting in Ollie's hat perching on the very tip top of his head while Stan's covers half of his head.

Me, I kind of dig the satisfied nods they make to each other when they've 'properly repaid' an insult or accidental / deliberate blow, which could be directed to each other or a third party. I think sometimes they also did some hand gestures along those lines...

These kinds of examples, including the ones you mention, make me kind of curious how much of this stuff was of their own invention versus what had already been in the comic film and music-stage industry. Then again, there's also the fact that in comedy, jokes and methods are commonly stolen from other comedians, but when someone either adds a new spin or perfects it, that kinda 'makes it okay,' or even makes people completely forget about where it came from.