Militant Mary

A single-panel comic strip showing a woman in military dress holding her breath in crowded venues out of fear of contagion. The figure's exaggerated posture and facial expression—eyes wide, cheeks puffed—convey physical strain through economical line work. The artist employs direct address via large, bold typography to deliver the punchline about disease transmission. This strip exemplifies early 20th-century newspaper comics' reliance on recurring character types and visual comedy rooted in contemporary anxieties, particularly public health concerns circulating during the influenza era. The format anticipates the single-gag daily strip that would dominate American comics.