Militant Mary

A single-panel comic strip by Steve Hyde featuring a female character in glasses and a long dress, armed with binoculars and what appears to be a telescope or surveying equipment. The humor rests on wordplay: Mary declares that the more men she observes, the happier she is to remain unmarried. The strip exemplifies early newspaper comic conventions—a recurring character, punning dialogue, and simplified linework—that emerged from the Sunday funnies. By 1916, such daily gag strips had become essential newspaper content, establishing the visual and narrative patterns that would define comic book art.