Militant Mary

This single-panel comic strip features a determined female character armed with daggers, announcing her willingness to resort to violence if men approach her. The exaggerated facial expression and dynamic pose—legs spread, weapons drawn—convey aggressive defiance through visual caricature. Published during the suffrage movement, the strip employs hyperbolic humor typical of early newspaper comics, where recurring characters and bold linework helped establish the medium's visual language. The artist uses speech balloons and stark black-and-white illustration to deliver sharp social commentary wrapped in comedic aggression, reflecting early twentieth-century comic strip conventions that influenced the emergence of comic books.