From the exhibition
Oh! Margy!
· August 9, 1925
John Held Jr.'s *Oh! Margy!* strips exemplify the visual language that newspaper comics established in the 1920s. Three panels follow a linear narrative: a young woman departs London for Paris, encounters a companion and suitor, then swings precariously from a ship's rigging. Held's signature style—economical line work, exaggerated postures, and geometric figure construction—captures frenetic motion and modern social comedy. Speech balloons anchor each scene's gag. The strip's recurring character and serialized humor across daily installments demonstrate how newspapers pioneered the visual grammar that would define comic books: sequential panels, expressive bodies, and punchy dialogue that comics inherited and refined.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain
