dec 4, 1912 - Polly and Her Pals

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Polly and Her Pals was the first comic strip to feature a female protagonist (Polly Perkins), and it was created by Clifford Sterrett. It was first introduced as Positive Polly in the New York Evening Journal in 1912. However, the main character shifted from Polly to her intermediate family, which is why it was later renamed to Polly and Her Pals. The comic strip was a humorous family-oriented comic strip which had themes revolving around society's problems/changes and everyday experiences people would go through. The themes in the comic strip allowed readers, especially women, to make light of the changes that were occurring in society. This is because during the time Polly and Her Pals came out, women did not have rights and lacked representation because women were seen less as humans but rather as just home wives/property. The comic strip highlighted how women have personalities and ambitions just as men do and are not just superficial people. Seeing the success of the comic strip encouraged comic creators to incorporate more female leads in comics. The comic was important in the comic industry because not only did it introduce the first female lead in a comic strip, but also its unique modern art style (surrealist and cubist) allowed it to be eye catching and one of the reasons the comic ran for over four decades! The expressive and modern art style of the comic was ahead of its time and inspired other comic illustrations to be experimental in their comics, and established a new art style illustrators could use in comics. The combination of the various women featured in Polly and Her Pals, its realistic themes, and its captivating art style influenced the comic industry to reform.

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