Traditionally, they were distinguished from editorial cartoons by usually having a series of panels and going for the laugh, whereas editorial cartoons usually had one panel with political commentary in the illustration. Editorial cartoons were rarely funny or intended to be funny. But those distinctions have blurred. Jules Feifer does a series of drawings quite often, but he doesn't do gag cartoons. Usually, his work is very biting.
Political comment is in the eye of the beholder.
What you may think is political comment, I might not. Milton Caniff was political, but it depended on whether you agreed with him. If you supported the military, you didn't think about it. If you had questions about the military's presence or role, you did. There's political comment in other strips.