I don't think so, but it's always in the back of my mind that many of the soldiers being wounded and killed in Iraq are about the same age as my kids. My godson is going over soon, so the war's about to get personal for me.

The strips about the military do seem to provoke moving and thoughtful responses. It's nice when the strip resonates, but more importantly, I need to know when I'm getting something wrong. The last thing I want to do is contribute to the suffering that wounded warriors already endure.

Well, it's a humor strip, so my first responsibility has always been to entertain the reader... But if, in addition, I can help move readers to thought and judgment about issues that concern me, so much the better.

The war in Iraq is immoral, illegal and cruel. Overwhelmingly, Americans, soldiers and Iraqis want American soldiers out of Iraq.

In any event, it's not exactly a secret to regular readers what my views on the war are.

In their heyday, comics were a dominant force in popular culture, but that's over.