Stars and Stripes Readers Want Their Comic Strips Back

D. D. Degg Published: April 8, 2026 Updated: April 8, 2026 1 minute 7 comments

Stars and Stripes military and civilian readers overseas have now gone two weekends without their Sunday color comics supplement and they are not happy about it.

*Stars and Stripes Weekend Edition – March 18, 2026*

Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith reports:

Pete Hegseth doesn’t want you to see cartoons in this newspaper anymore. And loyal readers of Stars and Stripes are hopping mad. You don’t mess with Sunday color comics.

The secretary of defense/war, through a March 9 memorandum and interim policy by Deputy Stephen Feinberg, “prohibited” Stars and Stripes from using “news stories, features, syndicated columns, comic strips and editorial cartoons from commercial news media.” The word “prohibited” was put in boldface for emphasis by the Pentagon, not by me.

Stripes leadership discussed how to comply with the unwanted order. Reluctantly, they concluded the comic strips and other purchased syndicated material had to go.

Why? “It is the department’s determination that readers can readily access this content through other outlets.”

Tell that to the troops stationed around Iran — go track down eight pages of your favorite comics elsewhere.

In the message, Stripes welcomed feedback from readers. The response was swift, voluminous, and beyond disappointed.

[M]ost of the comments were related to the absence of comics.

Among the responses about the loss of comic strips:

“The comics were cut? Why? It was the balancing feature of the paper that I so enjoyed.”

“The guys/gals in isolated assignments get one paper if lucky. Stars n Stripes is like sunshine on a rainy day. ’74-76 ROK Missile Site. These changes to ‘our paper’ are an insult to the citizen soldier.”

“I want my Sunday Comics. Why is that an issue? It’s called downtime for a reason.”

Ms. Smith adds: “Most of the 152 comments I read were anonymous. More come in every day.”

With the Secretary of Defense’s following the administration’s lead seeking retribution and retaliation against those who object to their demands it is not surprising that service members write anonymously.

Ms. Smith explains that as ombudsman:

…this column is my opinion; no one at Stripes asked or encouraged me to write it. All of my ombudsman columns are copy edited for grammar and style with no changes to content before publishing.

What is happening with Stripes is within the broader context of the Pentagon attempting to restrict the mainstream media…

The entire column can be read here.

Comments ⁷

Abby Normal

If I see “warfighting” used like it’s a real word one more time I swear I am going to gouge my eyes out. It’s not a word! It’s something a 12 year old boy playing Call of Duty says because he thinks it sounds cool!

John Hines

Unfortunately, in the military, it isn’t about what you need or want. It’s about what they say you need or want. “Shut up, you’re still government property, y’know.”

Gerald

It’s interesting that Doonesbury is one of the strips that was cut. I wonder if Doonesbury was actually the reason that the comics were cut, and Garfield et. al. were collateral damage.

Mike Peterson (admin)

While comics are the focus here, it’s important to note that wire service news is also gone. Nobody in uniform is allowed to know about anything going on anywhere in the world unless Petey wants them to know about it. Hey, dogface: If your hometown burns to the ground, you won’t read about it in Stripes.

Doc

“When Willie and Joe’s Creator Bill Mauldin Met “Blood and Guts” Patton” https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/willie-joes-creator-bill-mauldin-met-blood-guts-patton/

Darryl Heine

Did readers complain to the New York Post when that newspaper dropped its comics page for good in 2014?

Braniff

I recall reading that when Stars & Stripes dropped Beetle Bailey in the 1950s, the publisher of Beetle Bailey used that event to encourage newspapers at home to subscribe to Beetle Bailey so that readers could send clippings of the Beetle Bailey comic strip to their relatives who were serving overseas. According to The Best of Beetle Bailey, that promotion did wonders for the syndication of Beetle Bailey.

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