…Then there’s Non Sequitur. It’s typically witty. Often irreverent. Sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. And nearly always a little weird.
Or a lot weird.
Its creator, Wiley Miller, has never been afraid of using his obscure humor to poke fun at presidents representing both sides of the aisle. But many felt Miller went too far back in February, when the strip hid a message in it telling President Trump to do something pretty naughty to himself that rhymes with “snuck” – which is exactly how the words made it into the comic in the first place.
Comics rarely get canceled from newspapers for their message … even when controversial. Non Sequitur had done something much different: hidden words so well that even the strip’s syndicated editors didn’t notice them.
Something unprecedented in newspaper history then happened: an extremely popular comic was canceled en masse. And in very quick fashion.
Non Sequitur was one of the most-read comics in the United States, running in more than 700 newspapers. Within a matter of weeks, nearly half of those papers had canceled the strip.
Wiley had snucked himself good. He knows this.
He not only lost a substantial amount of readers, he literally lost things he owned. Like his house.
It was actually more than just a house, it was the dream home that he and his wife picked to eventually retire in together.
Comic creators aren’t paid a flat fee or salary. They’re paid by the number of publications that run their work – meaning Wiley’s paychecks got a lot smaller really quickly.
The Spokane Spokesman-Review details the life of Wiley since his very public error earlier this year.
Non Sequitur’s return to the Spokesman-Review is accompanied by a Wiley presentation and a special comic strip exclusive to the newspaper.
If you’re a longtime reader of the strip, you’re going to love this special Non Sequitur just for us.
It’s witty and weird. It works on several levels. Of course, it’s a little irreverent. It even has the Monroe Street Bridge in it.
But mostly, it’s just funny.
Elsewhere the Spokesman-Review has a great illustrated timeline of Wiley’s career
(though they fail to mention his Us and Them effort with Susan Dewar).
