Beetle Bailey -daily 5-28-2002

I got to meet Mort in the fall of 2000, when he visited Finland on a Scandinavian tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of Beetle Bailey. In the spring of 2002 I was in the States and went to visit him at his home and studio in Connecticut. He showed me some of his personal art collection, including original strips he had received in reply to fan letters he had sent in the 30s. (And thus had had on his wall for 65 years). This made it very easy for me to say whether I could possibly ask for something to take back to MY wall. Sure, said Mort and handed me a pile of recent strips to leaf through. I picked this one because of the classic Beetle pose in the second panel. Funnily enough, this strip hadn't even been published yet when I got it: it only ran in the papers two or three days after my visit.