UPDATE: 'IHT' Pulls Comic With Coulter in Burqa; Cartoonist Responds

By: Dave Astor The International Herald Tribune (IHT) has requested a substitute for this Friday's "Non Sequitur" comic showing Ann Coulter in a burqa.

"We know the name of this comic is 'Non Sequitur.' Nevertheless, we felt it was obscure to many of our international readers as well as
potentially offensive to some of them," said IHT Deputy Features Editor Judy Burtt, when contacted by E&P.

In response to Burtt's statement, "Non Sequitur" creator Wiley Miller said in a Wedneday e-mail: "It's the right, even obligation, of every editor to run or censor anything they deem appropriate for their newspaper, no matter how vague the rationale might be."

But he added: "Under the reasoning they've stated, every cartoon could be deemed inappropriate... . So I think they've been less than forthcoming on the real reason they're afraid to run this rather mild satire. But that's their right."

Miller's feature appears in more than 700 newspapers via Universal Press Syndicate. When contacted by E&P Tuesday, Universal Managing Editor Sue Roush said no other clients, to her knowledge, asked for a replacement cartoon.

The Aug. 11 comic continues the saga of Danae's trip to a parallel universe under her messy room, where she meets another girl named Danae. On Friday, the two of them see Coulter in a burqa.

"Wow ... I guess some things are really different here," says Danae 1. Danae 2 responds: "No ... it's just that here, you actually get the one thing you wish for."

Danae 1: "She wished to get rid of everything liberal in her life, right?"

Danae 2: "Yeah ... I guess the right to vote and own property is overrated for some people."

Coulter, the controversial conservative columnist, is also syndicated by Universal.

Roush said IHT was sent a substitute "Non Sequitur" comic dating from about a year ago.

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Related E&P stories:

-- Louisiana Newspaper Decides to Keep Ann Coulter -- 'For Now'

-- Augusta Editor Explains Why He Dropped Coulter Column

-- Coulter Jokes to Reporter About Mailing White Powder to 'NY Times'

-- Universal Says It Doesn't Think Coulter Plagiarized

-- Mixed Reader Reaction to Shreveport Paper's Possible Coulter Drop

-- 'NY Post' Cites Evidence That Ann Coulter Plagiarized Parts of Book, Columns

-- Universal Executive Responds to 'E&P' Column on Ann Coulter

-- Dave Astor: Enabling Ann Coulter