Quote:At first glance, Sunday’s “Non Sequitur” comic strip just showed bears dressed up like Leonardo da Vinci. The syndicated strip opens with Bear-Vinci holding a picture of a Virtruvian Bear. It ends with the ursine artist painting a Mona Lisa, who is also, you guessed it, a bear. They are all characters in the “Bearaissance,” and the format invites readers to color in the drawings.

But much like Leonardo himself, Wiley Miller, whose work often tackles politics and has occasionally drawn controversy, inserted a secret message into his latest work. Hidden at the bottom right corner of the second panel, beneath a drawing of the Italian inventor’s flying machine, a semi-legible scribble appeared to read, “Go f--- yourself Trump."

Miller has since apologized, saying he never intended for the public to see the statement. On Monday, multiple newspapers said they dropped the comic.

Quote:The Butler Eagle was not alone in their decision. On Tuesday morning, Andrews McMeel Syndication, which publishes Non Sequitur confirmed that at least a dozen client newspapers had dropped the strip.

Dallas Morning News editor Mike Wilson accused Miller of going “around his editors and even his own syndicate to publish something he must have known we wouldn’t accept.”

"We’ll have no trouble finding a better way to spend the $8,000 we would’ve paid for that strip,” Wilson said.

Quote:Miller, who frequently criticizes President Trump on his Twitter feed, says he forgot all about the scribbled profanity until Sunday.

“When I opened the paper Sunday morning and read my cartoon, I didn’t think anything of it, as I didn’t notice the scribbling that has now caught fire,” Miller said in a statement to The Post, noting that the scribble had been done several weeks ago at a time when he was frustrated by a White House action and forgot to remove it.

“It was not intended for public consumption, and I meant to white it out before submitting it, but forgot to. Had I intended to make a statement to be understood by the readers, I would have done so in a more subtle, sophisticated manner,” he said.

But on Sunday, he still teased the “Easter egg” in the “Non Sequitur” comic on Twitter, inviting people to look for a message.

Some of my sharp-eyed readers have spotted a little Easter egg from Leonardo Bear-Vinci. Can you find it?

Non Sequitur for February 10, 2019 | https://t.co/ITjGIYyfyN https://t.co/fDHpxSmAgo via @GoComics
— Wiley Miller (@TheWileyMiller) February 10, 2019