B.D. is among the wounded

The Doonesbury comic strip took an alarming turn Monday, when it seemed that the character B.D., a former football star now serving in Iraq, might be dead or seriously wounded. Tuesday’s strip showed he’s alive, and today’s reveals his injury -- as well as the first look ever at perennially helmet-wearing B.D.’s hair.

Creator Garry Trudeau “thought it was time” to look at the plight of the 4,000 wounded service people in Iraq, said Lee Salem, editor of Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes Trudeau’s comic to 1,400 papers, including The Times.

“I’m simply trying to show what a grievous wound might mean to one soldier’s life. B.D. will go to Germany, and then stateside for recovery and rehabilitation, a journey of healing I’ll try to track in some detail,” Trudeau said.