At the time this series of strips was drawn, I was ballooning a bit myself. In fact, I probably weighed more than I ever had before or would again—so far. I don’t know what clinically obese is, but no one would have looked at me and thought, “obese.” I chalked it up to middle-age spread. However, a couple of heart attacks convinced me things were not well. I’ve dropped 25 lbs. since 2002, which puts me about where I should be, and I did it without a specific regimen. Basically, I quit eating and drinking junk. Your mileage may vary.