LOS ANGELES - Comic strip artist Mort Walker, a World War II veteran who satirized the Army and tickled millions of newspaper readers with the antics of the lazy private "Beetle Bailey," died Sunday. He was 94.

Walker died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, said Greg Walker, his eldest son and a collaborator. His father's advanced age was the cause of death, he said.

Walker began publishing cartoons at age 11 and was involved with more than a half-dozen comic strips in his career, including "Hi and Lois," ''Boner's Ark" and "Sam & Silo." But he found his greatest success drawing slacker Beetle, his hot-tempered sergeant and the rest of the gang at fictional Camp Swampy for nearly 70 years.

The character that was to become Beetle Bailey made his debut as Spider in Walker's cartoons published by the Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. Walker changed Spider's name and launched "Beetle Bailey" as a college humor strip in 1950.

At first the strip failed to attract readers and King Features Syndicate considered dropping it after just six months, Walker said in a 2000 interview. The syndicate suggested Beetle join the Army after the start of the Korean War.

"I was kind of against it because after World War II, Bill Mauldin and Sad Sack were fading away," he said. But his misgivings were overcome and Beetle "enlisted" in 1951.

Walker attributed the success of the strip to Beetle's indolence and reluctance to follow authority.

"Most people are sort of against authority," he said. "Here's Beetle always challenging authority. I think people relate to it."

"Beetle Bailey," which appeared in as many as 1,800 newspapers, sometimes sparked controversy. The Tokyo editions of the military newspaper Stars & Stripes dropped it in 1954 for fear that it would encourage disrespect of its officers. But ensuing media coverage spurred more than 100 newspapers to add the strip.

For years, Walker drew Camp Swampy's highest-ranking officer, Gen. Amos Halftrack, ogling his secretary, Miss Buxley. Feminist groups claimed the strip made light of sexual harassment, and Walker said the syndicate wanted him to write out the lecherous general.

That wasn't feasible because the general was such a fixture in the strip, Greg Walker said Saturday. His father solved the problem in 1997 by sending Halftrack to sensitivity training.

"That became a whole theme that we could use," said Greg Walker, who with his brother, Brian, intends to carry on his father's work. Both have

In 2000, Walker was honored at the Pentagon with the Army's highest civilian award - the Distinguished Civilian Service award - for his work, his military service and his contribution to a new military memorial.

Besides sons Greg and Brian, Walker is survived by his second wife, Catherine; daughters Polly Blackstock and Margie Walker Hauer; sons Neal and Roger Walker; stepchildren Whitney Prentice and Priscilla Prentice Campbell and several grandchildren.

Funeral services will be private. - AP