Someone wants The Stranger and the Weekly, but particularly The Stranger, to stop selling ad space to tobacco companies. The person, or persons or group, is publishing a weekly comic strip, The Adventures of Strangie, to ridicule the paper into dropping the ads. Publisher Tim Keck is portrayed in one strip.

And in an open letter to the publishers of Seattle's weekly papers, the anonymous I -- and not I Anonymous -- writes:

I am calling on Tim Keck, Ken Stocker, Craig Bednar, and George Bakan to meet with each other and create a pact to stop advertising tobacco altogether.

Further, I am calling on all employees to consider where your paychecks are coming from, and to stand up to your employers.

I am challenging each and every one of you to no longer accept the status quo.

Take a stand and do what is right.

I've e-mailed Strangie and his friends but haven't heard back yet. Dan Savage told me that he just asked that the site be added to the "Friends of Slog" list. And asked for comment, he wrote::

i hate cigarettes, but cigarette ads are the publisher's call, not mine

Speaking of the publisher, Tim Keck says he hasn't been contacted directly by Strangie. And I'm not sure it'll work if the comic and the site is aimed at getting the paper's employees to bring pressure against tobacco ads. Keck says he's never gotten a complaint from a staffer. He writes:

Our readers are educated adults who can make up their own minds about smoking, drinking and fixed gear bikes.

We've added their site to our "Friends of The Stranger" Slog roll. Who doesn't love a didactic comic with the Space Needle as the protagonist?