We think it's safe to say that Beetle Bailey is the most successful comic strip to be set with life in the service as its background. And while there have been others, for example Harvey's Sad Sack, Beetle has been going pretty strong since 1950 (his origin goes back even further) while the others are gone now. Its success derives from its humorous, recognizable characters: the lazy Beetle, the slave-driving Sgt. Snorkel, the intellectual Plato, and as we'll see in a moment, the womanizing Killer Diller.
This strip is from September 1, 1957. Beetle, getting nowhere with the girls, turns to the wolfish Killer Diller for advice. In the midst of some bits of questionable wisdom, Killer gives one piece of good advice: "Psychologically, girls are looking for a father substitute - so treat 'em like a father!"
This is illustrated by Killer spanking an adoring female:
Beetle Bailey September 1, 1957. Script and art by Mort Walker. Scan found on Ebay by Web-Ed. © King Features Syndicate (click to double-size).
The spanking panel. © King Features Syndicate. Posted by the Web-Ed on 03/22/2019 (click to double-size).
It's clear that Mort Walker intends us to take all this with a grain of salt. For example, Killer's idea of poetry
is "Dangerous Dan McGrew" (Walker may have beeing thinking of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," on which the former
was based), which is not exactly Robert Browning. And when Killer's girl, Bubbles, makes her appearance, we
can see she's not exactly Miss Buxley. Therefore, feminists inclined to make a big fuss about Killer's ideas
are pretty much wasting their time since Walker did not intend them to be taken seriously. Of course we spankos know
that there are a lot of women who seek discipline much as it once was administered by their fathers, so Killer was
actually wiser than Walker realized. 
Because Walker's style is that of humorous caricature, we would not expect him to draw a really sexy spanking, and certainly this one is more humorous than erotic. Still, it's a nice scene and the only spanking known in the strip, which doesn't readily lend itself to spankings. There is, of course, Miss Buxley, but we'll discuss her in Doctor Cylon #181.
