In 1990, the political cartoon strip "Doonesbury" ran a controversial story arc involving the character Andy Lippincott and his terminal battle with AIDS. It concludes with Lippincott expressing his admiration for "Pet Sounds", and in the last panels, depicts the character's death while listening to "Wouldn't It Be Nice", as well as his last written words, the line "Brian Wilson is God" scrawled on a notebook (a wry reference to the line "Clapton is God"). According to cultural theorist Kirk Curnett in 2012, the panel "remains one of the most iconic in "Doonesbury"s forty-three year history, often credit with helping humanize AIDS victims when both gay and straight sufferers were severely stigmatized."