The White Donkey was written and illustrated by infantry Marine and Iraq veteran Maximilian Uriarte, creator of the hit comic strip "Terminal Lance." Uriarte enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2006 at the age of 19 and served for four years. During his first deployment to Iraq in 2007 he served as an MRAP turret gunner and dismount of India Company's "Jump" platoon in the Zaidon region southeast of Fallujah. He deployed to Iraq again in 2009 as a billeted Combat Photographer and Combat Artist, then enrolling in California College of the Arts. In 2010 Uriarte created the popular comic strip "Terminal Lance" while still on active duty. The strip is now published in The Marine Corps Times and has grown immensely in popularity, with 450,000 Facebook followers and one million unique hits per month.