Is this one of mine?

Originally published 19 July 2010

The next three strips were based on ones I originally did in the 1980s. At the time I was just doing the strips for my own pleasure and I didn’t have any qualms about nicking other people’s jokes, after all my audience at the time was just the other people at school. I’ve taken especial care when  reusing these old gags to make sure none of the steals have been repeated.

But in the case of this one, I don’t know if this was a borrowing or not? I know it was based on an old Peanuts cartoon of Snoopy trying to stand on top of a beach ball, and, having succeeded, not being able to get off it again. But something has been nagging at me. I can’t be sure that this development from that simple idea was actually my own. I’ve done extensive research but I can’t find anything similar to this in the work of Schulz or anyone else so I think it’s clean.

If it’s been nicked from anyone else, I apologise profusely. If it hasn’t, enjoy.

(Incidentally since this strip appeared on Comics Sherpa, I’ve seen Rory the lamb in Ralph Hagen’s strip ‘The Barn’ travel around on a beach ball. That makes me feel a bit better.)