Hold That Thought!
Sometimes you come up with a great idea for a gag, only to find out later that someone else already came up with it. It happens every now and then and it can be a real drag.
Anyone who makes their own comic strip can feel me on this.
It especially stung me recently when I was watching a ridiculous television commercial for a product that I couldn’t care less about, and right at the end, there it was, a funny situation that I wanted to use in a strip that I had already laid out. I know that I couldn’t have seen this before, because I usually avoid commercials like the plague (thank God for the mute button), it was just a weird fluke.
Ok, so it’s not exactly like what I came up with, but it’s oh so close. So I angst about it. People are going to think I stole this idea, that I’m a plagiarizer.
I started thinking about it, and now I have a theory. All ideas and thoughts seep out of the world’s consciousness and drift into an ocean of collective ideas. Sometimes when we come up with something, we take a dip into that great big body of thought.
So I’ve been rethinking my fears about this problem and decided What the Heck? I genuinely came up with it, and I know it wasn’t because I had seen it before, so I’m going to own it. That’s right. And if anyone wants to make a big deal about it, go ahead. I’ve got a clear conscience.
I personally think TV commercials are incredibly entertaining, if for no other reason than for how rediculous they are. The stupidity and arrogance of advertisers is so mindbending! I often want to comment on commercials I’ve seen, only to realize most people are indeed “tuning them out” with the mute button, skipping over recorded shows, or just plain ignoring them. Pity – they can be very funny, especially when they are dead serious about whatever product they are pushing. Maybe it’s just my background in advertising that causes me to notice and remember them, but most times I’m glad I do pay attention! Please continue to make fun of them in Zombie Boy!