"Great Minds..."

(Image Tim White, reposted with kind permission)

....well, at least their butts at any rate. Been meaning to post this as an example of just how challenging it is to generate original material, especially with clichéd topics that have become almost as well-worn over the centuries as the subject matter itself.

In this specific instance, my panel from April 1st ("Wester Island") prompted a poke from fellow cartoonist (and avid blogger-biker) Tim White, who ran almost the exact same concept and drew damn near the same composition for a panel originally posted over on his cartoon blog ("The Back of Class") years ago. I say "almost" because his his caption is way better than mine, especially given how much head-banging I did trying to come up with something along those very lines. Good one... and to clarify for the record I had not in fact ever seen his take on the topic: these accidental overlaps do happen. Not the first time I've inadvertently made an ass outta myself...

It's worth mentioning in light of the recent controversy over the high-profile cases of plagiarism that hit the industry last year: David Simpson ripping off Jeff MacNelly, and the coincidental similarities of Jeff Stahler. It's a topic I explore at least once a year, and it's also one of the worst-case scenarios to be suspected of. It's also one of the reasons I studiously avoid trolling other cartoonist's archives, or even reading other gag panels period, so as not to accidentally have anything in residual memory get turned over in the mental mulch-pile as being an "original idea." If there are any left, which is itself a matter of some debate within the art community.