This was my first funny cartoon - assuming, of course, one finds it funny.
I got the idea for this while walking to work in east Cambridge, Ma. in 1990. There was construction going on near my office and a huge pile driving machine was pounding away. Each day I passed it, I would break into the chanting part of "Give Peace a Chance"--you know, where all the singers are stamping and clapping and John Lennon is spewing off lines in traveling preacher fashion: "Everyone's talking 'bout Bag-ism, Shag-ism, Drag-ism, mad-ism, rag-ism, Tag-ism, This-ism, That-ism, Isn't it the most? All we are saying, is give peace a chance." Well, in my usual way, I would chew the words around and around, and one time peas came out for peace.
Soon after that came my lamest Halloween costume1, where I simply grabbed a can of peas and went to the party as is (as was?) telling everyone that I was John Lennon and that they should give peas a chance.
Over the years, I have found that one great advantage of drawing a cartoon of one of my puns is that it frees me up from having to say it (or act it) again. I never make references regarding peas for peace anymore. I rarely have any interest in making a pun that I've drawn. My friends are quite happy about that.
One of the elements I don't like about cartooning is worrying about whether I was the first one to get the idea I'm drawing. I noticed this as a kid seeing different cartoons by different artists repeating the same jokes. I'm sure very few cartoonists actually copy others' work on purpose. It's just that some jokes are bound to get discovered over and over. Since drawing this one, in 1991, I've seen numerous people using "Give Peas a Chance," from protesters to other cartoonists to (most recently) advertisements. I drew this before knowing about the others. Had I seen them, I wouldn't have drawn this one.
1Check out Trigger Treats for another one of my weak costumes.