The first country Beau Peep was syndicated to was, bizarrely, Sarawak. I guess this was nearly thirty years ago and it was enough for Andrew and I to spend the day celebrating. It's doubtful if the £7.50 monthly payment was enough enough to cover the cost of our first hour in the pub but it was a good day! Over the years, we picked up a few more countries like Italy, Holland, India and Australia but the strip has never been widely syndicated. (Malc, I don't even know if Beau still appears in Australia).
A Man Called Horace has never been syndicated in its 21 years of existence---at least, as far as I know---but I've long understood that my style is both dated and parochial.
The syndication that Andy Capp enjoys is, of course, nothing to do with me. It's global success was down, solely, to Reg Smythe and there is a great deal of nostalgia attached to its continuing appeal. When political correctness was at its peak, American syndication, in particular, dipped considerably but I'm led to believe that this is picking up again. (Again, nothing to do with me---this is due to a combination of several factors).
The strip that influenced me more than anything was Peanuts---and its astonishing, but deserved, global appeal will, I believe, never be repeated because the media has changed dramatically since its heyday.
As I've said before, I'm MUCH nearer the end of my career than the beginning and I'm really glad that I'm not trying to make the breakthrough now.
