So the idea for bear stilts came from a conversation I had with some friends at SPX last year. (These were the same friends who came up with the idea that turned into Pinder losing his keys.) I had told them I was planning a strip that would explain how Pinder, a bear who can best be described as “non-tall,” could always be in frame with the other characters. My initial idea was he was always standing on some bit player’s back (maybe Hamilton Merlingperlot). But, as we talked, they suggested stilts and I thought “duh, of course, stilts!”

I let the idea percolate for a few months until this current storyline where I needed something for Pinder to sell. Originally he was going to an amateur board game creator or an amateur chef. But then I decided he should be an inventor of random, somewhat useless junk. And what better invention to begin with then bear stilts?