The Peanuts Gang!

It’s definitely holiday time again, and nothing reminds me more of my childhood holiday experiences than the Peanuts gang. They were a big part of my growing up years, and a big influence on my work as a writer and artist.

In the new biography about Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, we are reintroduced to the genius of his world. Schultz was a naturally melancholy individual with the singular drive to be a comic strip artist. “Peanuts” will forever reign as the pinnacle of its medium, and every comic strip artist after owes his/her allegiance and inspiration to Charles Schultz–and many willingly show their respect to him.

What is it that makes this strip such a remarkable work of art? Initially, it is the contrasting simplicity and complexity of the drawings. In a way no one else can, Schultz was able to rendered deep emotions with a few simple strokes: the confusion in Charlie Browns bracketed eyeballs, the dismay in Linus’ squiggle line mouth, the rejection in Charlie Brown’s downcast head, the melancholy in Charlie Brown’s black cloud, the frenzy and paranoia in Charlie Brown’s multi-bracketed eyes, the rage in Lucy’s slant-eyed stare, the security in Linus’ thumb in mouth below two dashes (to indicated closed eyes), the insecurity in Linus’ down-turned mouth and bulging eyes, the joie de livre in Snoopy super-time dance for joy, the agony of defeat in Charlie Brown’s closed eyes and straight mouth.

Beyond the drawings themselves is the pervasive exploration of the meaning of life and all that that entails. Schultz was an intensely philosophic and introspective individual who had the gift of making us laugh despite the horrible struggles he often portrayed on his comics page: Charlie Brown endless missing that football, Charlie Brown never having the nerve to talk to the Little Redheaded Girl, Peppermint Patty and her endless stream of D minuses, Linus and his never getting to meet the Great Pumpkin, etc etc. Despite these and more insurmountable obstacles, the Peanuts characters keep going on, and this is what makes them remarkably human. We all experience struggles and setbacks, yet we continue to work on moving forward. Schultz was at times an optimist like Linus or Peppermint Patty, but was basically a pessimist like Charlie Brown. Each character, although fully realized, is an extension of who Charles Schultz was. Schultz himself often said that if you wanted to know who he was, it was all in his comic strip.

Truly words can not do these pictures justice, and if you are not one of the 100s of millions of people who have read and loved these comics, I urge you to give them a peek.

—David F.