It’s time to head back to the doghouse — or perhaps schoolhouse — as Abrams ComicArts is publishing The Essential Peanuts, a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Charles M. Schulz’s classic comic strip. Presented by Mark Evanier, the hardcover in a slipcase contains classic strips, with new context.
“It’s funny and the characters are so real that you can’t help caring about them,” Evanier told Comic Book Club on the enduring appeal of Peanuts. “Most of us have a Lucy or a Linus or a Peppermint Patty in our lives. Most of us, from time to time, feel like Charlie Brown…and some of us, all the time feel like Charlie Brown.”
To find our more about Evanier’s thoughts on Peanuts and Schulz, read on!
Comic Book Club: Very general question to start, but what do you think is the enduring appeal of Peanuts?
Mark Evanier: It’s funny and the characters are so real that you can’t help caring about them. Most of us have a Lucy or a Linus or a Peppermint Patty in our lives. Most of us, from time to time, feel like Charlie Brown…and some of us, all the time feel like Charlie Brown.
Moreover, what — beyond Peanuts itself — is the legacy of Charles Schulz to comic book storytelling?
To comic books, not so much. Schulz only did a few comic books and his ventures into longform storytelling were mainly for TV and movies. Even the times he did a storyline in the strip for a week or three, he did it with the rhythm of a newspaper strip with a punchline every four panels. Freed from that rhythm, I’m sure he could have done great graphic novels…but he never had time for that.
More specifically, how do you think Schulz has influenced your own work?
When I was growing up, I was influenced by a lot of folks who wrote and/or drew funny…Schulz was one of them along with MAD magazine (a favorite of his) and other newspaper strips and funnybooks.
What makes something an “essential” Peanuts strip? What are the requirements to make the cut?
We had a little committee/jury that made those calls…and to qualify, a strip had to stand out as the first time a key character appeared or distinguished him or herself. Schulz was developing his players as they went along and there were strips where they suddenly blossomed – like when we began to read Snoopy’s thoughts or when he put on goggles, climbed atop his doghouse and flew it into battle. A lot of what seemed “essential” were strips where Schulz did something memorable for the first time. I don’t know how we got the list down to 75.
Everyone has their own favorite Peanuts character, or one they identify with — so which one is yours?
I dunno. There are days when I feel like Charlie Brown…and I think we all have them. And there are days when I want to soar into the sky to shoot down the Red Baron.
The book also contains “Peanuts ephemera” — do you have a favorite bit readers should look out for?
Not in the “ephemera” but I really liked – and insisted we include – the storyline in which Charlie Brown’s team finally won a baseball game and then had “the commissioner” (whoever he was) void their victory. The whole story has one of the all-time great punch lines in Peanuts history and I won’t ruin it for anyone by explaining it here.
The Essential Peanuts is in stores today from Abrams.
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