Cristi, before his retirement, Charles Schulz had written Sunday strips farther in advance than the dailies. So that’s why there were new Sunday strips but re-write of the dailies.
I remember Peanuts as one of the joys of my childhood. Here’s to you, Sparky!
Thanks, Arnold. As I said earlier, I don’t subscribe to the newspaper. I read it when someone leaves it laying around at work, so I didn’t know that he’d drawn Sunday strips in advance as well.
My husband just got home from the store, and he brought a paper home. So I’ve got a copy of the strip today. I think I’ll keep it.
Changing my sig, because Wally said to, and I really like Wally, and I’ll do anything he says, anytime he says to.
Sorry to you guys, but this really must be an American thing. I never laughed once at those peanuts cartoons. I suppose it’s some sort of institution here.
Ever since I heard about Schulz’ retirement, I had been preparing to hear the news we heard this morning. It still came as a sad shock.
The Peanuts strip was, in my opinion, not so much about constant humor as a slightly bittersweet look at life. The characters were children, but their feelings were universal. When I was little, though, I loved Peanuts in part for the magical idea that a dog could play baseball, write a novel, fly a plane, and so on. The whole little world of Snoopy and Charlie Brown captivated me.
We’ll miss you, Sparky.
Does anyone have a link to the last strip?*
It depends on when you read it. The strip started to be less funny in the mid 70s and by 1980 it was pretty much dead. Schultz admitted he got his best ideas from his kids and I guess when they grew up this proved fatal.
But read the classics from mid 60s to 1974 (before Peppermint Patty and Marcie took over and it became a pop icon) and it is not only funny but has a lot of good analogies too
Someone else might find a link to today’s strip today, but comics.com will have it in a couple weeks. In the meantime, I found another obituary.
My favorite single strip was of Snoopy atop his doghouse, caught in the crossfire of a snowball fight. His attempt to broker a truce unsuccessful, in the very last panel we see one huge snowball flying over him.
“Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” -Leroy “Satchel” Paige
Oops, forgot to copy the quote. Y’all should be able to figure out what it was supposed to be.
“Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” -Leroy “Satchel” Paige
Android, I guess it is an American thing. It would not be going too far to say that Peanuts has had a profound effect on American society. I wear a Schroeder watch (that plays the Ode to Joy), and yesterday I gave Mr. Rilch a box of Valentine candy with Snoopy on it. Peanuts merchandise is everywhere, but it goes deeper than that. Security blankets, Psychiatric Help 5 cents The Doctor Is In, You Blockhead, Rats, Good Grief…I wonder if there’s an American on this board who never got a jolt of excitement when they heard the rumble of that piano theme, because they knew that was leading in to one of the best specials on TV. Every year, the syndicate would get bushels of valentines for Charlie Brown, because so many people could relate, and didn’t want him to be neglected. I’m just rambling, but there are few people who meant so much to me, and so many others, as Schulz. I haven’t cried yet; I thought I would, but Mr. Rilch did.
Okay, now I cried. I listened to the soundtrack of the Christmas special. Loo loo loo, loo loo loo loo loo…
An early strip: Charlie Brown and Schroeder are in an armchair (when the characters’ kid-cuteness was still being played up). Schroder is dozing and CB is sitting up, saying, “I wish I was popular…I wish a lot of people liked me…I wish just a few people liked me…In fact, I wish that just one person would like me.” Schroeder says, without opening his eyes, “While you’re at it, why don’t you wish for a million dollars?” 'Nuff said.
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
I always envied Snoopy’s rich fantasy life.
I was saddened by the end of the strip, and even more to hear of Mr. Schultz’s death.
What has bothered me recently, and today especially, has been the spate of “It wasn’t that good any more” articles and quotes. I never found it ‘Comedic’ in the sense of laugh out loud funny, and never thought that to be the point. The strip was humorous, treating subjects with with a gentle twist of irony and exageration that made the truths evident in the strip bearable. While I usually find the reading of Pop psychology into the doings of two dimensional characters in a four panel strip obnoxious, Peanuts, to me at least, was one of the few strips that this kind of reading was true for.
Or rather, in the little fears and nueroses I found most satisfyingly played with in the strip. Sardonic irony made it bearable, at least for me.
One can only hope that somewhere, Charlie Brown may finally get to kick the ball off.
You were a good man, Charles Shulz.
I’ll remember Peanuts for all of the words and phrases that came from the strip:
You Blockhead!
Good Grief!
Security Blanket
And there are others but the one that stands out in my mind is:
“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
“Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
E A Poe
Rats! I’m going to give my beagle an extra hug tonight…
Sterling,
That was a good send-off.
Why don’t you kick the football one more time for Charlie.
I’ll hold it for you < wink >.
Thanks for the clarification, Tom. I knew that Shultz did not want anyone else to draw the strip, but all I heard about the no pubishing clause on television news. However, I trust television news about as much as I do a politician (Which, in itself, is a shame, since I aspire to be a journalist). And third, I was doing something else when I heard the statement.
So likely, I either misheard the statement, or the “tele-prompter” reader misinterpreted what she saw.
SterlingNorth
You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.
Godspeed, Mr. Schulz. We’ll miss you.
– Sylence
If a bird doesn’t sing, I’ll wait until it sings.
In the words of Peppermint Patty:
“See ya Chuck.”
…and in the back of my closet is a short-sleeve T-shirt. It’s a few sizes to big, it’s orange and it has a big zig-zag line around the lower section. It was given to me when I left my last job, over five years ago. When I get ready to leave the office for the last time, one of my work-mates said to me: “Actually, I think you’re more the Linus type.” The ultimate compliment.
Thanks for everything, Sparky…
My fate keeps getting in the way of my destiny.
Now, I’m not being mean here, so don’t jump down my throat! I liked Peanuts and Chas. Schulz seemed like a nice guy.
But let’s be happy for him—jeez, he spent his whole life doing what he loved, made a fortune at it, and became the best kind of famous (well-loved, but not stalked by crazies). He lived a good long (-ish) life, died fairly quickly and got a two-page obit in the Times.
Let’s be happy for the guy, and hope any of us do 1/10th as well!
Aaron McGruder (“The Boondocks”) has put up a nice tribute to ol’ “Sparky,” today.
www.boondocks.net
SterlingNorth
You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.
Did anyone see the CBS special on Friday night? It was a wonderful sendoff, sort of a greatest hits compilation, with lots of interview clips with Sparky. His wife said one thing that really hit me when I heard he died: “He’s always in that world. I don’t have to ask what he’s thinking about anymore, I KNOW.” Given that, I wasn’t surprised when my roommate screamed from the computer Sunday morning.
Everytime anyone asks me what I want for a present, I reply “REAL ESTATE!” Whenever someone says that they have something for me, I bat my eyes and say “Presents for pretty girls?” I’m gonna be a shrink someday, and wholeheartedly plan on hanging a picture of Lucy in her booth in my office. But I’m also a lot of Charlie, never able to kick that damned ball, never able to get that person I want to notice me. (a medium sized boy with red hair, in my case…) It was innocent cynicism, and I’ll miss it a lot. See ya, Chuck.
Habit rules the unreflecting herd. - Wordsworth