The thing that most stood out to me about Charles Schultz is the thing least stood out - consistency. Peanuts was where and what was expected for 50 years.
I can't say he's an example to me because that regularity of quality is too far beyond what I'm capable of. At best I could maybe model Piers Anthony where I work constantly and some of it is crap and some not.
All that said, happy posthumous 100 to my first ever fandom.
I feel the same way about Hank Ketcham, who I have only recently come to appreciate. It is easy to lump Dennis the Menace in with Family Circus and Marmaduke in the "unfunny single panel comics" set but Ketcham's artwork is so lively that it is often hilarious in its own right and contains amusing details that a first glance might miss.
Oof, Piers is a hard one. I loved the Xanth books as a kid, but looking at some of his stuff again as an adult, he comes off as incredibly creepy, especially knowing about some of his non-Xanth works. It really casts that 1-800-HIPIERS hotline in another light.
Charles Schulz/Peanuts was the Beatles of comic strips. After Peanuts, all comic strips were one of two things: influenced by Peanuts, or lied about not being influenced by Peanuts.
> Some people might say comics aren't important, but those people are blockheads. Y'know what I say to them? Read "Peanuts."
> Charlie Brown never wins a game or gets a valentine or kicks the football, but he's a champ in my book.
I still can't understand how the 2015 film decided that Charlie Brown would strike up a relationship with the little red-haired girl. It gives the movie a happy ending.
But if Peanuts has one message, it's that Charlie Brown doesn't get happy endings. That ending to the film flew in the face of everything that ever happened in the comic strip.
I don't think I have understood Peanuts. Granted, my parents never subscribed to a newspaper where it was published, so I only intermittently got in touch with it. I understand it may be something you grow to love as you develop a relationship to the characters?
I think the best ones were the ones that didn’t just cheap out and draw Peanuts characters (which, to be honest isn’t that hard) with a “Happy Birthday Sparky.”
I think Gil Thorpe was the one that I was most surprised that I liked it. Dick Tracy also gets bonus points for drawing Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown in its own style.
The Schulz museum (and hockey rink) is one of the coolest museums I've been to in person. Very chill atmosphere, gobs of interesting and expressive art with beautiful exhibit design and surroundings.
What an unbelievable and incredible coordinated tribute. I only managed to get through 35 of over 100 tribute comics but the magnitude the coordination is absolutely stunning.
I can't say he's an example to me because that regularity of quality is too far beyond what I'm capable of. At best I could maybe model Piers Anthony where I work constantly and some of it is crap and some not.
All that said, happy posthumous 100 to my first ever fandom.