Peanuts: Search and Destroy

Sentimentalist that I am, I look for the good even in the later years, though certainly things were scattershot. So I'm useless when it comes to destruction. In terms of search? Jesus, where to begin? Snoopy as empowered Walter Mitty, to be sure. The fact that often what seems funny when younger seems totally and completely harrowing now, all without anything about the original strips themselves being different. The extended storylines (Peppermint Patty training for a skating competition, the various camping trips, Charlie Brown choosing between taking care of baby Sally and a baseball game, tons of others). Joe Shlabotnik, natch.

I have to slightly disallow the 'wah-wah' adults in that they were an invention for the animations, but since those were always written by Schulz anyway and are inextricably tied up with all my memories growing up with Peanuts, I can't really complain. ;-) So many of the TV shows were a kick, as were all four movies, actually, some songs aside -- Bon Voyage was great, and A Boy Named Charlie Brown< /I> survived even Rod McKuen theme songs.

The one I identified with the most -- Linus. But Snoopy wasn't too far behind.

Check out Aaron McGruder's great tribute to Schulz when he retired, originally published a couple of months before he passed on.

Also destroy: big Peanuts figures littering the sidewalks of St. Paul, MN.

Search: all the strips between 1955 to 1970. Some of the most melancholy and downright bleak 'funnies' ever produced; childhood as a time of pain, confusion and rejection.

Destroy: The Red Baron, Woodstock, all of the sports gags, the diminishing of Charlie Brown's existential angst, and the gradual decline of Schulz's wonderful linework and lettering. But almost to the end, Schulz could still produce a poignant picture, a funny gag.

Well that's my search - the annual CB vs. Lucy trust betrayal that goes beyond the running gag into the realms of true tragedy.
Destroy: Most of Snoopy's fantasy sequences, esp. involving the Red Baron.

Also, I love the mwah-mwah-mwah of the out of view adults in the TV shows. When I was a sullen teen, the absolute best way to wind up my mother (besides doing baby-voiced 'I love you, Mommie Dearest' while brandishing a wire hanger) was to block out irritating chore requests/ other nagging with Uberparent noises.

I will put up that article again though Ned, thanks for reminding!

My first evah mail-order purchase (w.money I won on premium bonds, aged 10 or 11) = 40 Peanuts booXoR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I guess at one time I luvd em. Mum was upset when he died, I think becoz she was excited with and for me when Big Box o'Peanutz arrived all those years ago.

Eek.

I suspect neither are as bad as The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet

Peanuts is a classic, I even like the past 5 years' worth.

Search: The seam of tragedy which runs through Charlie Brown's entire existence.

Destroy: Repitition of gags (although kind of unavoidable in a 50 year run).

Peanuts = def. CLASSIC. Surprised no-one mentioned the "Snoopy Come Home" movie, where Snoopy leaves Charlie Brown for his original owner (Leila, was it?) only to come back. Even after all these years and having grown up, it still touches a nerve.

Schulz is also notable as one of very few daily cartoonists who gets much funnier in large doses.

DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY

As far as "Peanuts" is concerned, I wouldn't have learned to read so quickly had it not been for Charles M. Schultz, so CLASSIC. Search: Linus, Peppermint Patty, Franklin (WOEFULLY UNDERUSED BROTHER), Marcie, Sally. Destroy: Snoopy's ugly-ass brother, Spike. And Violet, because she was the poor man's Lucy.

Josh, alas, is confused, poor man. ;-)

Lately I've noticed that a lot of the Peanuts anthology books have slowly become completely unavailable, perhaps even out of print. Hopefully this and the Chip Kidd book are the prelude to the release of a Compleat Peanuts collection of books where every strip Sparky ever did is reprinted, in chronological order and in color (where applicable).

The 70's, 80's and 90's Peanuts strips are nowhere near as bad as anybody says they are. The humor is awfully dry, I admit, but it's there.

I'll have to stick up for the Red Baron sequences, at least the original ones in the '60s. Yes the emphasis on Snoopy and Woodstock in later years and downplaying of Charlie Brown (and Lucy, who pretty much became a nonentity except for the football episodes) was depressing. But, I still think the idea of a dog pretending to be a World War I Flying Ace (flying a SOPWITH CAMEL, yet, and somehow knowing the names of all the French towns he's flying over) is the most bizarre idea ever to hit the comics. It makes Calvin and his pseudo-Buck Rogers fantasies look positively normal.

Wasn't the message of the show A Charlie Brown Christmas about "the true meaning of Christmas" as opposed to commercialism--that is, shopping, for example? Of course, with all the Snoopy dolls, and comic strip collections and games and greeting cards and everything else, we must realize that the "true meaning" is to go out and buy!

I think the strip also began to quit emphasizing the holiday at that time as well.

But the writer (or writers) went through the same plots of Lucy yanking the football from Charlie Brown, of Charlie Brown losing ballgames, etc. even as Snoopy got lost in the desert with his brothers. The new stories didn't make sense and the old ones were worn out. Worse, one wonders if any of the newspapers actually had the guts to drop the strip in favor of newer strips.

The strip had become a narcotic. Had it not been there, perhaps more newspaper editors and readers would have demanded change. But they remained set in their ways--and too many still do. We should be thankful that a few papers have dropped the Peanuts comic strip, but that number is too few.

They are great because they are lame! They make the other ones seem funny.

You might try Heritage Auctions. They're one of the big comics art auction houses in the U.S.

ty!

If you have a local art museum, you could reach out to them to see who they use for appraisals for works on paper. They have to get works appraised for insurance as well, and they are not allowed to do it themselves.

Heritage Auctions might be able to recommend someone, but auction houses have an interest in how much something is worth. Meaning, I don't know how legit their appraisals will be, if that makes sense.

Get it professionally framed, with archival materials and spacers that keep the paper off the glass. If for any reason moisture got into the frame and the paper is against the glass, it's probably trash. You can also get special plex that reduces UV impact, but if you want them on view keep them away from any areas that get sunlight. Even indirect sunlight is bad if it's on view for a long time.

That last strip is solid gold. Sometimes I forget how good Peanuts could be.

I do have a local museum, also I know local librarians, thanks all!

Agreeing with dinnerboat abt Heritage Auctions. They are the biggest players in the sale of original comics art and often get eye-watering prices for pieces. So while their valuation would not be disinterested - they would want to sell them and make a profit obv - their high-end estimate would be good for insurance purposes alone. These look to be relatively early strips - what's the copyright date on them? - so would be at the top end of the market, especially as they both have Charlie Brown and Lucy on them. In the last ten years or so, fine art and institutional collectors have bought into the comics art market and overinflated prices, but even if there's a bubble burst I don't think it would particularly affect Peanuts originals, which have always been highly prized and valued.

Schulz never needed to sell his originals, although he did give them away to fans (as with your mum), or in trade for other original comic art (especially Krazy Kat originals). So while, yes, he did draw thousands of strips, there aren't that many in private hands - I think most are still held by the Schulz Museum, who might also be worth contacting for advice.

the Museum was my first thought actually, thanks again - I did just submit a Heritage request for reference.

also just left a message at the local museum, reframing seems like the first step here

more complete notes from my mom if this helps, maybe these are not originals? they sure look like it, you can see the brush strokes

"A high school classmate whom I dated briefly wrote to Charles Schultz in probably 1957 and asked him for something to give a girlfriend for her birthday, and got the two strips, unframed at the time. I'm 99.999% certain Les didn't pay anything for them - just asked. I think it would have been my 17th birthday, the summer before my senior year in high school. My father got them framed. (The brown paper backing on them is getting a bit crumbly after 60-some years.) I think you should have them as companions to your complete Peanuts collection. Whether they actually got published or not you'll have to check in your volumes. One of them is particularly interesting because it has a correction, a piece of paper with the correct wording pasted over the original (which left out the apostrophe in one word). That one is signed, "Kindest regards, Charles Schultz." Although I'm not sure they are actually the original drawings, maybe mockups of some sort? They both have dates on them, one says "9-22" in ink on the strip and "9/22/56" in pencil below the frame of that strip, and the other is just "3-21" (no year, but likely 1956). Framed they are each 8"x30"."

posting closeups here as well

https://i.imgur.com/UGPTUuc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WS8DBtI.jpg

they look legit - pasting on the header and copyright is totally standard practice, and the only other Peanuts original I've seen was also startlingly large.

Also, of those I've seen, when gifting strips it was standard for Schulz to sign them like that.

so my sister and I have decided to sell these, they are prob gonna go for like $30K each. wild. my mom is in shock lol. we are using Heritage, thanks dinnerboat for that tip!

my mom with the winning quote: "do you even want something that valuable in your house?"

Ha! Mommest thing I've heard in a while....

wow those are amazing!!

That’s amazing

All for selling the expensives btw, let upkeep be somebody else’s problem

Awesome stuff, hope the fetch you that pretty penny!

yer ma has a point! hope you guys make $$$$s

Good luck! And thanks for sharing — your story’s like a prime Antiques Roadshow episode.

75th Anniversary today!! First strip, Oct 2nd 1950

https://i0.wp.com/www.route66news.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Spike-min.jpg

Well, that's not THE first strip but it's a great image!

Sleeve, did you guys ever sell those strips?

(Ned, yes you're correct... I just like Spike)

xp yes we did

Roxor!

glad those photos are preserved here for posterity, for at least as long as my imgur account holds out

Peanuts is among the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips, with 17,897 strips published in all

that number is pretty staggering

i'll do it

https://i.imgur.com/qeXSpUd.jpeg

fuckin shermy amirite

I did a Peanuts readthrough a few years ago and ended up stopping after the strips for my birth year, 1978. I felt like the strip started to lose some magic a decade earlier after Woodstock was introduced, which is weird because I thought that the Snoopy and the birds strips before that were really great. And I don't mind seeing Woodstock on all the merch; it wasn't like that character was bad. Just happened to be the spot where the strip started to calcify or something, which is again funny because I'm guessing that era was when the strip had the most cultural relevance?

I think the strip had most cachet in the 60s, what with “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and the novelty hit “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron”

But the 70s were still good— I remember Woodstock flying Snoopy like a chopper and revealing to Snoopy he was a pilot in ‘Nam.

the 80s are a downturn but it got weird and good again in the 90s

Watched the Thanksgiving special. What happened to Lucy? After the opening football gag, she's gone for the rest of the show...maybe that wanted a "nicer" show and decided to leave her out on purpose?

Love how Snoopy held back the REAL food, which is pretty sly for a traditionally subservient companion - fuck you humans, I'm saving the good shit for me and Woodstock later.

But Woodstock eating a turkey...granted, a different species, but does that still count as cannibalism?

Should have searched first. Apparently this is an age-old discussion.

haven't read the discussion but . . is this some more susan pevensie shit

nah, it's the debate over whether Woodstock committed cannibalism

All Woodstock is doing is eating a member of his Class, Aves. As a perching bird he would be of a different Order than a turkey. So this is no different from a human eating a pig or cow (both Class Mammalia).

also nobody seems to think it's weird that big fish eat smaller fish so not sure what these folks are on about

Also some birds prey on other birds.

Also Woodstock is a cartoon

woodstock is real buddy

What happened to Lucy? After the opening football gag, she's gone for the rest of the show…

It makes sense that she wouldn’t be around for the dinner party. Peppermint Patty invited herself, Marcie, and Franklin; Sally is there because it’s her house too; Linus is there because he offered to help Charlie Brown make dinner.

But I suppose it would’ve been nice to extend an invitation to grandma’s condo to her since her/Linus’ family apparently didn’t have plans for the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzyGL8-rxc

So guess what you can get for $25.

(Essentially: everything.)

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/collected-peanuts-fantagraphics-books

collected strips like Snoopy vs. the Red Baron, and graphic novels like Batter Up, Charlie Brown!

nb that there are no graphic novels in this bundle

Not even Snoopy vs. Spawn?

So guess what you can get for $25.

(Essentially: everything.)

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/collected-peanuts-fantagraphics-books🕸

oh it’s pdfs

xpost

I don't really do digital comics, but my Fanta Peanuts volumes stop at 1979 and this would be a good cheap way to get those generally disappointing last twenty years. Sadly, 'not available in my area'.

Saw there was also a Love and Rockets humblebundle offer recently that was just insanely good value.

not available in UK