Charlie Brown Books

[Martin Hash]

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Over the past few years, I’ve been reading every one of Charles Schulz’s “The Complete Peanuts” books in order, a range of 50 years; it's a great way to start the day. In fact, if someone asked me what my most formative role model was, I’d immediately answer “Charlie Brown.” What Charlie Brown experienced, I experienced; what Charlie Brown worried about, I worried about; Charlie Brown wasn't a hero, he was me. I was completely captured like only an obsessive personality can be, especially as a kid.

In Forth grade, we had a book reading competition, and the kid who beat me had read Peanuts books, which seemed edgy and mature, so I was curious to borrow one and read it. That was all it took. From that day on, I saved my allowance to buy them, and I convinced t my brother, Marshall, to buy one to; and every time I saw my grandma, I asked her to get me one. My dad called them "Charlie Brown books" and he was also a fan. I proudly wrote in my name and the number of the book in the order I bought them.

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I was very interested in art at that time because I was good at it for my age, and I endlessly tried to copy the Peanuts characters. Schulz's drawing style changed over the years; the characters completely changing their appearance from early on. This was 1967, and I didn't know Schulz had Essential Tremor, which shook his hand, causing waving lines, which I thought were intentional and tried to copy them. Wow, that was difficult, and I marveled at his ability to make such a fine, closely-spaced squiggle? Later in life I heard Schultz insisted he drew every panel of every comic but his new stuff wasn't squiggly; nor are any of the reprints; certainly there was another “touch up” artist? “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” was the first 45 record that I bought myself, and the only live play I ever watched as a kid was, “You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” When the animated movie, “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” came out, I begged my parents to take us to the Drive-in. I tried to draw my own “Happiness is” cartoons.

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Of course, I watched “Charlie Brown's Christmas,” and “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every year from when they came out, even into adulthood. I made a goal to watch all 50 TV specials, plus the Saturday morning cartoon series. I also want to collect all the Peanuts McDonald's toys, and though I have a bunch, there's a lot more to go. I made a special trip, like a pilgrimage, to the Peanuts museum in Santa Rosa, California, but found it incredibly disappointing; I don't know what I was expecting; Perhaps a return to my childhood?

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By 1974, the strip just wasn’t funny anymore, though its tremendous momentum carried it for another quarter century. He died the day before his last Sunday comic ran in 2000. I was touched, and wanted a remembrance of his work, so after years of looking, I finally bought a piece of original artwork from an Auction House, and would love an original panel from one of the every single day for 50 years of Charlie Brown's career.

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[de officiis]

Reading Peanuts comics was a big part of my childhood. I still have my collection of small paperbacks from the five and dime store, plus several hardback compilations and some but not all of the complete Peanuts series that you mentioned. Every day on my family chat with my siblings and cousins, I share one page of the cartoons. My cousin really enjoys reading them. Never collected any animation cels, but I did build Snoopy's Sopwith Camel model at some point, and I can remember listening to that song about Snoopy vs. the Red Baron. And we do try to re-watch the Halloween and Christmas shows when the seasons roll around.