It's been a decade since cartoonist Charles Schulz died and his final Peanuts strip appeared in newspapers. Many papers are still printing Peanuts reruns, but I think it's time to free up that scarce space for a cartoonist who isn't, you know, dead.
Revisiting the masterpiece that was Charles Schulz's Peanuts can be done in better ways than by its continued presence on newspaper comics pages. There's a Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, those ubiquitous TV specials, and a plethora of books. Renowned comics publisher Fantagraphics has released the first dozen volumes of a projected twenty-five-volume series collecting the entire half-century run of Peanuts. Here is Schulz's final strip, from 13 February 2000:
I don't presume to know which up-and-coming comic strip might become the next Peanuts, but let's give the new kids a chance.
One of these days, I've got to start picking up those books...and the Prince Valiant ones...right after I get around to reading the Krazy Kat books that are still shrink-wrapped in my office.
So many comics...
The interview in the first Fantagraphics set is really worth reading. He was a very sad and serious guy.