― Josh, Monday, 7 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― David Raposa, Monday, 7 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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.
― Dan Perry, Monday, 7 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Josh, alas, is confused, poor man. ;-)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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.
― Michael Daddino, Monday, 7 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― David Raposa, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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.
― Justyn Dillingham, Monday, 22 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore, Monday, 22 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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.
― Joel Bader, Monday, 23 September 2002 02:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 23 September 2002 03:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― felicity (felicity), Monday, 23 September 2002 05:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Joel Bader, Monday, 23 September 2002 18:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 23 September 2002 19:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 23 September 2002 19:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
They are great because they are lame! They make the other ones seem funny.
― felicity (felicity), Monday, 23 September 2002 20:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 23 September 2002 20:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― felicity (felicity), Monday, 23 September 2002 20:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Rebecca (reb), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
Am I missing something?
― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 23 September 2002 21:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
(+ I thought old C&Hs were being reprinted in newspapers, but maybe I'm wrong.)
― Rebecca (reb), Monday, 23 September 2002 22:25 (twenty-one years ago) link
I sincerely doubt it...newspaper publishers don't like the comic strips in the first place because they take up valuable space that could be used on ad pages. This is why the size of the comics has been shrunken down so much over the past 15 years or so. If the current comic strips were done away with they would not be replaced. Esp. since the readership for newspapers in general has aged so much.
― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 11:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 11:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― B:Rad (Brad), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 11:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
Gil Thorp has REALLY gone in the shitter. It's barely literate! (And no points for the Orel Hershiser guest appearance!)
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 13:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
Zippy is godawful. Sorry.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 15:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
The same goes for Funky Winkerbean's transmogrification into a Melrose-Place-for-geeks cesspool. And regardless of FBOFW's past, turning into a hybrid of Mary Worth and Hi & Lois didn't do a damn thing for me. There's the "funny" page, and there's the "serious" page - STAY ON THE FUNNY PAGE DAMN IT.
Example of newer Peanuts (as seen on my bathroom wall): Lucy & Charlie on the pitchers mound. Lucy sez, "Here's the roster for the other team: Francis, Horatio, Ludwig, Chandler, Francisco, etc etc etc" - all these "unique" male names. Fourth panel - close-up of Charlie, wistful expression (akin to the "rapturous contemplation" look found in every damn FBOFW strip, but, y'know, Peanuts style), and he says, "No one's named Bill anymore." Um. Five cents, please?
Add to my list: Zits, Monty (PKA Robotman), Liberty Meadows, Soup to Nutz, and Rex Morgan MD (as long as Graham Nolan is the artiste).
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 15:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 23:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 23:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 23:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
Aw yeah, Mutts is nice.
― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 00:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
Let me specify -- when humor was attempted, it was of the cheese variety. When soppiness was attempted, it made me want to pound walls down. When prompted to appreciate how wossname knows his comic artists of the past, I reflect on how The Boondocks looks like the first honestly modern strip in years. Etc.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― lyra (lyra), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
One panel. Linus, Charlie, and Snoopy are lounging in A Forest. Linus & Charlie lean against a tree, Snoopy against a rock.
Linus: "I hear you've decided no to go to summer camp after all..."
Charlie: "When you have a dog, you should stay home, and make your dog happy ... that's what you should do ... you should stay home..."
Snoopy: "Except for those obviously necessary short trips in to buy dog food..."
― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 02:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://www.citypaper.com/archives/funny.html
As for y'all's Zippy bashing: Interweb mentalists! Interweb mentalists! Interweb mentalists!
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 07:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 16:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://www.deeptrancenow.com/images/marmaduke.jpg
― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 17:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
Martin S - I'd say that the first ten years or so of Johnny Hart's BC are v. underrated; Mort Walker sustained a pretty gd standard on 'Beetle Bailey' for many years; and I love the drawing style of Dik Browne on 'Hagar' and 'Hi and Lois' - crosshatching to rival Crumb's. These are just off the top of my head, but my point is that 'Peanuts' is obv. a work of genius, but it wasn't THAT much better than many of its peers in the post-war gag strip stakes, at least for the first ten or so years of its run...
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 17:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
Beautiful! I have a signed Charlie Brown "print" (just a photocopy his office sent out) from when I wrote to him in 2nd grade that my mom kept with my old report cards and pulled out for me one day in my 30s after I'd completely forgotten about it. It's framed on my wall now.
You probably know this already but I'd also look into getting these insured. He may have drawn thousands of strips but each one is highly sought after by collectors.
And yes, I'd have them professionally reframed with UV protective glass, acid-free backing, etc.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 16 February 2024 21:50 (four months ago) link
Ward or dinnerboat or others, how would I get an appraisal on these for insurance, are there specialists? I do have regular homeowners insurance fwiw.
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 21:56 (four months ago) link
You might try Heritage Auctions. They're one of the big comics art auction houses in the U.S.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 16 February 2024 22:01 (four months ago) link
ty!
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 22:18 (four months ago) link
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.
― Cow_Art, Friday, 16 February 2024 22:30 (four months ago) link
I do have a local museum, also I know local librarians, thanks all!
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 22:33 (four months ago) link
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.
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 16 February 2024 22:48 (four months ago) link
the Museum was my first thought actually, thanks again - I did just submit a Heritage request for reference.
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 22:55 (four months ago) link
also just left a message at the local museum, reframing seems like the first step here
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 23:31 (four months ago) link
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"."
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 17 February 2024 00:10 (four months ago) link
posting closeups here as well
https://i.imgur.com/UGPTUuc.jpg
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 17 February 2024 01:01 (four months ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/WS8DBtI.jpg
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 17 February 2024 01:02 (four months ago) link
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.
― bae (sic), Saturday, 17 February 2024 02:41 (four months ago) link
Also, of those I've seen, when gifting strips it was standard for Schulz to sign them like that.
― Kim Kimberly, Saturday, 17 February 2024 02:59 (four months ago) link
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?"
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 16 March 2024 17:22 (three months ago) link
Ha! Mommest thing I've heard in a while....
― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Saturday, 16 March 2024 17:23 (three months ago) link
wow those are amazing!!
― c u (crüt), Sunday, 17 March 2024 04:04 (three months ago) link
That’s amazing
All for selling the expensives btw, let upkeep be somebody else’s problem
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 17 March 2024 04:23 (three months ago) link
Awesome stuff, hope the fetch you that pretty penny!
― H.P, Sunday, 17 March 2024 06:32 (three months ago) link
yer ma has a point! hope you guys make $$$$s
― Is he an evil man who makes chocolate or is the chocolate itself evil? (stevie), Sunday, 17 March 2024 11:45 (three months ago) link
Good luck! And thanks for sharing — your story’s like a prime Antiques Roadshow episode.
― dinnerboat, Sunday, 17 March 2024 22:34 (three months ago) link