"If anything, I wish Mr. Michaelis's biography had devoted more space to analyzing the strip on its own terms as an art. Knowing the sources of Schulz's inspiration does not explain the imaginative power of the work."
bill watterson himself is eminently eligible for doing this and would be interesting if he did it at length. though the has expressed his admiration for Schulz earlier but had also taken issues with him with the Peanuts merchandising empire. which reminds me of Garry Larson's letter to his fans requesting them to cease and desist from putting up Far Side cartoons online. "My effort here is to try and speak to the intangible impact, the emotional cost to me, personally, of seeing my work collected, digitized, and offered up in cyberspace beyond my control." http://www.portmann.com/farside/ On 10/21/07, Kiran Jonnalagadda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was particularly touched by this comment: > > """Knowing that his miseries fueled his work, he resisted help or > change, apparently preferring professional success over personal > happiness.""" > > > -- > Kiran Jonnalagadda > http://jace.seacrow.com/ > > > > On 20-Oct-07, at 11:55 PM, Abhishek Hazra wrote: > > > http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119214690326956694.html > > . . . > > The comic strip "Peanuts" was more than a decade old when I started > > reading it as a kid in the mid-1960s. At that time, "Peanuts" was > > becoming a force of pop culture, with best-selling books and a newly > > burgeoning merchandising empire of plastic dolls, sweatshirts, > > calendars and television specials. > > . . . > > While growing up, I collected the annual "Peanuts" books and used them > > as a personal cartooning course, copying the drawings with the idea of > > someday becoming the next Charles Schulz. > > . . . > > At that time, most of the strip went over my head, and I certainly had > > no understanding of how revolutionary "Peanuts" was or how it was > > changing the comics. "Peanuts" pretty much defines the modern comic > > strip, so even now it's hard to see it with fresh eyes. > > . . . > > in countless ways, Schulz blazed the wide trail that most every > > cartoonist since has tried to follow. David Michaelis's biography, > > "Schulz and Peanuts," is an earnest and penetrating look at the man > > behind this comic-strip phenomenon. With new access to Schulz's > > personal files, professional archives and family, Mr. Michaelis > > presents the fullest picture we have yet of the cartoonist's life and > > personality. > > > > > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - does the frog know it has a latin name? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
