Quick: Who was the most famous and successful artist of the 20th century?
If you said Picasso or Warhol, you may have forgotten about a cartoonist named Charles Schulz, who at his peak of popularity brought joy to some 300 million readers worldwide through his simply drawn but emotionally complex characters like Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
Schulz died in 2000, but his life and work have experienced a renaissance thanks to a series of books and other projects, including volumes that will reprint the entire “Peanuts” archive of nearly 20,000 comic strips, a recent biography that examines his depression and anxiety and a fascinating “American Masters” program on PBS entitled “Good Ol’ Charles Schulz.”
But another recent Schulz collection should be of more interest to youth workers. Schulz’s Youth collects hundreds of “Young Pillars” single-panel cartoons that Schulz created for Youth, a magazine published by the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana).
Schulz started the Youth cartoons in 1955, a time when “Peanuts” was just taking off; and he continued creating them until 1965, when the success of “Peanuts,” including TV shows and product licensing, demanded more of Schulz’s time. Nat Gertler, the owner of AAUGH.com, a Schulz collection and store, compiled the cartoons for the new book.
“Targeted at teens who were already in the church, there was no need for the cartoons to proselytize,” says Gertler. “They could do what Schulz’s cartoons have always done best, showing the common human foibles, if often in a church setting.”
Although times have changed, there’s a timeless quality to the best of the Schulz Youth cartoons.
Who hasn’t heard frustrated adults suggest that the teen years resemble a disease?
And while many contemporary youth workers have never heard of Perry Como (ask your folks), the issue of contemporary music remains relevant and sometimes controversial.
“Making this book was thrilling,” says Gertler. “It was exciting to pull up Charles Schulz cartoons from arguably his most creative period, some of which had never been in a book and hadn’t seen print in any form in over 40 years.
“A few cartoons are snapshots of the time they were created, but most show insights into humanity which are just as valid now as ever. They speak as strongly to us as the 42-year-old ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ special does.”
In time, “Peanuts” would appear in more than 2,500 newspapers and in 21 languages in 75 countries.
Schulz’s Youth is published by About Comics and is available in paperback for $14.95. A hardcover edition is available for $21.95 through the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, Calif. (www.SchulzMuseum.org, 707/579-4452), which showcases Schulz’s life and work. Schulz cartoons are copyright Warner Press, Anderson, Ind., and are used by permission of About Comics.
