In “Peanuts,” Linus quoted from the Gospel of Luke on December 20, 1959. His dialogue in that strip was later used in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in a scene that Charles Schulz had to fight to include, and it became one of the special’s indelible moments.
Did you ever notice that Linus drops his security blanket while sharing “what Christmas is all about?” Even more curious is the point in the speech that he does so. Just as he utters the words “Fear not” from Luke 2:10 ~ “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” I believe this was a deliberate point that Charles Schultz was making, to drop those things of the world we cling to and embrace the good news!
Watch for it at about the :39 second mark. Powerful. A great moment in TV and comics.
The Planet Joey characters rock out on stage — Peanuts style — to a holiday jingle being played by Joey and Herb. The gang is so full of holiday cheer in fact, that it seems to be seeping into Gaston’s dark soul…
It’s that time of the year again – Halloween night, when The Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch on Halloween evening, and flies around bringing toys to sincere and believing children.
Consistent with how things seem to be in 2020, Halloween also occurs on the same night as a full moon, a blue moon and on the night we roll back the clocks an hour to standard time (where I live). Bring it on, I say!
What is your favourite thing about Charles Schulz’ animated fall classic? Is it Charlie Brown’s classic line “I got a rock?” Maybe it’s Snoopy’s showdown with the Red Baron and his journey through the French countryside? Is it Linus and Sally waiting in the pumpkin patch for The Great Pumpkin to arrive? Personally, mine is the touching moment where Linus’ big sister Lucy carries her shivering, sleeping brother from the disappointment and cold of the pumpkin patch, back to his warm bed. Honourable mention goes to the painted backgrounds in this animated production – check out those dark, autumn night time watercolour skies!
Happy Halloween, y’all! Have fun, be safe and here’s hoping you find what you’re looking for in your pumpkin patch!
Wishing a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians! Today is the official day but we sat down to our feast on Sunday as a family without seeing my parents, sister or nephews during these strange Covid-19 times… Unlike Snoopy, we won’t be making…. toast and popcorn?
Today – after almost two decades of sketching, designing, writing, drawing, re-drawing and dreaming about creating my very own comic strip – I’m thrilled and proud to announce that Planet Joey is being officially released out into the public domain.
As a child growing up in a small town in southwestern Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s, I couldn’t wait for Saturday mornings. I’d hop out of bed and fly down the stairs into our living room where my parents would be consuming their morning coffee/tea and reading the London Free Press. I would hurriedly dig through the remaining sections lying on the floor, searching for the colour comics and proceed to stain my fingers with newsprint ink diving into the classic strips like Peanuts, Shoe, BC, Broom Hilda, Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, Hägar the Horrible, Robotman, Dennis the Menace, For Better or for Worse and yes, there was even a serialized Star Wars comic during some of those years! At the time, I was also influenced by comic books like Pink Panther and Bullwinkle and Rocky, not to mention my growing collection of Tintin books. As an artistic kid, I dreamed of one day creating a comic strip that might appear in a printed collection or a newspaper. It would take many years to see that dream come to fruition, but here we are – even if newsprint isn’t involved (yet).
Planet Joey started as an idea in my head sometime in the late 1990s while I was working as a graphic designer and also teaching at Sheridan College in the Art Fundamentals & Illustration programs. Some character designs and ideas for storylines and gags made it into sketchbooks and the basic comic strip emerged in 2003 shortly after my son was born. Since then, I’ve worked on it in fits and starts, filling sketchbooks with drawings and notes, but never having the sustained focus to see it through. Until now.
Charles Schulz said “The only way a comic strip distinguishes itself from all other media is to intrinsically combine words and pictures into a wholly new and elevated sum. Without the intertwining pictures, it’s just radio. Without the words, it’s just pantomime.” Schulz redefined the comic strip in the 1950s and 1960s. Many since have imitated it, some have emulated it. In a way, we’re all drawing Peanuts. Michael Jantze – creator of The Norm – said “The modern comic strip is like a poem: short, repetitive and, yeah, no one reads it.” He wasn’t wrong, but in some ways, comic strips have a certain new relevance in the year 2020. In a time when there is so much content out there for consumption and attention spans are short, a comic strip has the ability to connect – to tell a story, make you smile or just to make you stop and think – for a few seconds. My hope for Planet Joey is that it settles into its own comfort zone somewhere between the classic gag-a-day strips and a graphic novel. Something like… an ‘epic’ poem, perhaps?
What I’m getting at here is that being finally able to share this comic strip with you is a pretty special thing for me. I hope you enjoy the characters and the stories they have to tell. I hope you appreciate the art. I hope the comics put a smile on your face or at the very least, transport you away from your busy world, to Joey’s home of Cold Springs at least for a minute or two every day and back again.
