You might think I didn't like it because I'm some kind of a JAWS nut.
But honestly, I thought it missed the mark when it came to the Peanuts characters. I have to give credit to Forsman for drawing spot-on character designs in the style of Schulz. But the strip didn't connect the dots between Charlie Brown, Chief Brody, Hooper, Linus, Quint, Mayor Vaughn, etc.
So it's not that I'm a JAWS nut, so much as a big PEANUTS fan. I find the early strips groundbreaking and influential and as important to American literature as The Great Gatsby or Of Mice and Men. Seriously.
However, I come not to bury Peanuts parodies, but to praise them.
So here are three faux-Peanuts strips that I adore.
First off, buy R. Sikoryak's MASTERPIECE COMICS. You can get it here cheap. Sikoryak commits to a concept without going to easy jokes. This collection is brilliant and beautifully illustrated. One of the stand-outs is his "Good Ol' Gregor Brown" where Kafka's Metamorphosis is re-told with the Peanuts cast. This was presented as a slideshow at Kevin Geeks Out (during a "Holiday Grab Bag" show) -- and it killed. Buy this book for yourself and get another one for your favorite English teacher.
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| (this is just an excerpt, buy the book to read the rest) |
Sikoryak's strip is so cool that one fan even went and got it as a tattoo. The only thing sexier than a Charlie Brown tattoo is Kafka-Peanuts body-art!
Second, MAD Magazine did a 1968 strip titled "Will Success Spoil Charlie Brown?" where Shermy returns to the old neighborhood and sees how the commercial success of PEANUTS has changed everyone.
As a kid, I didn't realize it was a parody of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" but I still got the jokes and loved seeing Charlie Brown in a toupee.
I could not find this online. Sorry.
But you can find plenty of other great MAD parodies. Here's a list of the dozens and dozens that ran over the years.
Third, Ted Rall's "Supply Side Lucy"
This 1996 one-panel gag is, sadly, still true today. Check out more Ted Rall. He's a daring writer and he always challenges himself to do something different with each book -- whether it's a comics collection, narrative graphic novel or even his fantastic post-modern take on George Orwell's 1984.
Do you have a favorite PEANUTS parody/homage? Tell me about it in the comments.
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