I recently stumbled across a nice thread cutting across my favorite comic strips. The latest XKCD.com strip features a quite literal mashup of XKCD’s stick figures and Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes. And Bill Waterson was an unabashed admirer of Charles Schulz and Peanuts, as shown in the piece he wrote for the LA times article.

Unlike Watterson, I haven’t always been an admirer of Peanuts. As a child, I was an avid reader – I read every Peanuts collection I could get my hands on – but I drifted away from Peanuts in my late teens and early twenties. The strip often lacked the comic “punch” that other strips had, and I became rather disenchanted and critical to the point I wondered why it was even still in syndication. Even resenting the fact that it was always given the headline spot on the comics page.

Looking back, it’s apparent that my childhood instincts were dead on – Peanuts is a wonderful strip. But it took an NPR interview with Schulz for me to realize that as an adult. I don’t remember the exact phrase, but I do remember Mr. Schultz saying something to the effect, “each day when I sit down to draw the strip, I never really know what these kids are going to do.” I.e. Each strip was a process of discovery for him, exploring this world he’d created. From that day on, whenever I read Peanuts, I come to it with no expectations about what kind of humor or drama it should present. I am simply along for that 30-second ride that Schulz crafted, frame-by-frame.

It is unfortunate that Charles Schulz is gone, but there is no arguing about the incredible legacy he leaves behind. For a little more insight to the gentle character behind the strip, check out the Morning Edition interview with Charles Schulz.