Review: Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz (2023)
I went on an emotional journey with this book. (And a literal one: It was one of the heavier things I brought back from SPX earlier this month.)
Peanuts, the beloved comic strip Charles Schulz is known for, is one of the first comics I ever read as a kid. For years, I always brought a comic strip collection to the table and read it while eating. (Thanks to my parents for caring more about my reading than good manners!) Often, I was reading Peanuts, and I developed a deep love for the strip. One of my life goals is to get my hands on all 25 volumes of The Complete Peanuts series published by Fantagraphics.
So I was quite excited for Funny Things and intrigued by its premise: to tell Schulz's life story within the rhythms of a daily newspaper comic, adapting the creative structure of Peanuts – six short, black-and-white strips followed by a large, full-color Sunday page – for a 400 page biography. I even managed to snag a signed copy from the authors, both of whom were kind and gracious.
But when I started reading, my excitement quickly waned. Something about the style and approach left me feeling… empty. I could tell there was a lot of work poured into the book and the linework was lovely, but the realization that much of the dialogue was fictionalized – it's probably impossible to repeatedly craft a fourth-panel punchline about someone's life without sacrifing some truth – disappointed me. Many of the jokes left me cold.
Something shifted in the second half of the book, though. Whether it was something in the comic or in myself, I'm not sure. But I found the focus on Schulz's later life, in which he struggled with severe anxiety, with his first marriage, and with illness that forced him to ultimately retire from Peanuts, touching and moving. Perhaps it's just that the second half dealt more with his actual work on Peanuts, exploring how hard it sometimes was for him to sit down, day after day, and fill little boxes with cartoons.
I guess I'm saying that when Funny Things worried less about being funny, I liked it more.
Follow my bookstagram: @panthercitybooks
