"Teen-Agers, Unite!" by Charles M. Schulz

 "The 'Peanuts' Gang Grows Up! A Great New Collection of Riotous Cartoons by Charles M. Schulz"
This 1967 Bantam paperback collects some of Schulz's teenager strips. This is what Nat Gertler was talking about in Friday's blog entry: a new definitive collection of all teenager panels that Schulz drew. So, here are a few scans from this earlier collection to whet your appetite.

"It's my big brother's sweatshirt .... I thought for sure it would fit me if I rolled up the sleeves!"

It's fun to see these cartoons -- but these are not "the PEANUTS gang grown up," despite the cover blurb. Well, okay, this girl looks a heckuva lot like Violet or Lucy.

"Elaine and I are sort of off and on. . . . One day she likes me and the next year she doesn't!" 

Hmm. That guy with the hat looks like Charlie Brown. And that girl; she looks like Frieda sans the naturally curly hair.

"Sure, I know all about that beautiful coat that Jacob gave Joseph, but I'll bet you that Joseph didn't already have seven sport coats at home!"

OK, so the guy looks and talks like Linus. But these are gags about teenagers that Schulz did for a church publication. The cartoons are not related to the Peanuts gang.
Here's Peanuts authority Nat Gertler from the essential Aaugh.com site:

"... the non-Peanuts work of Schulz that has been most reprinted is the series of single-panel gags that he did for the Church Of God, appearing primarily in their magazine Youth. These panels, occasionally referred to by the horrible name Teen-nuts, have been collected in a number of books over the years. I heartily recommend reading any of these you can lay your hands on."

"I'm convinced that the telephone is an instrument of the devil.... I haven't had anyone call me for a date all week!"

Yeah, she looks a little like Peppermint Patty. What Schulz always is playing on is the lankiness of the teenager -- just like Zits does now. All the teenagers (or "teen-agers" as the title of the book spells it) are tall drinks of water.

"I appreciate being nominated as president of our youth group, but I am afraid that I must decline on grounds that I am too stupid."

Some typical self-deprecating humor. Interesting how easily these couple of horizontal lines read as pews. That's economy!

"So how can I kneel in front of my bed to say my prayers? I sleep in the upper bunk!"

The little kinds in this panel do not look like Peanuts kids; smaller bodies and large, bulbous heads. Poor little guys. If they had an itch on the top of their head, they couldn't reach up to scratch it now, could they?

"I really have nothing against your saving string, Son, but couldn't you at least keep it rolled in a ball?"

This must've been one of those "fun to draw" gags. One of the things I like to see is detail, and this one has some great details: a shoe (Where is the other one?), the teenager wearing the frilly female apron to run the sweeper, the argyle socks, the string wrapped around the light fixture. And note that all the cartoons are signed "CSM."

"I do too like to walk in the rain. . . . I just like to see who I'm walking with, that's all!" 

I always liked the way Schulz drew rain. Those inky lines really looked like a downpour.



More:

Barry's Pearls of Comic Book Wisdom: Charles M. Schulz: Cartoons Without Peanuts 


Charles Schulz's Letter About Democracy, Discovered 50 Years Later

-- Edited from a August 4, 2006 blog entry.