Life lessons from Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes & Company

Posted on by WritingfromtheheartwithBrian

When I was a young kid and well into my teenager years, I loved to curl up on the sofa in our living room and read the Sunday comics. I cared little initially about the rest of the paper — the dark and drab side, as I used to call it — but I pored over the comics like someone taking a college master’s level course might study for an important exam. I read every line twice and analyzed each image like it was a Monet or Renoir.

The paper was a kaleidoscope of colors and the cheap newspaper ink would often come off onto my fingertips, but I didn’t care. I would read each comic strip from top to bottom in an orderly fashion, one after the other, but I paid the closest attention to my favorites, including Peanuts by Charles Schulz; Hagar the Horrible by Dik Browne; Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson; Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed; Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau, Cathy by Cathy Guisewite, The Far Side by Gary Larsen and Family Circus by Bill Keane. I liked others too, including Shoe, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, and even Tarzan.

I loved how the cartoons would take me on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. One minute I might be marveling at some bit of wisdom that Charlie Brown and company had passed along, the next I might be agreeing wholeheartedly with Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, that adults were hardened jail wardens and nincompoops and were out to lunch.

I started reading the comics in the 70s as a way to entertain myself and keep busy when my brothers ignored my whiny pleas to play with me. Later in the early 80s, I would cut out the cartoons that spoke to me; squeeze out an ample glob of Wite-Out, the correction fluid, on top of the text; and change the copy, personalizing it to make fun of school or situations my friends and I found ourselves. The better ones I would share with my friends, while others that hit on personal vulnerabilities, like my stutter or feelings of being left out of the crowd, I would keep for myself. Along the way, the funny things is that I ended up learning much about life from the comic strips.

Here’s a few of the things that the comics taught me:

—Keep a Positive Attitude. How many times does Charlie Brown line up to kick the football? And every stinking time, Lucy moves the ball at the last minute, sending him sprawling onto the ground. He’s frustrated and angry, but he’s still positive that one day he’ll kick the ball. How many times does Calvin think one of his inventions or great ideas is going to work? He’s 100 percent sure of it. I found that reading about these characters I started to develop my own little “gallows humor” and sarcastic perspective mixed with a strong dose of optimism. Yes, there might be some problems. Yes, I might fall and need to pick myself up and need to overcome a few challenges, but I would come out on the other side. I would succeed.

—Live Life to the Fullest. Snoopy was my favorite character by a wide margin. I loved that silly dog. He first appeared in Schulz’s comics in 1950 and Snoopy experimented with several different careers and personas over the course of his life. He envisioned himself as a best selling writer, lawyer, and even renowned fighter pilot. Take that Red Baron. I remember closing my eyes one time after reading about Snoopy’s exploits and and thinking, “if Snoopy can do it, why not me?” I didn’t learn that from Socrates or Plato or any of the great philosophers. I learned that from silly old Snoopy and he taught me to love myself, explore, and treat life like an adventure.

—The Power in the Simple Things. Comic strip illustrators are forced to tell a complete story in as few words and images as possible. In an old box the other day, I found a three-panel cartoon of “Shoe” by Jeff MacNelly from 1984 that I used to keep on my desk. Two characters are looking out the window and one says it would be “a great day to stay in bed.” Right on cue, the other says in the next panel, “yea, in the Bahamas.” It’s a simple comic strip. There’s very little pizzazz, but it instantly takes me back through time and space to my cramped bedroom looking out the window at the snow and cold and not wanting to get up, get dressed, and get ready for a long day of school. “Yea, I could be in the Bahamas!”

—The Power of Friendship. In one Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown is talking about the virtues of having a dog, he says a dog doesn’t try to give you a lot of advice, he just listens. He continues talking about the virtues saying: “Most of the time you just want to talk . . . which is why a dog is a perfect one to. . . ” In the next panel, before Charlie Brown can even finish his thought, Snoopy lets out a big yawn. Charlie Brown has little recourse, but to sigh. Oh, we’ve all been there, but a friend is still a powerful thing.

—The Power of Being Seen. Calvin in one of the Calvin and Hobbes strip says “Sometimes when I’m talking, my words can’t keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak?” Hobbes responds: “Probably, so we can think twice.” It was just what I needed: Good old Calvin and Hobbes to explain our mean, cold, complex world. Yes, yes, Calvin’s a little kid, but when I read that strip, I felt seen. I felt validated and vindicated. I had found a kindred spirit. You go Calvin!

I haven’t bought a Sunday paper in ages, preferring to get my news fix online, and it’s been decades since I sat down with a bowl of cereal and watched Saturday morning cartoons. When you have a network fully dedicated to cartoons and kid’s television, do Saturday Morning Cartoons even exist nowadays? The comic strip has been replaced by the meme, Tiktok and funny cat videos, and a million other things. I miss the Sunday Comics, but I’m glad for the lessons they taught me.

Thank you Charlie Brown and company.

Did you read the Sunday Comics or Sunday Funnies or even comic books? What was your favorite and how did it shape who you are?

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Please join in on the discussion. In addition, please visit my personal blog at www.writingfromtheheartwithbrian.com to read my companion piece. You can follow me on Instagram at @writingfromtheheartwithbrian.

All the best, Brian.

31 thoughts on “Life lessons from Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes & Company”

  1. Pingback: Peanuts to the rescue! – Writing from the Heart with Brian

  2. Love this, Brian! I have a stuffed Lucy doll that I received as a gift from my dad’s only sister just a few months before she passed away and it’s a keepsake for life because of the precious memories I have of her and her love of cartoons…especially Charlie Brown & company. I miss the Sunday comics, too! 🥰

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  5. Oh, these are such great life lessons, Brian. I love that you’d replace the word balloons with your own dialog. That is so inventive.

    Which is a great word for the space you’ve left me in reading this – remembering how inventive we can be and feeling that great potential for dreaming we had in childhood! Thank you!

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  9. I still read the comics. “Tundra” is my current fave; growing up, I liked most of the same ones as you – especially “Peanuts” and “Calvin & Hobbes.” To this day, the holidays don’t officially begin until Snoopy is once again trying to outwit the Red Baron!

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  10. I love this post as it reminded of similar joys I had reading the comic strips growing up and also borrowing the collected editions from the library.

    Peanuts was one of my faves and also the X-Men comics was another fave that I still follow. Schulz’ death, the day before the last Peanuts strip came out, was quite a milestone and sad moment.

    I love the life lessons you shared as they definitely connect with the ones I observed from Peanuts too. Did you ever read the long multi-week story that led to Lucy finally NOT pulling the football away? If not, you’ll have to look it up. It’s a classic. Ditto the strip from the early 90s when Charlie Brown finally wins a baseball game. Definitely a wink to the readers from Schulz.

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  11. I believe I had the same cartoon mentors as a child as you, Brian, but “Hi and Lois” used to grab my attention the most. I liked it because they were a normal happy family who made normal happy mistakes. Great message, Brian. 🙂

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  12. It’s hiuman nature to go in phases. I used to read comics a lot but rarely do anymore. It is amazing how with four panels and a few words, the writer/illustrator can teach us a lot. There’s a regional airport four hours to the south of us in Santa Rosa, CA. It’s called the Charles M Schulz Sonoma County Airport. Yes, that Charles Schulz. He used to live in Santa Rosa for over 30 years. It would be hard to pick a fvorite cartoon, but I liked Dennis the Menace, Family Circle, The Born Loser, and Calvin and Hobbes

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  14. Calvin is an amazing creation of humor and ironic wisdom; I am so in sync with you loving this strip. I have bought these books as gifts as I think they are treasures.

    Peanuts is classic and enduring to me. It seems to me that there is harmonious truth in his strips. When I was in my teens I found in a used book store some of his paperback Christian cartoon strips that Charles Schulz wrote. It was his style but for a smaller audience and probably before his time was completely taken up with Peanuts.

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  15. Pingback: July 2024 roundup - Great reads and goals update - Boomer Eco Crusader

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