Fifty-Eight Years Later, Franklin’s First Peanuts Arc Remains the Comic’s Funniest

Charles Schulz never hesitated to introduce new faces to the world of Peanuts. The legendary cartoonist balanced the comic strip ensemble throughout its decades-long run by giving the spotlight to a large neighborhood cast. Charlie Brown and Snoopy remained the franchise’s most popular characters, but Schulz also made room for Lucy van Pelt and her brother Linus. He also featured characters like Peppermint Patty convincing everyone to play sports.

Franklin often served as the voice of reason among a crowd of kids who spent their time scheming and goofing off. Some of his best appearances happened just weeks after his introduction in 1968.

Franklin quickly found out he was in a neighborhood full of odd ducks

Franklin first appeared in a Peanuts strip on July 31, 1968, when he met Charlie Brown at the beach. The pair hit it off quickly and spent the next few strips building a sandcastle together before Charlie invited his new friend to visit the neighborhood. A few months later, Franklin took him up on that offer and discovered that Charlie Brown had slightly undersold the situation.

First, Franklin met Lucy at her psychiatric booth, initially mistaking it for a lemonade stand. Once Lucy explained her services, Franklin asked a reasonable question about whether she was qualified to give psychiatric advice. Lucy let her lack of professional qualifications slide in order to collect her few cents.

Things grew stranger the next day on October 16, 1968, when Franklin met Snoopy dressed in his World War I Flying Ace gear, complete with aviator goggles. Franklin asked the beagle if Charlie Brown lived nearby, and Snoopy pointed off-panel.

By October 17, Franklin found Linus, who immediately shared his unwavering belief in the Great Pumpkin, a mysterious figure he expected to rise from the pumpkin patch every Halloween.

Franklin finally reconnected with Charlie Brown in the October 18 strip, but Schroeder interrupted before the arc closed to celebrate the upcoming birthday of Beethoven. By that point, Franklin had seen enough. Lucy operated an unlicensed psychiatric booth, Charlie Brown owned a dog who thought he was a pilot, Linus awaited a mythical pumpkin, and Schroeder wanted to celebrate a composer who had been dead for nearly 200 years.

This neighborhood has me shook

Franklin uttered this line in the strip, which established his place in the larger Peanuts world. He was not just another eccentric personality for Schulz to use for gags, but rather the person who could ground the others with reason.

Source: Polygon