Reflecting on Charles Schulz’s Final Peanuts Comic Strip 26 Years Later

On Oct. 2, 1950, Charles Schulz launched his comic strip Peanuts. The very first strip featured two forgotten characters sitting on a curb. Charlie Brown approaches in the distance, prompting the boy, Shermy, to tell Patty (just Patty, not Peppermint Patty) that Charlie Brown is walking toward them. In the second and third panels, Shermy repeats greetings of “Good ol’ Charlie Brown.” The final panel delivers the punchline when Shermy turns to Patty and states, “How I hate him!”

A similar comic by Charles Schulz preceded Peanuts in Minnesota’s St. Paul Pioneer Press. Titled Li’l Folks, the precursor featured children without a permanent cast. Running from 1947 until 1950, Schulz quit the paper after his editor denied his request for a raise above $10 per comic. He brought Li’l Folks to United Feature Syndicate, which liked the concept but requested a name change to avoid confusion with a 1930s strip called Little Folks. The title Peanuts was chosen because children in the studio audience of The Howdy Doody Show were called the peanut gallery.

Peanuts debuted in seven newspapers and eventually expanded to over 2,600 outlets. The daily adventures ran for 50 years before concluding on Feb. 13, 2000, under solemn circumstances.

Charles Schulz experienced declining health beginning in November 1999 following a series of strokes and a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Chemotherapy and failing vision forced his hand. On Dec. 14, 1999, Schulz announced his retirement, noting that he lacked the ability to continue the work.

The gradual conclusion of the Peanuts gang

On Jan. 1, 2000, the final traditional weekday Peanuts strip appeared in newspapers. It depicted the children in a snowball fight while Snoopy inspected a snowball. The caption read, “Suddenly the dog realized that his dad had never taught him how to throw snowballs.” Shaky linework reflected Schulz’s drawing difficulties.

That installment ran on a Saturday. Sunday’s strip featured Peppermint Patty and Marcie because Sunday editions were prepared weeks in advance. On Monday, Jan. 3, 2000, Charles Schulz wrapped up his daily series featuring Snoopy at a typewriter alongside a message starting with “Dear Friends…”

“I have been fortunate to draw Charlie Brown and his friends for almost 50 years. It has been the fulfillment of my childhood ambition. ⁠Unfortunately, I am no longer able to maintain the schedule demanded by a daily comic strip. My family does not wish Peanuts to be continued by anyone else, therefore I am announcing my retirement.⁠ I have been grateful over the years for the loyalty of our editors and the wonderful support and love expressed to me by the fans of the comic strip. ⁠Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy… how can I ever forget them…”

That was not the absolute end.

Because Sunday comics were scheduled further in advance, five more Sunday strips ran through January and February of 2000. On Feb. 13, 2000, a Sunday version of the farewell message was published. It included an opening panel of Charlie Brown on the phone saying “No, I think he’s writing…” followed by Snoopy at his typewriter. The farewell letter appeared below, framed by memorable Peanuts artwork from the prior 50 years.

That served as the official final Peanuts comic.

Schulz was forced to conclude the work due to illness. Had he remained healthy, he would have continued drawing. The ending remained a human and sad farewell rather than a planned narrative conclusion.

Readers noted the timing of the release. The final strip ran on Feb. 13, just one day after Schulz died of a heart attack at age 77. He had finished drawing the content a month prior, creating a poetic coincidence with his passing.

Source: Polygon