Reddit reviews Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography

If you ever want to read an incredible biography, David Michaelis' [Schulz and Peanuts] (http://www.amazon.com/Schulz-Peanuts-Biography-David-Michaelis/dp/0060937998) is a detailed and emotional portrait of the cartoonist- so in depth that the first couple chapters are about his life before he turned 15. The Schulz estate gave Michaelis unprecedented access to almost all of his diaries and letters, then, when the biography ended up being about a depressed, hateful, misanthropic hermit, they denied the book any official title.

It's difficult to critique someone's initial efforts in any art form. A general truth to comic strip creation is communicating a story through the limitations of line weight, typeface and the sparse landscape of one or a few panels.


You don't say if this is a hobby or if you plan is to get syndicated, but either way there is a way to go. My tip would be to read Schulz and Peanuts, a Biography. I'm not a comic strip artist, but I love to read artist bios. If I remember correctly, it details Schulz's years of struggle to perfect his story telling skills along with technical aspects of his line. (In fact, in the beginning, he was obsessed with his line work and it's progress.)


This is not a bad start so don't get discouraged. I'm sure there are other books to read on comic strip development, but continue practicing while your reading and studying. Good drawing.

I recommend reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis. If I remember right, Schulz struggled with that too, and the bio may help you.