Tributes to classic cartoonists tell an all-American story

REVIEWS BY MARTIN BRADY

Throughout the 20th century, comic books and newspaper comic strips gave rise to tremendous individual pop artistry, not to mention sheer communicative genius. Comics have conveyed a uniquely American story, and the greatest practitioners have achieved dizzying heights of mass popularity and influence. These three new important publications provide engaging testimony to comic brilliance.

Calling Charlie Brown

Who'd have thought that Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) would be worthy of a major biography? Yet the late creator of the Peanuts comic strip might rightly be considered one of the greatest authors of all time—his 50 years of tireless work is engrained deeply into the international consciousness. Schulz and Peanuts, by N.C. Wyeth biographer David Michaelis, is the product of nearly seven years of research and firsthand interviews. Not long after Schulz's death, Michaelis got busy digging through his extensive archives, then traced the great cartoonist's life back through his staunch German-American Minnesota roots. Schulz always seemed warm, avuncular and pretty buttoned-down—he was one American cartoonist the country got to know at least somewhat via media coverage—but Michaelis goes deeper, and with the help of 200 or so cartoons from the dailies, connects the dots between the real Schulz and the minidramas played out among his characters.

Schulz wanted to be a cartoonist early on, and, eschewing college, learned his craft through correspondence courses. At the age of 20, he endured the loss of his mother to cancer and served a critical life-changing stint as a World War II Army sergeant before making an indelible mark with his subtle wit and charming drawings. Schulz's first marriage and other romantic relationships receive extensive dissection here, as does the man's essential character and psychological quirks. The book occasionally seems bogged down with too much family history, but ultimately this aspect of Michaelis' approach to his subject helps put the art and the artist into perspective. It's a rewarding and surprisingly trenchant read—and a must-have for Peanuts fans.


Still MAD after all these years

Contemporary with Schulz's mid-to-late-century emergence was that of MAD magazine, the subversively satirical monthly that showcased a wide variety of incredibly gifted cartoon stylists. Chief among them was the late Don Martin (1931-2000), whose goofy characters earned him a place as perhaps the publication's most recognizable contributor. The Completely MAD Don Martin serves as weighty testament to Martin's legacy. This 25-pound, two-volume, slipcased special edition—the first of a planned MAD's Greatest Artists series—gathers together every piece of art Martin published in MAD during his 30 years as a freelancer. Martin's occasionally gross-out style combined distinctive and very detailed linework, elements of chortling high fantasy and a preponderance of originally conceived sound effects, all of which is captured here. The cartoon reproductions are accompanied throughout by reprints of letters and rough sketches; a series of verbal and illustrated tributes from notable MAD colleagues; and photos of the artist—unlike his characters, Martin was a quiet and rather handsome guy. Far Side creator Gary Larson, a spiritual descendant of Martin's, provides the foreword.


Saving the world

Finally, we have The Marvel Vault, a sturdy yet elegant, spiral-bound tribute to the art and artistry of the Marvel Comic Group, which since 1939 has fed the imaginations of millions through its tales of unique superheroes achieving fantastical feats. Authors Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson, both former Marvel editors, provide a readable text that runs down Marvel's early years, its growth during WWII (lots of stories about defeating the Nazi threat), its growing pains through the 1950s (its more lurid products tamed by the Comics Code Authority), and on to the latter day, where it is still churning out wild adventures featuring characters like Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and X-Men. The text is dominated by colorful reprints of comic book covers and pages, plus samples of exploratory draftwork, photos of the artists at work and play, and plastic-encased ephemera cataloging the Marvel culture (various documents, correspondence, postcards, posters, trading cards, etc.). This wonderfully produced—and agreeably priced—gift also supplies welcome insight into a slice of pop-culture history.


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