The Comic Strip

The Peanuts always had a special place in my memories. I remember growing up and watching the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials on television as a child. The simplicity and humor the shows created not only entertained me when I was young but to this day as well. As I grew up, I started reading the Peanuts comic strips. It was similar to the tv show in terms of style, comedy, and simplicity. That is why I enjoy the Peanuts and also enjoyed this week's readings. I noticed, however, a combination of simple and humorous comics such as the Peanuts alongside action packed realistic ones such as Terry and the Pirates. I saw a pattern of how these two styles of comics played out. On one hand, there is the simplistic storyline such as the Peanuts which were never really meant to be long in-depth stories. Each comic strip story was completely different and was short, humorous and to the point. Calvin and Hobbes is a similar example and shows two main characters in their day to day lives on miscellaneous adventures. Terry and the Pirates, on the other hand, had a group of characters that played out on a series of journeys that were lengthy and action-packed. Most of the time these stories would influence the next comic issue. Another example is Flash Gordon which was a story based on a space hero. These storylines are in-depth and allow the reader to become invested in the characters and storyline so that they continue to read the series in a chronological order. Another difference between these comic book styles was how they were illustrated. The Peanuts only consisted of a few lines in order to create their world whereas Terry and the Pirated comprised of realistic drawings. I noticed a trend between the simplistic and realist comics. The simplistic illustrations were based around humorous storylines whereas the Realistic ones were serious and action-packed. However, the style of the drawing doesn’t always have to influence the story. Just because the Peanuts shows very simple drawn out characters doesn’t mean the story has to be simple and comedic. Nevertheless, this was the case with a lot of simple drawn out character back then. As a cartoonist myself, It is always beneficial to read multiple styles of comics and remember that we have creative license to create whatever narrative with whatever style we want. 

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