One of DC's bestselling writers, Tom King, has declared that Charles Schulz's iconic comic strip dark transformation of Danger Street, existential horror Mister Miracle, and a ton of Batman stories over the past ten years. He's become synonymous with DC Comics as one of the publisher's most bankable writers. However, his favorite comic of all time doesn't come from any of DC's arsenal of heroes and villains.
In a YouTube interview with Charlie Brown from Peanuts that he says he got from an amusement park outside Washington, D.C. King replies:
I personally think that Peanuts is the best comic of all time in of combining pictures with words. I think Charles Schulz is the absolute best of the best. My oldest son is named Charlie, that's how deep my nerd goes.
Tom King Hails Charlie Brown and Peanuts
When taking a look at some of Schulz's work, it's easy to see what King means. There are countless scenarios throughout the series that have become iconic simply for how they mix humorous imagery with profound dialogue, never wasting a word or . It's easy for comics to skew one way or another - becoming inundated with dialogue or just a showcase for great art - but the art form exists in its purest form in how these two elements are combined. Whether it's Charlie Brown finding reason to kick the football from Lucy or a heartwarming comic where Charlie reunites with Snoopy, the balance of language and art culminate in a world that stands the test of time. King names Charlie Brown his favorite character, saying, "of course, who would guess I'd love the thing about the sad boy who's nervous all the time?"
Tom King's Love for Peanuts Goes Beyond the Page
What's even sweeter about King's love for Peanuts is that its influence has found its way into his every day life and work. King states that his love for the strip has appeared to rub off on his three children as he explains they "very much are personality-wise Charlie, Lucy and Linus." King's Batman run also famously foregrounded DC's Kite Man, real name Charles Brown, who was created as a reference to Peanuts' kite-eating tree.
Tom King's talented voice has paved the way for exceptional new stories, plucking many DC figures from obscurity and giving them new depth. In this context, his love for Peanuts as an everyday, domestic comedy where each character has their own internal life can be seen to exist at the core of his superhero work. The adventures of Charlie Brown and friends can be deceptively simple at first glance, but Tom King is right to observe how the strip has always been utterly at home in artfully combining words and images, and it's fascinating to know how Peanuts has helped inspire one of DC's most definitive modern writers.
Source: Ashley V. Robinson, Popverse
