A Decade After Its Creator’s Death, Schulz’s Final Peanuts Strip Remains One of His Best

On February 13, 2000, the last Peanuts strip drawn by Charles Schulz appeared. The very next day, he died of a heart attack, aged 77. The coincidence of his death following so closely after publication of his final work continues to astonish readers.

Shermy and Patty’s Debut

Peanuts debuted on October 2, 1950. The first strip introduced Shermy and Patty, two largely forgotten characters. Shermy repeats “Good ol’ Charlie Brown” in every panel before the punchline: “How I hate him!” It is a strip that plays with expectation, and it shows what Schulz could do from the very beginning.

The strip predated Peanuts by a few years. A similar comic ran in Minnesota’s St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1947 to 1950. It was called Li’l Folks, and it starred cute little children. Schulz quit that comic when his editor refused to raise his $10 per comic. The national cartoon syndicator United Feature Syndicate liked the comic but needed to change its name because of a 1930s comic strip called Little Folks. Peanuts became the name, inspired by The Howdy Doody Show, where the studio audience of children was called the “Peanut gallery.”

Daily Run and Its End

Peanuts ran daily in seven newspapers for 50 years, and it eventually reached over 2,600. Its final daily strip appeared on January 1, 2000. That last strip showed the kids engaged in a snowball fight while Snoopy inspected a snowball on his own. The caption read: “Suddenly the dog realized that his dad had never taught him how to throw snowballs.”

The shaky lines in that comic were a direct result of Schulz’s struggles with drawing. His health had taken a serious turn: he had suffered a series of strokes and was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Chemotherapy became part of his treatment plan, but his declining vision ultimately forced him to stop.

On December 14, 1999, Schulz announced his retirement. He explained that the decision was not his own. His family insisted that Peanuts should not be carried on by another person, and that was why he made the announcement.

The Farewell Message

Monday, January 3, saw 2000 Schulz close out his daily run of images with Snoopy sitting at his typewriter. The text opened with the words “Dear Friends…”.

For nearly 50 years, I have had the good fortune to draw Charlie Brown and his companions. This work was always my childhood goal, and it has been realized through the daily comic strip. Now, however, I am no longer capable of sustaining the pace required by such a demanding schedule. My family does not want Peanuts to go on with someone else taking over, so I am declaring my retirement. Throughout the years, I have been thankful for the loyalty of our editors and for the wonderful support and love expressed to me by the fans of the comic strip. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy — how can I ever put these characters out of mind?

The Sunday Finish

Because Sunday strips were prepared several weeks in advance, five more Sunday strips ran after Schulz’s farewell message. Then, on February 13, 2000, a Sunday version of the same farewell ran. It added an introduction with Charlie Brown on the phone saying “No, I think he’s writing…” followed by a second image of Snoopy at the typewriter. Below that, the same message was bordered by some of the best, most memorable Peanuts images from the last 50 years.

That would be the official final Peanuts comic ever.

What the Timing Means

Peanuts didn’t end with a bang. It ended with a quiet farewell and then a death. Schulz had finished drawing a month earlier. He died just one day before his final strip’s release. The timing was poetic, but it was not planned. Schulz was near the end of his life at 77, and there was simply no way he could plan this timing so perfectly.

The last Peanuts strip appeared on February 13, the very day after Schulz passed away from a heart attack. If he had stayed healthy, he certainly would have kept drawing the comic for years. So the story ended not with a fitting conclusion, but with a sad, all too human close.

Many people inferred meaning behind the timing.

“No, I think he’s writing…”

The last comic Schulz created remains a work of lasting significance. It pays tribute to the creator of Peanuts with real fondness, spanning his very first strip right through to his final farewell.

The book remains well worth a read, and it continues to inspire gratitude in anyone who takes the time to read it.

See the video the story is built around at Polygon.

Charles Schulz · comic strip · farewell · final strip · Peanuts