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Even after the death of Charles Schulz, "Peanuts" remains a dominant franchise. That may stifle the next generation.
FOUR"EARS AGO, WHEN BILL WATTERSON STOPPED DRAWING
"Calvin & Hobbes," creating a rare large opening on the comics pages of newspapers worldwide, Scott Adams was in the right ee at the right time. His "Dilbert" grabbed many of the nearly 2,D0 slots that became available when "Calvin & Hobbes" ended.
So, since "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz retired in December-and then died in February-the industry has been rife with speculation about who, if anyone, could take his place.
Which strip is replacing "Peanuts" in comic sections? The answer, surprisingly, is ..."Peanuts:'
According to United Media, 2,460 of the 2,600 newspaper clients Schulz had in 1999 are still publishing reruns of his work. "That's more than we expected," says United Media vice president/sales and marketing Lisa Klem Wilson, who now believes newspapers will carry the United-distributed reruns for years.
She notes that the immense outpouring of reader affection and media coverage after Schulz's death caused a number of papers to rethink their plans to drop the "Peanuts" reruns. In some markets, weeklies or monthlies picked up the comic after dailies dropped it.
The staying power of "Peanuts" may not please younger cartoonists trying to break into newspapers, but many readers like the familiar sight of Schulz's comic. "People are revisiting the friends they've enjoyed, just like they watch the same videos over and over, and reread their favorite books," says Lucy Shelton Caswell, curator of the Cartoon Research Library at Ohio State University.
Wilson acknowledges that the "Peanuts" client list "might go down a little every month," while observers outside of United said the total could shrink more than a little at some point after what would have been the comic's 50th anniversary in October.
"I think it will trail off over time. How fast, no one can say" says King Features Syndicate editor in chief Jay Kennedy.
"I can't fathom that the reruns will go on indefinitely; says Creators Syndicate President Rick Newcombe. "Anything you can see in newspapers you can find in books" referring to the many "Peanuts" collections.
But for now, there aren't a whole lot of comic section slots vacated by "Peanuts." The 140 that...