There isn't a soul on the planet that hasn't heard of good ol' Charlie Brown and company.
Almost 60 years beyond its humble beginnings, and ten years past the death of its equally famous
creator, Peanuts is still a very hot commodity. It's safe to say that its brilliant architect,
Charles Schulz, was one of a kind, a true giant of the industry.
At the peak of its popularity, somewhere between the late 1960's and early 80's, Peanuts was read
by more than 350 million people, in 21 languages spanning 75 countries. That bears repeating. 350
million people! Spreading out the Funnies in the Sunday newspaper was a weekly ritual, faithfully
performed by the young and old across the face of America, and maybe a good portion of the world.
There wasn't a respectable city in the states that didn't boast at least one major newspaper,
and many of the larger ones carried two or more. That time of course, has passed. Newspapers are
now in decline, replaced by a steadily increasing supply of newsfeeds, blogs, and whatever
Flavor-of-the-Day happens to catch our fancy.
Others have lamented this sorry state of affairs. That's not why I'm here. Such is the evolution of
technology. I'm wondering, however, where this leaves the next generation of promising young
cartoonists. In its heyday, the daily newspaper was a haven for those elite creators lucky and
talented enough to sign on with a major syndicate. National syndication was the Holy
Grail for any aspiring comic strip artist worth his salt. The market was established. You had, in
a sense, a captive audience. Everybody bought the daily paper and every paper featured a comics
page. It was a comfortable and, very often, lucrative career for the syndicated artists and
writers, and they were very well known. You could even say, famous which brings me to my point.
Will there ever be another cartoonist as famous as Mr. Schulz? There were others, of course
household names like Al Capp, Milton Caniff and Gary Hart. These guys were like rock stars to
the rest of us. Schulz stood alone at the top of that pyramid, a shining example of how far a
great idea could take you.
Oh sure, there are any number of popular cartoon features today, an endless supply of animated
movies, TV shows, comic books, graphic novels and manga series. How many of those artists can you
name? Those working in the field can list of good number of them. That's what we do. Of
course we know them. I'm talking about the huddled masses out there. I doubt that your
average reader could name a single one, with the exception of Matt Groening, who created The
Simpsons.
The field, so to speak, has been glutted. The genie's out of the bottle. With the inevitable
death of the aforementioned newspapers, the world turns to the internet to get its cartoon fix.
On any given day you can find hundreds, even thousands, of wonderfully talented creators on
the web. These passionate souls are pouring their hearts into their creations and turning out some
very professional work. It's updated daily, all in glorious color and you have the distinct
advantage of interacting directly with most of them. Webcomics are tremendously popular among
comics fans. The best of the lot can attract thousands of loyal followers and extend their
reach around the world. Having said that, they really constitute a niche market.
The problem is that there's just so much of it. These fantastic artists are lost in a virtual
(pardon the pun) sea of mediocrity. Anybody and everybody can post their work. There's no
gatekeeper, no arbiter, nobody to serve as judge and jury, weeding out the half-hearted pretenders
from the qualified publishers who put out an entertaining product.
Of course, that's the beauty of it. The freedom is empowering to the many talented cartoonists
who never got their shot, but it truly is a double-edged sword. Because there is no central
agency, no single portal acknowledged by one and all as the comic strip nexus, web cartoonists
are doomed to expend their energies finding a way to stand out. To date, nobody has emerged as a
comics superstar, known beyond the limited realm of comics fans. We're in a transition, and I
think it will take some time to work itself out... to evolve into a system that allows
webcomic creators to work at their chosen trade and even make a decent living.
One thing is certain, though. No more rock stars.
Kind of sad, isn't it?
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