By: Chuck Miller
comicbooks

Peanuts si, Dilbert no

By now you’ve heard that Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon strip, has been dropped by nearly every newspaper that used to run his comic – and was also dropped by his distribution syndicate.

See, when you go online and make comments about people of color being “a hate group” from whom Caucasians should “get away” from, and perpetrate that as some sort of comedian’s privilege, you’ve already lost the argument and you deserve the repercussions.

I mean, seriously. Scott Adams had it all. A successful newspaper strip and millions of dollars in merchandising. Heck, there was even a Dilbert animated series for a short while.

And he tossed it away with his putrid, racist comments. And he even inserted some of those tactless comments into his comic strip, according to the Associated Press.

Dilbert, from September 2, 2022. Created by Scott Adams. United Features Syndicate.

Ugh.

I do not need this. Not one bit.

But in a world full of Scott Adams, I’m glad there was a Charles Schulz.

Let me explain.

At one point during the run of Schulz’ successful comic strip Peanuts, someone contacted him and asked him why there weren’t any characters of color in the series. Schulz thought about it, agreed with the writer, and on July 31, 1968, a new character appeared in the Peanuts universe.

Peanuts, July 31, 1968. Created by Charles M. Schulz. United Features Syndicate.

That’s Franklin Armstrong, who from that point on became an integral member of the series. That’s not to say that Schulz didn’t run into trouble by introducing the character. Several newspapers in the South either removed Peanuts from their newspapers, or threatened to do so. Even Schulz’ own syndicate wanted the Franklin character removed.

Schulz would have none of that. Either Franklin stayed in the comic strip, or Schulz would shut the strip down himself.

The syndicate backed off, and Franklin remained in the series.

I guess the message I’m trying to convey is – we are a nation of all races and creeds and colors and religions. And it wouldn’t hurt to acknowledge that, rather than to dismiss such thoughts as being “woke” or a “social justice warrior” or some other tactless nomenclature that covers up the words these bonkbrains really want to say.

Scott Adams made a ton of money with Dilbert.

I hope he saved some of that cash. He’ll need it.