The most popular, and arguably the best-beloved comic strip in American history is Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz (1922 — 2000). Above is a sample of his charming artwork for the strip…
NOT!
Notice the signature in the last panel? Who is this guy Plastino?
It’s Al Plastino (1921– ), a cartoonist best known as a superhero illustrator for DC Comics characters such as Superman, Supergirl (whose debut he drew) andSuperboy:
Art by Al Plastino
At right, Al Plastino draws Superman. In the center is Joe Simon, while at right Bill Vigoda draws Archie. Photo taken at New York’s Armory in 1949
Where on Earth did this strip come from? Schulz was famously individualistic about his strip, never so much as employing assistants to ink or letter. And why choose a superhero artist like Plastino?
There are two explanations put forth.
One concerns tense 1977 contract negotiations between Schulz and his distributor to the newspapers, United Features Syndicate. Schulz wanted a bigger share of ownership. UFS was afraid he would leave the strip. In this scenario, Plastino was commissioned to take over Peanuts if Schulz walked, and a reserve of strips was built up. However, when negotiations finally worked out to Schulz’s satisfaction, Plastino’s efforts were shelved.
Plastino wasn’t as absurd a choice as might seem. He had considerable experience in comedy strips and in ghosting other cartoonists’ styles, most notably with his 19 years (1970 — 1989) on Ferd’nand:
Art by Al Plastino
The other scenario was advanced by Plastino himself. He claims the syndicate commissioned the strips in 1983, when Schulz underwent heart surgery, in case Schulz were incapacitated. But the replacement strips were never needed.
Whichever theory is correct, it’s agreed that the hiring of Plastino was kept secret from Schulz; when he learned the facts years later, he wasn’t happy. The Plastino strips were destroyed.
One more look at the Peanuts that never was:
Art by Al Plastino
Plastino has been out of comic books for forty years now; comic book fans, rather unfairly, mainly remember him as one of the infamous retouchers of Jack Kirby’s faces for Superman in Kirby’s 1970 run on Jimmy Olsen as seen below:
Pencils by Jack Kirby; Superman redrawn by Al Plastino; background figure inked by Vince Colletta
This is a pity; yet Plastino, excellent craftsman though he be, left behind no distinctive body of work. He was a chameleon.
Al Plastino in 2007
Update: In comments, Gary Groth explains the story behind the Plastino cartoons.
Ben Towle says the first is the correct story….
https://twitter.com/ben_towle/status/313999177728262144
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I don’t doubt Ben is right, actually. I got the second story off Plastino’s website… and it appears less unseemly,of course, to be succeeding a deceased cartoonist than being a pawn for corporate interests.
Something sad about Plastino.
Those peanuts strips he did actually make me a little nauseous in themselves. Obviously, he’s a skilled imitator…but it’s like watching some sort of soulless zombie imitating the living. The second one especially — Snoopy’s a vegetarian? What the hell? It doesn’t even make any sense.
You put it exactly right…maybe this was one reason the syndicate backed down from that (rather disgusting) plan.
The Plastinos in the arts are dangerous. Wittingly or unwittingly, they can serve as scabs, as in this case. Hey, Shuster, we don’t need you to draw Superman: we have Plastino to imitate you, and he even draws better than you!
The other strip is really off, too. Snoopy would never have been so gratuitously cruel to Woodstock.
Yeah…it’s just slapstick, basically, without anything else going on. Schulz would occasionally do that earlier in his career — but in large part as an excuse to show off his drawing chops and his great inky rushing lines. In the later style Plastino’s imitating, Schulz pretty much always had something weirder going on than just people (or animals) bashing each other.
I’ve always liked Plastino’s work, so theses samples were great to see.
By the way, especially liked the second strip.
De gustibus non disputandum est…
You said it Alex….
I’m curious though…what do you like about that strip, Russ?
The art was a pretty good clone, the timing of the strip was was spot-on, and, as the father of kids who have been on-again, off-again vegetarians numerous times over the years, I could really relate to the humor of the gag.
Note to the vegetarians:
1.) Lasagna is not lasagna without ground beef
2.) Most omnivores can easily differentiate between a soy burger, soy hot dog, and the real thing
3.) Soy milk and rice milk may be a “healthy alternative,’ but it tastes like crap
4.) It is, in fact, easy to tell the difference between diet soft drinks and regular pop
I should have stated above “Note to vegetarians and other heath-conscious individuals”
I dig the second strip too. Legit LOL funny, which I’ve come to realize Peanuts rarely was.
Also, I’m not an exceptionally talented artist by any stretch, but I can mimic other styles pretty well. So mad respect for Plastino on that. Nothing wrong with being a chameleon. You maybe don’t get much recognition or a standout run on anything, but being able to capably replicate a wide variety of styles is probably a *great* way to get consistently paying work if you aren’t already a big name.
Noah, your CAPTCHA system sucks dead donkeys.
I just wrote a 300-word answer on this thread, along with several relevant links…your fuckup system, although I triple-checked, wiped it all out.
Wow those two Plastino comics are seriously unfunny. Schultz could be mean to his characters but he was always sympathetic to them, too. You laughed because you recognized the absurd unfairness of the world. The Plastino comics are about being cruel to others and then laughing at their misfortune. They’re callous. The little revenges of Woodstock and Snoopy don’t really make up for that.
I mean, in another strip, sure, but turning Peanuts into this would have been the worst kind of bait-and-switch.
Argh. That sucks, Alex. I’m so sorry.
Writing in word for longer comments and saving before putting in the captcha might help. I wish we could just get rid of it…but the last time we did that I was just inundated with spam….
Every time the Captcha thing has screwed up, I’ve been able to hit the back arrow and still see my un-posted text. But I still usually write the comments in a separate text editor and then paste them in.
About the Catpchas- use Firefox! My text is saved even when I reload the page.
“Something sad about Plastino.”
Something sad about most comics hacks.
There have been many news articles over the years bemoaning the decline of the daily funnies, but I don’t think many of them have mentioned the lack of creator rights as part of the problem.
I don’t know about Gary Larson or Trudeau, but Berkeley Breathed basically lied to his syndicate in order to get ownership rights. Bill Watterson had to do a little arm twisting for his.
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AB says:
…The Plastinos in the arts are dangerous. Wittingly or unwittingly, they can serve as scabs, as in this case. Hey, Shuster, we don’t need you to draw Superman: we have Plastino to imitate you, and he even draws better than you!
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Which reminds of those studio bands in Hollywood. When, say, a TV show wants to use a famous song for its main titles and want to pay the minimum residuals to the original artists, they’ll hire a studio band and singers, experts at “copycatting,” to exactly replicate the original song. Then the TV show producers only pay for using the score and lyrics, rather than the far higher rate for the original performance.
(Described from memory; couldn’t find further details online, only these slightly-related but entertaining items:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakeBand
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120919jamestaylor )
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Noah Berlatsky says:
Writing in word for longer comments and saving before putting in the captcha might help.
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Yes, I “do” all my posts in TextEdit first, then patch ’em into the COMMENT box.
the clueless off-brand cruelty here reminds of the Little Lulu stories that immediately followed John Stanley’s last strips, discussed here. Out of character and unfunny and, for someone who really liked the strip in question, depressing. At least in Schulz’ case, no one did actually “take over” after him.
When Shulz died, my paper– the International Herald Tribune — tried to replace Peanuts with a new strip. HUNDREDS of irate letters poured in. Ever since, the Trib has been publishing reprints…eerie life-in-death…
The provenance of the Plastino Peanuts strips has been explicated and resolved. Plastino’s own explanation is wrong.
In a March 16, 2007 letter to Schulz’s widow, Jean, Robert Roy Metz, the president and CEO of United Media from 1978 to 1993, explained the circumstances surrounding the commissioned Peanuts strips by Plastino.
Schulz was renegotiating his contract with UM in the mid-’70s with the syndicate’s then-president Bill Payette. The negotiations grew increasingly contentious, with Schulz demanding approval over Peanuts licensing and Payette refusing to grant such approval rights and the two hitting loggerheads. It was during this time —probably 1975-76— that Payette commissioned the Peanuts strips from Plastino, which he intended to use in case the negotiations broke down and Schulz refused to agree to Payette’s terms. According to Metz, he (Metz) followed Payette as President of UM and “was able to reach an agreement with Schulz and his legal and business representatives on a new agreement, which remained in effect throughout his life…”
His letter can be read in full in the March 2008 issue of Alter-Ego (which was published as a corrective to Plastino’s version of events given in an interview).
Thank you, Gary!
Does anyone know the name of the Charlie Brown cartoon ;I’m almost certain it was a peanuts show) in which there was an international delegation of camp scouts from around the world; it was on a lake… There were little canoes and fireside marshmallow roasting….? Anyone know how I could find that?
I looked through http://fivecentsplease.org/tv/peanuts-tv.html#COMPLETE-SHOW-LIST (From http://fivecentsplease.org/tv/peanuts-tv.html ). I had no idea there were so many animated “Peanuts” shows!
And these were the only ones that sounded as if they might be similar to your description:
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IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN
Broadcast Date: September 27, 1969 (Saturday), 8:30 – 9:00 PM (CBS)
Synopsis:
Returning to school, the gang has to write a 500-word essay about their summer vacation. They recall going to summer camp, where the “boys camp” and “girls camp” compete against each other in swimming, softball, and other events. After several poor showings, the boys get out their secret weapon – the “Masked Marvel,” champion arm-wrestler.
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YOU’RE THE GREATEST, CHARLIE BROWN
Broadcast Date: March 19, 1979 (Monday), 8:00 – 8:30 PM (CBS)
Synopsis:
Charlie Brown competes against Freddy Fabulous from Fremont, the “Masked Marvel,” and Marcie in the ten events of the Junior Olympics Decathlon.
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A “titles only” listing at http://www.fivecentsplease.org/tv/peanuts-tv-checklist.html
Many sincere thanks to Gary Groth for clearing that up.
I really wouldn’t have liked to be the jerk who perpetuated a lie.
(I’m Alex Buchet.)
I added a link to Gary’s comment at the end of the post, so people’ll be sure to see it…
I think Peanuts would have been just fine without Snoopy and Woodstock, how much I hate them both for ruining the beloved comic strip!
You’re absolutely right.
Sheesh…why the Snoopy/Woodstock hate?
Woodstock I’ll admit was never my favorite character. But only folks with a big lump of coal where there heart should be can dislike Snoopy.
Ouch! Now I’m offended!
Serves you right!
I actually found Snoopy really creepy when I was a kid, believe it or not. Especially the fact that he was so caught up in his fantasy world that he couldn’t remember Charlie Brown’s name — but the rest of his intense fantasy world too. There’s a hint of schizophrenic dissasociation there, I think…which obviously isn’t the main point, but isn’t entirely unintentional either, I wouldn’t think.
I guess that stupid beagle Snoopy should be blamed for ruining Peanuts after all.
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