Peanuts’ Franklin turns 40

“…Even though it was the end of the racially charged 1960s when Schulz introduced Franklin, the cartoonist wasn’t attempting any kind of political statement, and Franklin being darker than his friends was never something commented on in the strip. Franklin’s debut and the appearance a few months later of The Jackson 5, fronted by the otherworldly talented Michael Jackson, was a wonderful representation of black adolescents. Franklin proved to be wise and dignified and has never done anything he should have to apologize for except for the strange dance he did with the other kids in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’”

Not much for me to add here, except I believe the writer grossly overstates Franklin’s importance in black comics history. By all means, give Charles Schulz credit for introducing the character and making him somewhat visible, but let’s be honest: the kid’s got zero personality. He’s nowhere near as memorable as even secondary characters like Schroeder or Pig Pen - at least they’ve got a shtick of some kind.

I used to have this fantasy that if I were to take over Peanuts from Schulz, I’d make radical changes. I’d move Charlie Brown, Sally and Snoopy into Peppermint Patty’s neighborhood and center the series around Chuck, PP and Marcie, and Franklin would fill Linus’ role as CB’s best friend. And I would’ve given him a personality, you can be sure of that!

And as far as historical significance, there are others whom I would place way before Franklin - Morrie Turner’s Nipper, Brumsic Brandon’s Luther, and yes, sports fans, even Will Eisner’s Ebony. Still, who am I to gripe? He’s made it this far.