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The Cartoonists ..In The Zone . .Emotional Chaos . .Number 9

Weekly Column by Brian Codagnone

July 16, 2009

REVENGE IS SWEET, CHARLIE BROWN

Anyone who grew up in reading the comics in the 1960s would agree that if you wanted a realistic view of childhood it wasn't The Family Circus or Miss Peach, it was Peanuts. It wasn't the first strip to portray childhood as something other than moonbeams and rainbows, of course; Percy Crosby's "Skippy" comes to mind. Childhood is a Darwinian struggle where kids have anxieties, neuroses, fears, dreams and pressures. Okay, it's not a Dickensian nightmare unless you grew up as a street urchin in Victorian London or had to continually hear stories of the Great Depression. On the whole the average kid's life is closer to the experiences of Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Sally than Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. As a lifelong fan of the strip, I've often wonder what would happen if Charlie Brown hadn't been so good natured. What if the stress and anxiety, the late nights of staring up at the ceiling finally caught up with him?

Charlie Brown woke up that morning with a mission. He had had enough abuse, not only on the baseball diamond but also at the hands of the kids in the neighborhood. They blamed every loss on his poor pitching. Okay, he admitted to himself that he wasn't a great pitcher, every batter seemed to rip the very clothes off his back as he spun in the air. But he was always optimistic, never gave up, never quit. Still, he knew they held it against him because every Halloween he got a sack of rocks instead of candy. Good grief, he thought. But he had saved them all from every humiliating trick or treating session, piling them in his room as a grim altar to his pain. Now he was going to put some of those rocks to good use. For as long as he could remember that bitch Lucy had pulled the football out from under him. Sap that he was, he fell for it every time. Lucy was the she-devil of the neighborhood; Lucifer in a pink dress. She'd offer to hold the ball again but this time there'd be no second chances, this time HE'D have the upper hand! After a light breakfast he stepped out into the bright morning sun. Picking up the heavy sack and his worn leather football, he knew that Lucy would be down at the playground. He walked down the sidewalk of the seemingly benign neighborhood, the scene of so many cruel torments at the hands of the other kids and the "WAH WAH WAH" of the adults as they took no notice. It was as if they didn't exist except as off screen voices. Well, they'd notice now. They'd all notice. He spied Lucy at next to the water fountain talking to Violet and the boneless cat she always seemed to be carrying. Lucy saw the football and once again offered to hold it for Charlie Brown to kick. Playing the innocent fool, he agreed. Good Old Charlie Brown. After today they'd never call him that again. Lucy was so focused on the thrill of pulling away the ball once again that she barely noticed the sack in Charlie Brown's hand. As he ran up she could barely contain her glee at the frustration and humiliation she would inflict on him. But this time, at long last, the surprise was hers. Charlie Brown stopped short of the ball, gave her a knowing look and with one swing struck her with the sack of rocks. Once he started, the satisfaction flowed through him like electricity, gaining power with each blow. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! It's how Lizzie Borden must have felt, he thought as the warm blood and brain matter splashed him, the ultimate power, the taking of a human life. The exhilaration was almost too much to bear as he struck again and again and again. Then it was over. It was as though a great weight were lifted off his shoulders He gently put down the blood sodden bundle and calmly waited for the police, thumbing through an old copy of "Catcher in the Rye". He should have been shocked by the carnage he had wrought, but he was curiously detached. He stayed there until the police came, quietly reading his book, relieved, almost happy. He'd never really been happy until now. For once his stomach didn't hurt and he wasn't filled with dread. This is how peace of mind feels, he thought. Revenge is sweet.

The other kids gathered around, happy in their own unspoken way that they were rid of the harpy. "It's funny", said Schroeder as they led Charlie Brown to the police car, "I always though Linus would be the one to snap first".

EMOTIONAL CHAOS ARCHIVES

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