Overview

• The comic strip debuted on October 2, 1950, marking its 75th anniversary today.
• Charles M. Schulz drew the series for nearly five decades, producing close to 18,000 individual strips.
• Current coverage highlights grotesque comedy that grapples with bullying, depression and self-doubt across its child characters.
• Analysts tie the work’s emotional tenor to Schulz’s life, including his military service and a painful separation, which he said sharpened his best strips.
• Commentators describe an early era of brutal child dynamics reflecting postwar competition that later softened, with Charlie Brown becoming more philosophical and Snoopy emerging as a speaking, poet-like figure.