Charles Schulz left an indelible mark on comics when he created Peanuts, and many current writers and artists are still paying tribute to him. While some may match the original series' heartwarming tone in their tributes, other artists love to share dark Peanuts parodies, imagining more unsettling versions of the beloved, wholesome characters.
In a new comic posted on X, Sally Forth and Judge Parker writer Francesco Marciuliano takes the latter approach, as seen in this comic that envisions Snoopy as a cat. Without showing what happened to poor canary Woodstock, the joke hits readers with Charlie Brown's shocked reaction.
Cat Snoopy is as nonplussed as any real-life cat. He states that he just wanted to give his owner a "gift," as cats are wont to do with small animals they've hunted.
Peanuts Has Had Its Share Of Dark Parodies
Francesco Marciuliano is no stranger to Peanuts or cats. He wrote I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats and its many sequels, and the newly released Oh. It's You: Love Poems by Cats. On his website, he writes, "It’s become a cliché for cartoonists or comic strip lovers to say what an enormous impact Peanuts has had on their lives, but that only speaks to the genius of both Charles Schulz and his creation." "Snoopy as a Cat" was posted to X to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of Snoopy's first appearance in Peanuts on October 3 1950.
Marciuliano has created many dark Peanuts parodies as part of his webcomic Medium Large. He has imagined Sally Brown going bald like her brother, Linus Van Pelt leaving sacrifices for The Great Pumpkin, and Charlie Brown himself as a terrifying Twilight Zone monster. Over the years, many artists' tributes to the pivotal influence of Peanuts have come in the form of dark takes on Charles Schulz' work. Gary Larson's Far Side comic famously contained one of the grimmest Peanuts jokes ever. In another Far Side strip featuring the demise of Snoopy finds him having been shot down by another ace pilot.
Snoopy As A Cat Is An All-Time "What If..."
Snoopy was based on Charles Schulz's real-life boyhood dog, Spike, and is likely at the top of the list in terms of iconic representations of canines in pop culture. Imagining Snoopy as a cat – while it sets up a great punchline in Marciuliano's comic, delivered in a style that is a pitch-perfect representation of Charles Schulz' humor – will feel wrong to many readers. Still, it is one of the great counterfactuals of 20th-century art; asking what American culture, and beyond, would be like if Snoopy was a cat is not something many would contemplate, but Francesco Marciuliano's Peanuts' parody dares to ask the question for everyone.
Source: Francesco Marciuliano