Ow! Bam! Good Grief!: Comics and Politics

Abstract

Ow! Bam! Good Grief!: Comics and Politics Lori Clune (bio) Blake Scott Ball, Charlie Brown’s America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. xii + 256 pp. Images, notes, bibliography, and index. $34.95. Paul S. Hirsch, Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021. 344 pp. Images, notes, bibliography, and index. $30.00. A few weeks ago, I needed a new pair of sneakers. Responding to social media ads, I explored the touted Cariuma shoes website. The first to pop up was emblazoned with Snoopy atop his iconic doghouse. Why did this mod, eco-friendly footwear company choose to display Snoopy and other recognizable Peanuts characters not seen in new comic-strip format in more than twenty years? Why are Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock still popular well into the twenty-first century? Why do some comics resonate? What do they reveal about American society? And how, in light of all of those questions, can historians use comics? The scholar Eric Avila defines cultural history as “the history of stories, their origins, transmission, and significance in time. Lost voices,” he explains, help widen the “definition of what constitutes historical evidence” and highlight culture as “a driving force in history.”1 Comics are an example of a relatively overlooked cultural historic source. In both the book and strip format, comics are accessible cultural products that succeed or fail in how much they resonate with readers. They provide unique insights into politics and culture, both in the United States and abroad. They are compelling avenues for scholarly exploration for historians and our students. The Venn diagram of politics and culture has become the sweet spot for an increasing number of scholars. Many U.S. historians have shifted to looking at war, death, racism, sexism, and nukes through the lens of cultural products. While these scholars may look longingly at seemingly lighthearted historical sources—such as cartoons, television shows, and games—the dark side of humanity can seep into any crevice. The role sexism played in the creation of Monopoly (The Landlord’s Game, 1904); childhood polio and iron lungs and [End Page 416] the gameplay in Candyland (1948); how Johnny Carson groping Eva Gabor on The Tonight Show sparked the popularity of Twister (1966); racism and sexism in the original Oregon Trail (1971); strategically planning nuclear destruction in Balance of Power (1985).2 Cultural products can help historians tell a richer, fuller social and political story. Scholars Blake Scott Ball and Paul S. Hirsch each embrace this overlap of culture and politics and take what is often seen as populist and disposable foolishness—Peanuts and comic books—in their capable hands to create compelling and enlightening lenses through which to view modern American history. In Charlie Brown’s America, Blake Scott Ball provides a “biography of Peanuts’ cultural life” by examining the popular comic strip. Neatly covering 1950 to 2000, Ball uses Peanuts as an effective lens through which to view Cold War America (p. 3). In addition to the strips themselves, Ball makes great use of thousands of pieces of fan mail and other letters sent to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. By capturing the voices of these ordinary folks, Ball is able to add their opinions and give an indication of how the comic strip was received. Ball argues that through Peanuts’ characters Schulz was able to channel “Americans’ dreams, hopes, fears, and worries” and comment on social and political issues in post-WWII America (p. 3). Chapter Two, for example, explores the Cold War origins of Peanuts. As someone who grew up reading Peanuts, I was surprised how deftly Schulz reflected the Cold War in his strips. It is now difficult to see Linus’s omnipresent blanket as anything but an expression of Cold War anxiety. And J. Edgar Hoover really had signed original Peanuts strips hanging in his office? One wonders which ones! On June 18, 1954, just two years after the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb, Peanuts characters grappled with fear of the bomb by integrating it into their play. Charlie Brown explains, “We’re playing ‘H-Bomb test.’” Three panels later Lucy roars...