Whats new, Charlie Brown?
——————————————————————- By Irfan Husain ACCORDING to one old proverb, “Children and fools speak the truth”; according to another, “Children and fools have merry lives.” The children in the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip do both, but they are also subject to melancholy, disappointment and despair. In short, they reflect the human condition with its wide emotional spectrum. Day after day, these cartoon characters entertained and instructed millions of readers as the syndicated strip was published in 2,600 newspapers around the world. The recent retirement of Charles Schultz, the creator of ‘Peanuts’ fifty years after he launched his lovable characters, will leave a big gap. Charlie Brown, the hapless Everyman, is constantly at the receiving end of stinging barbs and snubs from the acid-tongued Lucy. In one memorable series, she balances an (American) football on the ground and invites Charlie Brown to kick it, only to pull it away at the last moment. Ti
