The current Dennis the Menace could slide right in with the cherubs on "The Family Circus," but back in the day he was a real Hellion. And there was no Ritalin back then either, so I'm surprised that his parents weren't baldheaded alcoholics.
Peanuts paperbacks were some of the first books I ever bought -- from Weekly Reader books or whoever those people were who sold books to first and second graders. It amazes now that I would have spent my money thusly, since there was a lot of stuff in there I didn't get. Peanuts seems like maybe the most grown-up comic strip despite the fact that were no grownups in it. Maybe I didn't realize how much I wasn't getting, but I got enough to find some of the strips disturbing. If you have any empathy at all it's tough to watch Charlie Brown strive and strive and constantly fail at everything -- even getting a GD Valentine, for God's sake! Another strip that I think made me cry when I first read it and I know I've never forgotten has a bunch of the kids walking somewhere and then noticing that somebody is following behind them, someone they call a big baby and not old enough to hang with them. Turns out it's Charlie Brown (of course) and he says something like, "Actually I'm older than them. They're referring to my emotional immaturity."Rough stuff.
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