Meeting Charlie Brown at the beach, Franklin made his impactful debut in Peanuts in 1968. Known for his quiet confidence and logical approach to things, Franklin is a close friend of Charlie Brown, and was Peanuts’ first Black character. Franklin’s friendship with Charlie Brown introduced him to the rest of the group, who he often found to be truly bizarre playmates.
In contrast to the more neurotic and fanciful Peanuts members, Franklin brings a grounded quality and level-headedness to the strip. Between Linus’ obsession with the Great Pumpkin and Snoopy’s reluctance to live in reality for five minutes, Franklin is the perfect foil to the strips’ more outlandish characters. Indeed, in these 10 hilarious strips, Franklin can’t quite believe what the other Peanuts kids get up to.
Peanuts: How Franklin’s Introduction Fixed a Glaring Mistake in the Series
Today, Franklin is an iconic member of the Peanuts gang, and his introduction in 1968 fixed a glaring mistake present in the strip from day one.
10 “True! False!”
Published in 1973
Peppermint Patty has gained a reputation for not being the sharpest tool in the shed. As a result, school is usually a challenge for her, in contrast to her more studious friends like Marcie and Franklin. Yet, at times, she finds interest in her academics. For example, in this strip, Patty gets very passionate about the true or false answers to the test. She becomes so passionate that a mystified Franklin tells her about her high volume, unsure of why she needs to be so loud.
9 “A Real Stocking Cap”
Published in 1990
Snoopy is a very unique individual who tends to live in his own world and march to the beat of his own drum. As a result, his behavior can sometimes confound those around him. Franklin, being the very practical fellow he is, is bewildered by Snoopy walking around with a sock on his head. While Linus’ nonchalant comment about Snoopy’s “real stocking cap” indicates that he has long learned to accept the beagle’s odd behavior, Franklin obviously does not care for Snoopy’s fashion statement.
8 “Are You A Real Doctor?”
Published in 1968
Lucy’s psychiatry booth is one of Peanuts‘ most famous running gags, but being new to the neighborhood, Franklin isn’t yet used to her bizarre “profession.” Hilariously, while Franklin is clearly doubtful as to Lucy’s qualifications, the “doctor” doesn’t push back, instead arguing that her street-side psychiatry is as good as the lemonade Franklin assumed she was handing out. One of Peanuts‘ best tricks is allowing reality to encroach on the kids’ fantasies at just the right moment – here, it turns out that even Lucy isn’t actually trying to argue that her advice is any good.
7 “Favorite Program”
Published in 1998
Charlie Brown and Franklin often discuss their grandfathers with each other, informing the other on their elders’ quirks and eccentricities. Based on what Charlie says in this strip, it is very likely that his grandpa is probably a great deal more strange than Franklin’s, based on the perplexed expression on his face. To be fair to Charlie Brown’s grandfather, different strokes for different folks; what is interesting to some may not always be as interesting to others.
6 “This Kind Will Always Be With Us”
Published in 1974
Franklin and Peppermint Patty, along with Marcie, are friends as well as classmates, helping one another out when they are in need. Sometimes, though, they are left on their own, such as when the teacher calls on the students for answers. Peppermint Patty is desperate not to get called on, causing her to repeat a prayer. Franklin then asks about prayer in schools, and the reaction to the question he asks encapsulates how he is utterly befuddled by Peppermint Patty and her actions.
Peanuts: 10 Best Peppermint Patty and Marcie Moments
These best buds could not be more opposite, but Peppermint Patty and Marcie have some hilarious best-friend moments in these Peanuts strips.
5 “Commercializing Christmas”
Published in 1985
The obsession with materialism around the holidays was troubling to Charlie Brown in the 1965 special A Charlie Brown Christmas. However, by the time of this 1985 strip, the commercialization of Christmas is clearly no longer a concern of Charlie Brown’s. He is selling wreaths door to door, drawing the frustration of Franklin, who alerts him to how his actions contribute to the commercialism of Christmas. Instead, Charlie assures him that it won’t become commercialization until he actually sells one, drawing only silence from a stunned Franklin. He is definitely not expecting Charlie’s retort to his pleas about Christmas and materialism.
4 “List Of Stupid Answers”
Published in 1976
Lucy is a very inquisitive child. She’s also an extremely rude one, as Franklin experiences in this 1976 comic strip. When Lucy questions Franklin about violence in sports and reports a recent ruling about hockey sticks, he reacts with an answer that Lucy thinks is undeserving of her article. While Franklin may not have had the most genius answer, Lucy’s reaction is the opposite of diplomatic. Worse, Lucy never says why his answer is no good, leaving him to have no clue about why she reacts the way she does. The result is that each character leaves this interaction believing the other is out of their mind.
3 “Education Is Important”
Published in 1974
Franklin and Peppermint Patty’s classroom scenes became a running gag for the strip. It was a successful setup, seeing how the pair are opposites, much like the other dynamic duo of Marcie and Peppermint Patty. Given the pair’s differing approaches to school, there was no shortage of Franklin being taken by surprise by Patty and her reactions. For instance, in this strip, Peppermint Patty is saying that education is important. Not because it helps in careers or daily life, but because a baseball lineup has to be punctuated, whatever that means. As a result, Franklin is not just confused but also rethinking his friendship choices.
2 “The Great Pumpkin”
Published in 1968
Linus is a bit of an oddball. He is a Van Pelt after all, it’s in his blood to be idiosyncratic. Compared to the level-headed Franklin, Linus seems even more out there than usual. In this 1968 strip, Linus introduces himself to the new kid in town, Franklin. It all begins smoothly with Linus being very friendly, and then he has to bring up the Great Pumpkin. All the neighborhood kids get annoyed and weirded out by Linus’s fascination with the nonsensical Great Pumpkin, but by this time it’s something that they’re used to. One can only imagine what is running through Franklin’s head at this moment when he’s hearing about the Great Pumpkin for the very first time.
1 “Good Grief”
Published in 1968
A strip from Franklin’s debut year, this comic shows that while Franklin eventually grows to love the Peanuts gang, that was not always the case. In fact, upon first meeting them, his impression is that the Peanuts kids are absolutely bonkers, so nuts that he wants to get out of the neighborhood. After he has run into several of the neighborhood characters, like Snoopy and Lucy, the last straw for Franklin is Linus’s chronicling of the Great Pumpkin. The nonsense is too much for Franklin to handle, which Schroeder makes even worse by revealing his own idiosyncrasies on top of everyone else’s. Franklin‘s reaction to all the chaos and strangeness of the Peanuts gang is perfectly summed up by Charlie Brown’s uttering of his iconic catchphrase, “Good grief.”
Peanuts
- Created by:
- Charles M. Schulz
- First Film:
- The Peanuts Movie
- Cast:
- Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Bill Melendez, Sally Dryer, Peter Robbins, Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Mariel Sheets, Lisa DeFaria, Venus Omega Schultheis
- TV Show(s):
- The Snoopy Show, Peanuts by Schulz
- Character(s):
- Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Sally Brown, Pig-Pen, Marcie (Peanuts), Peppermint Patty, Woodstock
- Movie(s):
- The Peanuts Movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown’s All Stars!, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
