Underground meets overground

I’ve had a lot of odd life experiences. I’ve lived on Skid Row. And I interviewed the cartoonist Charles Schulz at his studio in Santa Rosa. And a bunch of other stuff in between.

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After the interview I gave Schulz a bunch of underground comic books as a gift. I looked at it as a summit meeting. Underground cartoonist meet overground cartoonist. His studio was like a museum of the history of comics, with books of comics on shelves all the way to the ceiling. I wanted to add underground comix to his collection.

One of the comics I gave him was Dirty Laundry Comics by R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky. Charles Schulz leafed through the Dirty Laundry comic book. Until he came to the big splash panel where Aline is having sex and achieving orgasm while screaming: “AYEEE YI YI KILL ME KILL ME!!” with sweat pouring off her face. Schultz quietly closed the comic book. Put it on a shelf in his studio. We shook hands shortly after and said good-bye.

I always kind of wondered what Schulz thought about that one. Underground comix were a little outside the realm of his usual Hostess Twinkies, All-American middle-of-the-road world view. I felt a little bad, like maybe I had offended him or something. Or maybe he got a kick out of it. Who knows.

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