Peppermint Patty's Last Peanuts Strip Is Still An Absolute Work Of Art Even 26 Years Later

Published Aug 26, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Few comic strip creators had a sendoff quite like Charles M. Schulz for his legendary series, Peanuts. His iconic characters enjoyed a ubiquitous presence in newspapers worldwide as the series bowed out just ahead of Valentine's Day 2000. Looking back on his final months with the series, every strip surrounding both Schulz's retirement letter strip and the final release now stirs up a wistful sort of nostalgia as fans understand that this was his way of saying goodbye to his iconic creations assembled over nearly 50 years of relentless serialization. But starting on January 2, 2000, the real shift started happening as the beginning of the end took hold. The strip itself was the final new Sunday release before the letter signifying his retirement the next day, delivered by World-Famous Author Snoopy, kicking off daily rerun strips and six previously-unreleased Sunday stories before the final goodbye on February 13. It functioned not only as the last strip featuring Peppermint Patty and Marcie, but a sendoff for the football-themed Peanuts strips as well. 26 years later, its surprising poignant delivery hits differently for longtime readers and newcomers alike, so much so that it's worth revisiting more closely. On the January 2, 2000 Peanuts comic strip, Peppermint Patty is seen staring into the rain while lying in the mud, believing her friends like Charlie Brown are out there with her, unseen through the intense downpour. But as Marcie rains on Patty's parade in a different way by the end, the tone takes a noticeable shift as Marcie suggests Patty goes home, with the "it's getting dark" line in the third-last panel now taking on a more ominous vibe. Patty reflects on the experience in what almost feels like Schulz speaking directly to the reader, asking, "We had fun, didn't we, Marcie?" before ultimately lamenting that it didn't feel like the game properly ended; no handshakes, no "Good game," it was over before she knew it. October 2, 1950 – February 13, 2000 · 17,897 Strips How Well Do You Know Peanuts? “Good grief!” ⚾Charlie BrownGood Ol’ Chuck 🐕SnoopyThe Flying Ace 🧣LinusSecurity Blanket 🏈LucyPsychiatric Help 🐥WoodstockBest Friend PLAY BALL → 01 Before Peanuts launched in 1950, Charles M. Schulz drew a weekly cartoon panel for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. What was it called? ALi’l Folks BSmall Fry CThe Sandlot DJust Kids ✓ Correct! Li’l Folks ran from 1947 to 1950. When the syndicate renamed the new strip “Peanuts,” Schulz hated the title for the rest of his life. ✗ Not quite! It was Li’l Folks — and Schulz never forgave United Feature for rechristening his strip “Peanuts.” NEXT → 02 Which member of the gang is almost never seen without his security blanket — and waits every year in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin? ASchroeder BLinus van Pelt CPig-Pen DShermy ✓ Correct! Linus — Lucy’s little brother, the strip’s resident theologian, and the reason “security blanket” entered the dictionary. ✗ Not quite! It’s Linus van Pelt, whose blanket gave the English language the term “security blanket.” NEXT → 03 Schroeder hammers away at his toy piano in devotion to a single composer — whose bust sits on top of it. Who? AJohann Sebastian Bach BWolfgang Amadeus Mozart CLudwig van Beethoven DFrédéric Chopin ✓ Correct! Beethoven. Schroeder even observes Beethoven’s birthday every December 16 — while ignoring Lucy entirely. ✗ Not quite! It’s Beethoven — the one thing in the world Schroeder loves more than tuning out Lucy. NEXT → 04 When Snoopy climbs onto his doghouse in goggles and a scarf, he becomes the World War I Flying Ace — forever hunting which nemesis? AThe Cat Next Door BThe Head Beagle CThe Great Pumpkin DThe Red Baron ✓ Correct! The Red Baron — and the Sopwith Camel doghouse always goes down in flames, sending the Ace off to curse him in a French café. ✗ Not quite! It’s the Red Baron. Snoopy’s doghouse is a Sopwith Camel, and it never once wins the dogfight. NEXT → 05 Lucy runs a curbside psychiatric help booth out of a lemonade stand. What does she charge per session? A1¢ B5¢ C10¢ D25¢ ✓ Correct! Five cents, please. The nickel never went up in 50 years — and the advice was never once worth it. ✗ Not quite! It’s 5¢ — “The doctor is in.” Lucy held that price for half a century. NEXT → 06 Snoopy’s tiny yellow best friend went unnamed for years before Schulz finally christened him. What was he named after? AA brand of birdseed BSchulz’s hometown in Minnesota CThe 1969 Woodstock music festival DA character from a Beethoven opera ✓ Correct! Woodstock got his name in 1970, borrowed straight from the music festival held the summer before. ✗ Not quite! He’s named for the 1969 Woodstock festival — Schulz gave the bird the name in 1970, years after he first appeared. NEXT → 07 The jazz score for A Charlie Brown Christmas — including the immortal “Linus and Lucy” — was written by which musician? AVince Guaraldi BDave Brubeck CHenry Mancini DDuke Ellington ✓ Correct! Pianist Vince Guaraldi scored the 1965 special, and network executives were sure the jazz soundtrack would sink it. It became a permanent holiday fixture. ✗ Not quite! It’s Vince Guaraldi, whose trio gave Peanuts its unmistakable sound. NEXT → 08 Schulz drew every Peanuts strip himself for nearly 50 years. What made the final original Sunday strip — February 13, 2000 — so haunting? ACharlie Brown finally kicked the football BThe Little Red-Haired Girl was shown at last CIt was the only strip Schulz left unfinished DIt ran the morning after Schulz died ✓ Correct! Schulz died the evening of February 12, 2000 — and his farewell strip, signed off with “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy... how can I ever forget them,” appeared in papers the very next morning. ✗ Not quite! Schulz died on February 12, 2000 — hours before his own farewell strip ran in the Sunday papers. SEE YOUR SCORE → The Doctor Is In · Five Cents, Please Your Peanuts Report Card ⚾ / 8 Good grief — or good ol’ Charlie Brown? Either way, the football is still there. Wanna try again? ⤴ ONE MORE KICK It's oddly haunting and hardly needs much of a change in perspective to see the tone Schulz captures in this Peanuts strip. It's arguably even too sad to have possibly been included in the final collage of memory panels from February 13, 2000, shortly falling after Schulz's passing after his battle with cancer. Instead of other instances of finality like Charlie and Sally Brown's last appearances talking about love letters, or Snoopy's last time writing as the World-Famous Author, Peppermint Patty and Marcie's memory panel featured a lighter moment shared in class together. It sets a similarly nostalgic tone, while avoiding the positively heartbreaking potential of many panels from the January 2 strip. Peanuts' Final Weeks Took An Especially Sad Tonal Shift With This January Strip When looking back on Peanuts before and after the final Peppermint Patty and Marcie strip, it's almost impressive how quickly Schulz was able to have readers persuaded that this was a true, unequivocal goodbye tour. The January 1 strip alone shows a far more innocent, playful tone as these same two characters get into a snowball fight with Linus and Charlie Brown, their final gathering together. Even the common trivia about the lettering being done via computer due to Schulz's health feels like an insufficient primer for the emotional wrecking ball that would come over the following weeks. December 1999 even felt relatively routine before and after the more formal retirement announcement on December 14, but between his faltering vision amid chemotherapy treatments and overall declining health, these never told the full story. While Schulz made his final goodbyes both in his January 3 letter, and what'd become his posthumous encore farewell on February 13, strips like the final football story felt like an authentic glimpse into his grieving mind, trying to see through the obstructions ahead and say goodbye to his friends one last time. While Schulz certainly did exactly that, Peanuts comic strips like these are a strong reminder to readers to treasure those close to them and not let life pass them by. TV Show(s) The Snoopy Show, Peanuts by 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 Created by Charles M. Schulz 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 Character(s) Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Sally Brown, Pig-Pen, Marcie (Peanuts), Peppermint Patty, Woodstock