Jess Harrold Mashes Up Marvel & Peanuts!

Two great comic legacies in one piece of art!

That’s one way to describe the recent spate of illustrations that artist Jess Harrold has done.Harrold has taken the iconic characters of Charles Schulz’ Peanuts and re-cast them in the costumes and poses of some of Marvel’s most iconic images. The series, which he calls “Peanuts Meets Marvel,” was originally done as a bit of online fun. Since then, however Harrold’s gotten much acclaim online for them and was even chosen to exhibit some of these at the Charles M. Schulz Museum for the “Pop’d From The Panel” exhibition in 2011.

“Peanuts strips and Marvel comic books have been part of my life for as long as I can remember,” said Harrold on his new blog. “As soon as he could trust me not to destroy them, my father shared with me his Peanuts collections and 1960s comics – it would only be half in jest to say that Charles Schulz and Stan Lee taught me to read! There’s certainly little doubt that Schulz and Marvel artists such as Jack Kirby, John Romita and John Buscema inspired me to draw, from the first day I could pick up a pencil. Some three decades on, it’s the writing that pays the bills, as I work as a freelance journalist, primarily covering legal matters in London’s Royal Courts of Justice.”

Harrold explains that it was a friend who first made him realize “many parallels” between Peanuts and Marevel’s superheroes, which put him on the path to create these Marvel/Peanuts mash-up.

“At their heart, Charlie Brown and Peter Parker are ultra-responsible, luckless losers with a thing for red-haired girls,” hepoints out. “You wouldn’t like Lucy when she’s crabby, any more than Bruce Banner. And just how much would Linus totally dig a cape? Originally painted, animation cel style, on clear plastic acetate, I showed a few of these crazy hybrids on an online forum, and, when folks enjoyed them, I carried on. Single character crossovers gave way to more elaborate marriages, including group shots and full blown homages to classic Marvel covers, Peanuts style.”

Here is a selection of some of the stand-out pieces Harrold has done for “Peanuts Meets Marvel,” and after you’re done visit his new blog to see more as he posts them.