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1 CHARLES M. SCHULZ 11.26.1922 -- 2.12.2000
-- His genius lay in his mastery of the precisely placed squiggle and his ear for the grace notes of failure. A $1.1 billion-a-year empire by his death, Peanuts was nonetheless an intensely personal product for him. The melancholy that haunted Charlie Brown bubbled out of old hurts that marked Schulz deeply: the high school yearbook staff who scoffed at his art, the redhead who rejected his marriage proposal. As he wrote in 1980: ''You can't create humor out of happiness.'' ESSENTIAL WORKS Various treasuries, including Now, That's Profound, Charlie Brown (1999)
2 GIL KANE 4.6.1926 -- 1.31.2000
-- A journeyman penciler who worked on hundreds of characters over 50 years, notably Green Lantern and The Atom. In 1990, Kane realized a long-held ambition: a comic adaptation of Wagner's Ring cycle. ESSENTIAL WORK The Green Lantern Archives Vol. 2 (2000)
3 EDWARD GOREY 2.25.1925 -- 4.15.2000
-- Gorey was a pen-and-ink Poe, filling more than 100 books with sinister whimsy. In 1977, he also won a Tony for his scenic design for Dracula. His ashes were scattered at sea on a rainy day -- pleasant weather in Gorey's world. ESSENTIAL WORK Amphigorey (1972)
4 JEFF MACNELLY 9.17.1947 -- 6.8.2000
-- He won three Pulitzers skewering politicos -- not bad for a college dropout. Though MacNelly also penned a strip for the funny pages, Shoe, the op-ed pages were his true roost. ''When it comes to humor,'' he once said, ''there's no substitute for reality and politicians.'' ESSENTIAL WORK Shoe Goes to Wrigley Field (1988)
5 CARL BARKS 3.27.1901 -- 8.25.2000
-- Though he could never sign his name to his comics, per Walt Disney's rules, Barks was a legend. After starting as a Disney animator, he switched mediums in 1942 and poured his ingenuity into Donald Duck comics for 24 years. Revered among comics cognoscenti, his paintings fetch upwards of $500,000. ESSENTIAL WORK Donald Duck (1987)
6 DON MARTIN 5.18.1931 -- 1.6.2000
-- A Martin strip usually began with a line like ''One Day at the Dentist's Office,'' before diving into the toilet. His slapsticky jokes and sound effects (SPLOP!) earned him a rep as MAD's ''maddest cartoonist.'' A mild-mannered man, Martin had only one giveaway -- a license plate that read: SHTOINK! ESSENTIAL WORK Don Martin Forges Ahead (1989)
