So once again they’re going to have a Peanuts pop-up “experience” (read: interesting display, with some items for sale) that is near but outside the convention, which means it will be open to folks who were not able to get into the con itself. This year, it’s themed “All Things Armstrong”, and will focus both on Franklin Armstrong (a name he was only given in animated materials, but that’s good enough for me) and The Armstrong Project, which is the Peanuts team’s support efforts at historically Black colleges. They’ll be showing a short film of JumpStart cartoonist Robb Armstrong (for whom Franklin was given his last name) talking to Harriet Glickman (the woman who encouraged Schulz to add a Black character to the strip.) I saw a preview of this short at Harriet’s memorial, and it was nice.
The products available there will include the standard Super7 action figure of Franklin, and a couple of exclusive items: a Franklin pin, and a Franklin-and-Charlie Brown beach towel.
The pop-up will be at 200 J. Street, open Thursday, July 21 – Sunday, July 24 from 10am-6pm daily.
There will also be two panels at the location, “An Evening with Robb Armstrong” on Thursday, July 21 at 7pm, and “Talking Iconic Black Comic Characters” on Friday, July 22 at 7pm. There is limited room for each – visit the pop-up during opening hours to learn more about attending.
