Rating: 
Summary: HOW I HATE HIM!!!!
Review: For those of us who experienced Peanuts in its heyday (the 1970s and 1980s) it's almost inconcievable that at one time Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and "the Peanuts Gang" were considered edgy and cutting edge; that intellectuals applauded the freshness and depth of the strip. If you're shocked at all by this notion, then David Michaelis' essay "The Life and Times of Charles M. Schulz" included in this book will be eye-popping, neuron-bending reading. Apart from arguing that Peanuts was an intellectual revelation for the comics, the piece also exposes Schulz as someone who was deeply uncomfortable with his fame, who felt "abnormal" in his role as master cartoonist, and felt that he had a responsibility towards his fan base. You will not think of Peanuts in the same light at all when you finish reading it.The book overall is amazing. Every single Peanuts cartoon printed between October 1950 (when the strip debuted) and December 31st, 1952 is included. This also includes Sunday strips, which don't begin until January 1952 (they're not in color, but I'm not sure if they were originally printed in color). There's also a nice introduction by Garrison Keillor (another famous Minnesotan), and a rather lengthy and indepth interview with Schulz from 1987. Lastly, there's an index in which readers can find out which pages include strips that mention "crying" or "filibuster" or which pages include strips that Snoopy appear in, or Linus. If you're desperate to find a Peanuts strip from 1950 to 1952 in which Santa Claus in mentioned, this index will save your life. Otherwise, it's a curious addendum to a great collection of strips. The strips themselves are of course the reason to buy the book in the first place, and they reveal quite a bit. Peanuts was edgy in the early days, sometimes even surreal. The kids were downright cruel and nasty to one another; even Charlie Brown had an attitude. Some of them seem to show strange glimpses of human nature at work. The fact that Schulz used kids that weren't really "kids" is how he gets away with it all. Had the strip been drawn as a group of adults it wouldn't have made it out of the inkwell. It also wouldn't have worked if the kids were really "kids" - what children use words such as "trite"; what toddlers do you know that admire Beethoven? But of course they are kids in many ways as well, but they expose the bizareness of being in the world and having to endure strange logic, motives, and emotions. It actually can be complex stuff. This side of the strip presents itself more when read in large chunks. It can also be violently slapstick (or just plain violent), absurd, and poignant all at once. There are good reasons that Peanuts is considered one of the best strips of all time. From the very first strip, very familiar to fans, in October 1950 the action starts: "Good 'Ol Charlie Brown, yes, sir... Good 'Ol Charlie Brown... How I hate him!" This sets the stage for what's to come in a big way. Children (or the children/adult hybrids) seem to take immense pleasure in back-stabbing, upsetting, being unfairly judgmental, hitting, and yelling at one another. Some of the only real warm fuzzies are the Christmas strips. Of course many of the strips are just gag strips, but that's not all there is. There is depth if one looks for it. In this book many characters that will rule comics (and sometimes the mainstream) are introduced: of course Charlie Brown (who morphs throughout the collection), Snoopy (he won't look familiar, and he doesn't think/talk as much as he later would; he's more of a dog comic relief here), Violet (who appears a lot early on - usually making mud pies - but she appeared less frequently as the strip's run went on), Patty (not Peppermint Patty), Shermy (I think he disappeared in later years, along with Patty), Schroeder (who goes from a baby to his final Peanuts form, loving Beethoven all the way), Lucy as a baby, and Linus as a baby. There are no adults anywhere (though apparently in the next volume there will be - what Schulz later called his "failed experiment"). There is also the first appearance of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown - which later became a common theme of the strip. Judging by its beginnings, it's not hard to see how Peanuts became a cultural phenomenon. Over the years the edge may have worn off a bit (as other comic strips began to imitate it), and such constructions as Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America and the rampant commercialism the strip went through may turn some stomachs (the "gang" sold junk food and insurance, among other things), this strip still has something. This collection will restore Peanuts to its rightful place as one of the best, if not the best, strip ever produced. Fantagraphics has already accomplished great things with its Krazy Kat reprints, and the complete Peanuts may be in a position to outdo even that. Keep them coming!
Rating:
Summary: Finally!!!
Review: Having been a lifelong peanuts fan, I always prayed that someone would have the sense to publish the peanuts strips from day one. I grew up reading my parents old peanuts paperbacks and still remember to this day old strips that I am dying to see again. There is a whole series where Snoopy does impersonations of the other characters and other people-still cracks me up. Unfortunately, I will have to probably wait til the 3rd or 4th volume, but I will and I will buy everyone over the next 12 years. Charles Schultz had such a wonderful view of the world and his sense of humor is second to none. This volume is a treasure, I cannot put it down and I'm chuckling and laughing out loud. I think it will be interesting to see the changes in the times as seen by Charles Schultz from 1950 to 2000, and his unique perspective on them. I highly recommend this volume and every other to follow. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely indispensable
Review: Here it is; the Rosetta Stone of the modern comic strip. Every newspaper comic that came after owes a debt to Charles Schulz; every single one.
At first it was just the core group of Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty and Violet... and Snoopy (who, at first, seemed to be owned by Shermy). Just 4 kids acting like kids and a dog who acted like a real dog. But as the strip progesses you can see Schulz tentatively sticking a toe in the waters of childhood fears and anxieties; daring to make his creation something more than a gag a day. And those strips are a shock after reading weeks or months of dailies of the kids just goofing around.
The artwork is deceptively simple, but it takes a lot of talent to get your point across with so few lines. In the 1952 Sundays, though, Schulz really started going crazy with detail, unbelievable panels. But as time went on he simplified things, letting his characters dominate whereas the backgrounds almost became arbitrary.
There seems to be a debate about the Sundays and whether or not they should be in color. I can almost live with them being in black and white. After all that's how they were originally drawn.
I have about 30 of the old Holt Reinhart books. Slowly they will be replaced by this collection... which will be completed in 2016. Must stay alive until then!
P.S. Is "Seth" an alias for Chris Ware? 'Cause it seems like his design work...
Rating:
Summary: A Masterwork Begins
Review: Here we have the first few years of Peanuts in one convenient volume, easy to handle and easy to read. It will be fascinating to read subsequent volumes and watch as Schulz developed his world strip by strip.
In this first volume we meet Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Patty, and Shermy in the first few strips. Later Violet joins the gang, and along about the middle we meet a sweet little baby girl named Lucy. Those of us who remember Peanuts in its glory years (late 1950s to late 1960s) will be taken somewhat aback by some of the personalities of these early characters, particularly by how smart alecky and unvictimlike Charlie Brown was in the beginning, but that is part of the charm of watching a classic as it develops. I highly recommend this and future volumes in this series.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!! -- err, but 12 years??!
Review: I am so excited that the entire collection of Peanuts (and Lil Folks too, if you care) is being released in its entirety. It's unprecedented and has thrilled fans of Peanuts (and any comic fan), but why the heck are they taking 12 frickin' years to release them all?!! I can't wait that long!! I'll be old by then!! ARGH!!
Rating:
Summary: Worth The Wait...
Review: I have been hoping for years that they would finally come out with a chronological edition of "Peanuts", and it was worth the wait. Beautifully designed, wonderful transfers-the whole thing reflects the importance of Schulz's masterpiece. I can only imagine what the later books will be like!
Rating:
Summary: Finally someone has published the earliest years of Peanuts
Review: I have loved the Peanuts comic strip from the time I was a child on into adulthood. I have at least 20 Peanuts collections on my shelves, but I have never until now had the opportunity to read the very earliest strips in the series. So I was thrilled with the release of this first edition of the "Complete Peanuts."
The introduction, afterword, and graphics are all nice, but the real story here is the comic strips themselves. For a life-long Peanuts fan, it was neat to see how the characters and cast slowly evolved over the first couple of years of the strip. In the beginning, the cast starts with Shermy, Patty (not to be confused with Peppermint Patty), Charlie Brown, and Snoopy. We soon see the introduction of Violet, and then later see the introduction of Schroeder (as a baby), and Lucy (also as a baby). By the end of the book, there is still no Sally, Peppermint Patty, Marcy, Franklin, Pig-Pen, Woodstock, or even Linus (though he appears as a baby in the next book in the series). Charlie Brown also changes slowly over the course of the book, as he slowly begins to take on the "lovable loser" persona that later became his trademark. And the bottom line is that the strips in this book are very funny, and in my opinion are just as good, or at least almost as good, as any of the later Peanuts strips.
Physically, the book itself seems to be very high quality. It has hard covers and very thick pages. Each page shows the month and the year of publication of the strips on that page. The one and only significant deficiency I see in the book design is that the Sunday strips are not in color. But this is a minor quibble -- the main thing is that the strips are all there.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for Peanuts fans.
One final tip: If you are planning to buy this book from Amazon, and you also want to buy the next book in the series (The Complete Peanuts 1953-1954) at the same time, please be wary of the "Better Together" option which is listed above. At the time of this writing, it is cheaper to buy "The Complete Peanuts 1950-1954 Boxed Set" (ISBN 1560976322), which includes both books, and which is also available on Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: A loving tribute to a comics juggernaut
Review: I imagine most fans of Charles Shultz will not need a review to tell them that they need this book; unless Fantagraphics horribly dropped the ball, how could this not be a must-have. But in case you were wondering, I can assure you that The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 is a marvelous start to what promises to be an amazing series of books.
As has been mentioned before, the early strips of Peanuts are noticably different from the strip we've come to know and love. Luce and Schroder, for instance, are infants. But what I found remarkable was how much the humor and pathos of the later strip can be found even here. Charlie Brown, more mischevious then we're used to, still struggles with a world that just won't give him a break sometimes; in one strip that is vintage Shultz, Charlie Brown watches despondently as Patty, fighting with Shermy, calls him a Charlie Brown, at which point Shermy says she has gone too far.
Snoopy is noticably different, a mere puppy, on all fours, but still obviously thinks of himself as more than a dog. Several strips involve him being offended when one of the children refers to his canine nature. We even get a brief glimpse of his imaginative abilities, as he fantasizes about making Charlie Brown do tricks for him.
But what it all comes down to, though, is the question: are the early strips funny? My laughter reading through this volume would indicate yes. The humor is different, with reoccuring jokes about mud pies, for instance, seeming a bit dated and overly childish. But there is a lot of great material here. If this is Shultz just hitting his stride, the future volumes (as we all well know) are going to be brilliant.
As for the presentation, the strips are rendered vividly, from high-quality proofs, and the book itself is a work of art. An introduction by Garrison Keillor isn't particulary illuminating, but an essay on the strip and its influence is a nice addition. But it is the lengthy interview with Charles Schultz, from the 1980s, which is the most exciting of the texts included. Schultz talks freely about his influences, the origins of Peanuts, and the state of comics today, among many topics covered. An index is included, which is both useful and amusing (including such categories as "Snoopy, wearing clothes, to disturbing effect").
Thank you, Fantagraphics, for putting out this collection. I'm anxiously awaiting the next 24 volumes.
Rating:
Summary: Finally -- complete!
Review: I love "Peanuts." Wholeheartedly and without judgment. I think Charles Schulz was the wisest man who ever lived. I think that if aliens ever come to the planet Earth and want to understand what it really means to be human, they need look no further than these comic strips. I think this is, to be blunt, the highest of art. So how could I pass up the chance to finally read the whole thing from the beginning? I'm only 26, so I missed out on an awful lot of "Peanuts" printed before I was born and never reprinted in the books. That was the best part of this hardcover, collecting the first two years or so of the comic strip. For the first time since Sparky's passing in 2000, I was reading "Peanuts" comics I'd never read before. The book also contains a few text pieces, including a really good extended interview with Schulz himself that reveals some interesting things about his idea of comics. This book is a great read and a must for anyone who loves "Peanuts."
Rating:
Summary: Finally -- complete!
Review: I love "Peanuts." Wholeheartedly and without judgment. I think Charles Schulz was the wisest man who ever lived. I think that if aliens ever come to the planet Earth and want to understand what it really means to be human, they need look no further than these comic strips. I think this is, to be blunt, the highest of art. So how could I pass up the chance to finally read the whole thing from the beginning? I'm only 26, so I missed out on an awful lot of "Peanuts" printed before I was born and never reprinted in the books. That was the best part of this hardcover, collecting the first two years or so of the comic strip. For the first time since Sparky's passing in 2000, I was reading "Peanuts" comics I'd never read before. The book also contains a few text pieces, including a really good extended interview with Schulz himself that reveals some interesting things about his idea of comics. This book is a great read and a must for anyone who loves "Peanuts."
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