Rating: 
Summary: A childhood dream comes true at last
Review: When I was a child and knew few greater pleasures than reading a new Peanuts collection, I would look wistfully at the note on the cover -- such as "Selected cartoons from Ha Ha Herman, Charlie Brown Vol. 1" -- and wonder just where this mysterious book and all the rest of them were to be found. Not in any bookshop I ever visited, that's for sure. Then one day I borrowed a vast hardcover Peanuts collection from my local library and imagined that this was one of those rare "originals". It conjured up an image of a whole shelf of equally fine first editions going back to 1951.
Years later I would occasionally re-read one of those old collections and think, "When I have lots of money I'll collect all of those original Peanuts books, and then at last I'll have every strip, in order, in an attractive sturdy hardcover."
Then I found the Peanuts FAQ, which revealed that there were there thousands of strips that had never been printed in any book, and also that that library book was an anomaly: those mysterious "original" Peanuts books were only paperbacks, just as incomplete and (by now) yellow and tatty as the ones I used to buy. "Sigh", I said.
But here it is, the fine first editions devoted Peanuts readers have always dreamed of but never expected to see: the first of a complete set containing every strip, beautifully presented, with original newspaper publication dates and even a fannish index pointing to such epochal moments as Lucy's first appearance and Snoopy's first thought.
What's most surprising is how soon Peanuts began to become the Peanuts we remember. The early strips reprinted previously tended to foreground the "observational" humour, kids behaving like real kids. But now we can also see the early development of Schroeder as a child with adultlike interests and abilities, the seed from which the whole cast would eventually grow into thoughtful, eloquent child-adults.
Another thing that is quickly apparent here is the quality of Schulz's writing right from the start. The art here isn't yet at its peak, and the strip doesn't have the sense of depth that it would later acquire, but Schulz always had perfect comic timing, the ability to say everything that needed to be said in a handful of words, or a single sigh.
Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: When my sister and I were children, our mom would buy us paperback collections of Peanuts. I think we owned every trade paperback available and many of the later Holt, Rhinehart & Winston series. We knew a complete collection of cartoons wasn't in print, and this really bothered us. But now the first edition is here!I received this set as a gift (from my sister, of course.) It's wonderful. I'd never read most of the first years' panels. They differ from Schulz' later work, and provide the seeds for his future introduction of more famous characters, such as Lucy and Linus. Some panels reflect the period, others reflect ideas Schulz eventually abandoned. Still, even in the first couple years, Schulz manages to entertain us, and develop his craft. And he did it day after day after day for almost fifty years. It will take about twelve years for Fantagraphics to release the complete series. The first book is not expensive at twenty bucks and I plan on buying the entire set. If you haven't read Peanuts, this is the place to start your collection.
|
