Peanuts: A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World's Best-Loved Comic Strip - Softcover

Schulz, Charles M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060766603 ISBN 13: 9780060766603

Publisher: It Books, 2004

Synopsis

This remarkable collection of strips spanning the last 50 years gives readers a look at the first appearance of Linus, Marcy, Pigpen, and Woodstock, and even the first time Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown.

About this title

Review:

Charles M. Schulz has been cartooning for an astonishing 50 years (the "Peanuts" strip itself debuted October 2, 1950, but he drew an earlier incarnation called "Li'l Folks" before that). Peanuts: A Golden Celebration is a remarkable collection of strips spanning that time period. Readers get to see the first appearance of Linus, Marcy, Pigpen, and Woodstock, and even the momentous first time Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Schulz comments on the cartoons and his inspirations via notes in the margin, ranging from boyhood stories about his father (a barber, just like Charlie Brown's) to an account of the time the narcolepsy experts at Stanford University expressed concerns over Peppermint Patty's constant sleeping in class. One of the most interesting inclusions is that of several letters of complaint, ranging from readers whose religious sensibilities have been offended to a 1969 missive from Schulz's own syndicate asking him not to depict Franklin in the same school as the white students anymore. Naturally, the much-loved "Peanuts" holiday specials are covered, as is the musical adaptation You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but it's the strips that really make the book. Readers can follow the evolution of Schulz's drawing style--deliberately less realistic as the years went on--and even check out a few panels drawn by Schulz's own cartooning heroes. This is a terrific compilation that serves well both as a chronicle of popular culture and as just a really funny collection of comic strips. Don't wait for the Great Pumpkin to bring you one. --Ali Davis

About the Author:

Charles M. Schulz, the most popular cartoonist in history, published comic strips in 2,600 newspapers worldwide and won several prestigious awards, including the Congressional Medal of Honor. Mr. Schulz died on February 12, 2000, the night before his farewell Peanuts comic strip was published.

About this edition

• Publisher: It Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0060766603
• ISBN 13: 9780060766603
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256