Customer Reviews

Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years

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One review for the casual fan, one review for the hardcore fan.

CASUAL
Buy this immediately; case closed. If you plan on remaining a casual Peanuts fan it will be all that you need for the rest of your life, and if you become a hardcore Peanuts fan because of this remarkable collection's capacity to convince, it will hold up as a worthwhile and useful purchase even after you've expanded your collection.

HARDORE
You face a more complex situation. If you're already a Peanuts diehard, most likely you're working on or already own everything released so far in Fantagraphic's essential Complete Peanuts series. Since Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years only draws from highlights, why do we need yet another expensive selective Peanuts edition, when eventually we will have them all in Fantagraphic's fine volumes? Is Celebrating Peanuts indicative of the more unfortunate, fringe-commercialized aspects of Peanuts, while The Complete Peanuts is where the true fans maintain their loyalties? I was asking myself this question when I first found out about this new collection, but it was so handsome and I'm such an impulsive buyer when it comes to Schulz that I sprung for it anyway, and far from feeling I may have wasted my money, far from feeling merely "relieved", I was doing a Snoopy dance at the quality of this set.

This collection performs a function that is different than but just as important as that of the Complete Peanuts series. The Complete Peanuts is great for diehards hungry to see how the strip developed in great detail. It's good for scholarly work and archival purposes, as well as utter immersion. Celebrating Peanuts, on the other hand, strikes me first and foremost as a concentrated, self-contained and not incomplete plea for wider recognition of Schulz the Man as not just the "most world's beloved cartoonist" but as one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the second half of the 20th century. There have been other high profile takes on Schulz the Man and pleas for recognition of his genius: the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California is no doubt a must-stop for Peanuts fans, largely for seeing Schulz's originals in person, but the biographical sense we get of Schulz from a visit there is understandably antiseptic, harmless, and uncomplicatedly reverent. The second high profile take on Schulz is David Michaelis's biography from a few years back, Schulz and Peanuts. The book is a great read, informative, and essential for Peanuts nuts, but much of its accuracy is contested, and it gives us a rather stock portrait of Schulz as a suffering artist, which, though probably more true to life than the Mr. Rogers other sources would have us think of, is nevertheless incomplete, and does not capture the joy and happiness present in Schulz's life and work. Preoccupied with extramarital melodrama, the biography also fails to give us enough insight into Schulz the Artist, his methods, what made his art as important as it is, to really be a serious argument for Schulz the Genius [more than Michaelis's book itself, I suggest The Comics Journal #290 (No. 290), for an exhaustive round-table discussion of Michaelis's biography featuring rebuttals from Peanuts experts as well as Schulz's son]. So when it comes to being the convincing accessible case for Schulz's genius, the family/museum's take is too antiseptic, Michaelis's take is too mournful and unartistic, and The Complete Peanuts, though they of course capture Schulz's genius with the most fullness, can be daunting and confusing for the uninitiated.

Celebrating Peanuts is the solution. It works as (1) an artistic and human biography, (2) an argument for greatness aimed at the uninitiated, and (3) a more friendly, concentrated excursion into Schulz's head (seen in new ways) that is more than appropriate for Fantagraphics fans, because even we sometimes only want the very best; Celebrating Peanuts nails down not only the most important and popular strips, tracking the formal/character developments along the way, but also reveals through its fine selection of the best obscure strips and storylines a very holistic image of Schulz's genius. Schulz as philosopher, gag man, and fine artist are all well represented here, reprinted in the finest quality (and often color) that we have yet seen. Take heed diehards, great as they are, The Complete Peanuts series does not do enough justice to Schulz's usually confident, sometimes shaky, but always elegant line work. But what really rockets this collection into greatness are the quotes from the man himself sprinkled lovingly and tellingly throughout the book. The close reader will notice in many of these quotes wisdom, insight, and roaring contradictory beliefs and emotions raging underneath a calm exterior, much like we see in the strips themselves. Hardcore fans may be familiar with some of these quotes, as many are drawn from Charles M. Schulz: Conversations (Conversations With Comic Artists), but by thoughtfully placing them among his life's work, the publishers have given us an intense one-stop Charles M Schulz experience; the best you could ever ask for.

This is truly a package for the ages. It is my desert island object. Get it.

this is a much anticipated, long needed, celebration of Charles Schulz lifes work. amazing detail and quality. it will take months to go through this mammoth book cover to cover. well worth the price. excellent coffee table book. good for life long fans of peanuts or the new generation to discover peanuts for the first time!! great book.

I received this book for Christmas this year. I'm an avid Peanuts fan and read the book cover to cover. It chronicles each decade of the Peanuts comic strip with selected clips from the daily and Sunday strip. It also includes interesting milestones and facts about Charles Schultz and his wonderful characters. It's a great way to go through the history of the Peanuts and witness all the changes throughout the years. I highly recommend this book as a great addition to your Peanuts collection.

Ten years since Charles Schulz took Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the gang to that great comic strip in the sky. This book makes me smile! Even after all these years, I still chuckle, smirk, and laugh out loud at the antics I had almost forgotten. And the facts I never knew?? Do you remember how many brothers and sisters Snoopy had? Do you know how Spike ended up living in Needles? Rerun's terror when riding on the back of his mother's bike? The one-and-only shadowy picture of the little red haired girl?

I have an extensive collection of Peanuts books, but this is the one that tops them all!

The 60th anniversary of the Peanuts phenomenon is celebrated with an expansive tribute detailing the strip and its characters over six decades. Quotes from Charles Schulz reveal how he was inspired to produce - and was in turn inspired by - Peanuts, while over 500 pages of strips - including many full-color Sundays - appear in a keepsake volume packaged in a deluxe slipcase. A gorgeous presentation, this is a pick for comics and graphic novel libraries and Peanuts collectors alike.

When I was growing up I would not leave the house until I saw what kind of day Charlie Brown was having. As a true longtime Snoopy fan I love this great coffee table book. What wonderful memories to relive again and again. Charles Schultz was so talented and I miss his Peanuts everyday. When I heard that he had passed away I cried as if I had lost a family member. God Bless Snoopy and the gang

I have read Peanuts ever since it first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle eons ago. Charlie Brown,Snoopy, Linus with is blanket, Lucy with her advice for 5 cents and not to forget Schroeder & his piano playing and of course Woodstock the bird, Snoopy's best friend. When I received this book, it was a great pleasure to read from the beginning to the very last strip. To me, it is a treasure to have..to read & re-read...so far, I have to be honest, I've skimmed the complete book & enjoyed every minute. Thank you, Charles Schultz. I highly recommend this to every Penuts reader.

Not only was this delivered to me 1 week earlier than expected, this thick and high quality product (which comes in a handsome slip case) is 60 years of Schulz's enchanting and heartful PEANUTS strips beautifully compiled and collected into a nice single collectible book that you can pull out and enjoy personally or display proudly on your book shelf among your best. I celebrated the day I got this!

Like many "Peanuts" fans, I have been trying to collect all of the books in Fantagraphics Complete Peanuts series. Therefore, I wasn't sure what to think of the massive tome that is CELEBRATING PEANUTS 60 YEARS. The book has over 540 pages and weighs over 7.5 pounds. It comes in a hardcover slip case. It's a coffee table type book. Unlike most coffee table books, however, CELEBRATING PEANUTS isn't meant to be a book that just sits around for display. The book has strips from each of the 50 years that Charles Schulz drew the strip. I'm not sure who was responsible for choosing the strips, but whoever they are, they did a fine job. The selected strips give a nice overview of Schulz' work as an artist as well as illustrating the development of the characters and the evolution of the strip. Many of the most popular "Peanuts" storylines are including, e.g. the Mr. Sack story of 1973. The strips are published in the order in which they were published and include the dates. The strips are broken down into "chapters" by decade. At the beginning of each decade there is a full page of information talking about the characters, events that happened, and certain storylines. Interspersed throughout the book are quotes from Schulz about his life and work.

CELEBRATING PEANUTS is meant as a gift book. Those who are just becoming acquainted with "Peanuts" are those who are fans but don't have many "Peanuts" books will especially be pleased with the books. As for those who are collecting the Complete Peanuts on there own, it's a difficult call to make. All of the material found in the book has been or will be published elsewhere. However, I have never seen a "Peanuts" book that charts the evolution of the strip and the development of the characters in such a fine way. I have many of the Complete Peanuts books, but I still enjoyed CELEBRATING PEANUTS 60 YEARS and think it's a fine addition to my "Peanuts" book collection.

My girlfriend is a HUGE peanuts fan and finds the 60 year retrospective to be entertaining and thought provoking.