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If you're a fan of good ol charlie brown and the gang, this volume which starts at the very beginning, is a must have....
TOP 100 REVIEWERon January 9, 2015
I just love looking at the very first Peanuts comics. People don't seem to know that the original comic strips looked pretty different from how we've come to know charlie brown and the gang. Mr Schulz was just starting out with this gang and they definitely evolved over the years. You can certainly tell who everyone is, but there are noticeable differences. Snoopy looks very different.
Years ago when I was in high school I wrote a report on the philosophy of peanuts. At the time I thought cutting up my peanuts books to illustrate my report (I believe I got an "A" by the way. perhaps that's just a skewed self serving memory) was a good idea. Now, years later I have lots of books with many pages missing or cut up. These compilation volumes are fantastic. If you are a peanuts fan, you can't go wrong.
BOTTOM LINE: Charlie Brown and the gang were not always quite a wise in these first two years, but they're still spectacular. To have all these early comic strips reproduced so faithfully in this volume is just fantastic
Years ago when I was in high school I wrote a report on the philosophy of peanuts. At the time I thought cutting up my peanuts books to illustrate my report (I believe I got an "A" by the way. perhaps that's just a skewed self serving memory) was a good idea. Now, years later I have lots of books with many pages missing or cut up. These compilation volumes are fantastic. If you are a peanuts fan, you can't go wrong.
BOTTOM LINE: Charlie Brown and the gang were not always quite a wise in these first two years, but they're still spectacular. To have all these early comic strips reproduced so faithfully in this volume is just fantastic
on January 2, 2014
Although far from its final form (there are many characters who won't stick around, familiar characters are much younger, and Snoopy is still very doglike), this is a great read and the art and storytelling that would make Schulz famous are already in evidence. In addition to the first two years of the comic, there is some interesting supplemental material -- a biographical essay and an interview with Schulz, both of which help shed light on him and his amazing career.
Eventually this series will probably end up taking up a lot of room on my bookshelf. In addition to being a great read, this volume is very handsome.
Eventually this series will probably end up taking up a lot of room on my bookshelf. In addition to being a great read, this volume is very handsome.
on April 10, 2017
I am a big fan of the Peanuts comics already, but seeing the artwork as it was in its conception was such a treat. There is so much charm and warmth in these stories. The design of the book as well was really amazing and well done from the cover to its page layouts. Really happy to own this!
TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon November 29, 2004
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.
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.
on March 10, 2017
Fun to go back in history and see the beginning and evolution of the Peanuts and Charles Schultz art and storytelling. Well designed book and high quality
on June 15, 2004
My grandmother is (still) a great collector of all things Snoopy. Back in the 70's, when I used to visit my grandmother's house, I remember spending a lot of time reading some of those early collections of Peanuts cartoon strips. They are one of the many great memories of my youth. Now, we have a collection of the very first Peanuts strips. Magnificent!
How many of us still remember the beginning? So many things would grow and change. Violet and Patty (not Peppermint Patty) were Charlie Brown's "girlfriends" whom he could torment as much as he was tormented by them. Violet was actually the first to pull the football away from Charlie Brown. Snoopy was still a dog with no words. Schroeder is very prominent as a child prodigy with his love of piano and growing love of Beethoven. Charlie Brown is the catcher for the baseball team. Lucy & Linus make there first appearances. And so much more. Still, we can see this wonderful world taking shape and we can see how it will become to be this most beloved of comics.
This volume also contains a nice introduction by Garrison Keillor and concludes with an interesting interview of Charles Schultz, enlightening us to some of his own feelings about his strip and what has become of the world of comics.
As the first of a projected twenty-five volumes collecting all the Peanuts strips to be released every six months for the next twelve years, all I can say is I can't wait for volume 2.
How many of us still remember the beginning? So many things would grow and change. Violet and Patty (not Peppermint Patty) were Charlie Brown's "girlfriends" whom he could torment as much as he was tormented by them. Violet was actually the first to pull the football away from Charlie Brown. Snoopy was still a dog with no words. Schroeder is very prominent as a child prodigy with his love of piano and growing love of Beethoven. Charlie Brown is the catcher for the baseball team. Lucy & Linus make there first appearances. And so much more. Still, we can see this wonderful world taking shape and we can see how it will become to be this most beloved of comics.
This volume also contains a nice introduction by Garrison Keillor and concludes with an interesting interview of Charles Schultz, enlightening us to some of his own feelings about his strip and what has become of the world of comics.
As the first of a projected twenty-five volumes collecting all the Peanuts strips to be released every six months for the next twelve years, all I can say is I can't wait for volume 2.
on August 19, 2016
My 8 year old son loved this book. It's the third one in the series that he's read, and he's asking me to buy him another one. I wondered if he would like 1950's Charlie Brown after reading a 1970's collection where all the characters are drawn differently, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. I highly recommend this book!
on July 29, 2005
Before Charlie Brown developed into the lovable loser, and before Snoopy and Woodstock took over the strip, this collection of the first two years is an excellent compilation of PEANUTS. It is hard to imagine, but in these early strips, Charlie Brown is more of a DENNIS THE MENACE and girls are actually fighting over his affection (i.e. Violet, Patty, and Lucy). Snoopy is actually a "pet dog" and inventive in the early years and, as support player, is more likeable and refreshing than his modern day persona which pervades the main focus of the strip in the later years. Sifting through the multitude of these daily panels, we do see the early glimpses of what is to come (i.e. Lucy, Charlie Brown, and the infamous football),Charlie Brown's famous shirt, Shroeder becoming a "concert pianist" with references to Beethoven, etc. This is a must have for all PEANUTS lovers with strips that haven't been reprinted or seen since their debut fifty years ago. Charles M. Schulz' simple but effective line drawing shows off a little more dimension in the early art work with some compicated "sets" and "backgrounds" with added perspective in some of the panels. Finally, the most important thing is Schulz' writing. The dialogue and situations he puts upon his characters is what makes PEANUTS a cut above the rest especially in the early years of Charlie Brown and cast.
on March 30, 2008
These are the strips you seldom see reprinted and yet they say so much. The first two years of "Peanuts" introduces you not only to many of the key characters (who look somewhat different than they would in later years) but also to the usually gentle, yet occasionally sharp, humor of Charles M. Schulz, which was splendid from the start but would get even better as the years passed. As a bonus, you get to see Schroder and Linus as babies, and Lucy as a toddler. (In Schulz's comic-strip world, they would age, but only a little.) You see Charlie Brown before he wore his familiar shirt with the zig-zag design, and meet Snoopy when he seemed more dog than human. What's more, there is an excellent introduction by Garrison Keillor, a summary of Schulz's life by David Michaelis, who would go on to write the definitive Schulz biography, and a lengthy interview with the great cartoonist himself. Even the index is helpful in locating such all-important items as when the immortal phrase "Good grief!" was first uttered. A valuable collection indeed.
