The comic strip Peanuts personified longevity. And much more, of course: skilled artistry, gentle humor, recurring angst. Charles M. Schulz began the strip in October 1950 and continued drawing and writing it for just under 50 years, until the last strip ran on Feb. 13, 2000, the day after Schulz died.
Schulz, and Peanuts, have been gone for 16 years now, and it has taken almost that long to complete another Peanuts milestone: the 25-volume set of reprints published by Fantagraphics Books. The Complete Peanuts began its run in 2004 with Volume 1 (1950-1952). Volume 25 (1999-2000) is being released this week.
Schulz, and Peanuts, have been gone for 16 years now, and it has taken almost that long to complete another Peanuts milestone: the 25-volume set of reprints published by Fantagraphics Books. The Complete Peanuts began its run in 2004 with Volume 1 (1950-1952). Volume 25 (1999-2000) is being released this week.
I remember carefully drawing all of the Peanuts characters in elementary school, each on a separate sheet of paper. One of the nuns at St. Joan of Arc School in Southbridge, Mass., liked them so much that she used them to decorate her classroom. When I read Peanuts as a kid, I loved its minimalist look and its humorous take on life. But there was a lot more going on in that strip, as Ty Burr wrote in The Boston Globe recently.
"People assume Peanuts was universally beloved because the strips were funny and the characters were cute. Not true," Burr wrote. "This was a comic that said today would go wrong and tomorrow would go wrong and the day after that and we would still be somehow here, surviving. That's easy to forget when all we have left is the Hallmark cards."
Here, then, are the covers from every book in the well-designed Fantagraphics series. My wife Liz and I own all but the last two. Once we acquire those, our 12 years of "waiting for the next Peanuts" will finally be over. Perhaps that's a good thing, because it will mean that our collection is complete. At the same time, though, it's sad to think, as it was when Schulz died, that there's no more to be had.
"People assume Peanuts was universally beloved because the strips were funny and the characters were cute. Not true," Burr wrote. "This was a comic that said today would go wrong and tomorrow would go wrong and the day after that and we would still be somehow here, surviving. That's easy to forget when all we have left is the Hallmark cards."
Here, then, are the covers from every book in the well-designed Fantagraphics series. My wife Liz and I own all but the last two. Once we acquire those, our 12 years of "waiting for the next Peanuts" will finally be over. Perhaps that's a good thing, because it will mean that our collection is complete. At the same time, though, it's sad to think, as it was when Schulz died, that there's no more to be had.
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