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Peanuts Every Sunday #1
Peanuts Every Sunday, 1952-1955
The first in a series of 10 massive coffee-table-quality books, each one containing a half-decade's worth of Peanuts Sunday strips "re-mastered" to match the original syndicate coloring.
Since their original publication, Peanuts Sundays have almost always been collected and reprinted in black and white, and generations of Peanuts fans have grown up enjoying this iteration of these strips. But many who read Peanuts in their original Sunday papers remain fond of the striking coloring, which makes for a surprisingly different reading experience. It is for these fans (and for Peanuts fans in general who want to experience this alternate/original version) that we now present a series of larger, Sundays-only Peanuts reprints. As with most strips, Peanuts showed by far the quickest and richest development in its first decade, and Peanuts Every Sunday: 1952-1955, by compiling every strip from the first four years, offers a fascinating peek at Schulz's evolving creative process. Not only does the graphic side of the strips change drastically, from the strip's initial stiff, ultra-simple stylizations through a period of uncommonly lush, detailed drawings to something close to the final, elegant Peanuts style we've all come to know and love, but several main characters are gradually introduced — oddly enough, usually as infants who would then grow up to full, articulate Peanut-hood! — and then refined: Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus.
Since their original publication, Peanuts Sundays have almost always been collected and reprinted in black and white, and generations of Peanuts fans have grown up enjoying this iteration of these strips. But many who read Peanuts in their original Sunday papers remain fond of the striking coloring, which makes for a surprisingly different reading experience. It is for these fans (and for Peanuts fans in general who want to experience this alternate/original version) that we now present a series of larger, Sundays-only Peanuts reprints. As with most strips, Peanuts showed by far the quickest and richest development in its first decade, and Peanuts Every Sunday: 1952-1955, by compiling every strip from the first four years, offers a fascinating peek at Schulz's evolving creative process. Not only does the graphic side of the strips change drastically, from the strip's initial stiff, ultra-simple stylizations through a period of uncommonly lush, detailed drawings to something close to the final, elegant Peanuts style we've all come to know and love, but several main characters are gradually introduced — oddly enough, usually as infants who would then grow up to full, articulate Peanut-hood! — and then refined: Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2013
31 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,037 books1,633 followersCharles Monroe Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.”
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.”
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 15, 2014
This is a gorgeous collection of color Peanuts comics. The book is huge and unwieldy, so don't plan on having an easy time of it if you take it to bed with you for some nighttime reading. But there's something a little breathtaking about seeing these cartoons in such a large format, especially the cartoons just inside the front and back covers.
It was interesting to see earlier drawings of characters who have become so familiar. They're a little rounder, and to me, they somehow don't look like themselves. It's like a bunch of cartoons decided to dress up like the Peanuts gang. And the original Peanuts gang is not the group that stood the test of time. Shermie was Charlie Brown's friend long before Linus, and Violet and Patty were the main girls. For a while, Snoopy's on all fours, and he doesn't start stealing the show until about halfway through the collection. Lucy, when she shows up for the first time, is a toddler who is kind of the pet of the other kids. They seem to be babysitting her in several of the strips, Charlie Brown included. And Charlie Brown wasn't such a sad sack at the beginning, in fact, he was a bit more mischievous than the Charlie Brown I'm familiar with from the holiday specials and later comics. One of my favorite strips is one where Charlie Brown gets a bunch of kids excited about getting their picture taken. They all get dressed up for Charlie Brown to take their picture. When he holds up the camera to take the picture, it turns out to be a trick camera that has a toy jump out of the front like a jack-in-the-box. The last panel shows Charlie Brown gleefully running away from a crowd of angry children saying, "It's always a risk, but it keeps me young."
The strips weren't all a laugh riot, in fact, I would say the majority of them weren't that funny. But the collection was still a joy to page through, seeing the transformation of the comic strip that has been so dear to me since childhood.
It was interesting to see earlier drawings of characters who have become so familiar. They're a little rounder, and to me, they somehow don't look like themselves. It's like a bunch of cartoons decided to dress up like the Peanuts gang. And the original Peanuts gang is not the group that stood the test of time. Shermie was Charlie Brown's friend long before Linus, and Violet and Patty were the main girls. For a while, Snoopy's on all fours, and he doesn't start stealing the show until about halfway through the collection. Lucy, when she shows up for the first time, is a toddler who is kind of the pet of the other kids. They seem to be babysitting her in several of the strips, Charlie Brown included. And Charlie Brown wasn't such a sad sack at the beginning, in fact, he was a bit more mischievous than the Charlie Brown I'm familiar with from the holiday specials and later comics. One of my favorite strips is one where Charlie Brown gets a bunch of kids excited about getting their picture taken. They all get dressed up for Charlie Brown to take their picture. When he holds up the camera to take the picture, it turns out to be a trick camera that has a toy jump out of the front like a jack-in-the-box. The last panel shows Charlie Brown gleefully running away from a crowd of angry children saying, "It's always a risk, but it keeps me young."
The strips weren't all a laugh riot, in fact, I would say the majority of them weren't that funny. But the collection was still a joy to page through, seeing the transformation of the comic strip that has been so dear to me since childhood.
November 24, 2013
If you're here then I don't need to tell you about the content of this particular book because you're probably already a fan. This is some of the very earliest work in the series and for more casual readers these may not seem like the Peanuts they grew up with in later decades. Despite that difference these are true classics that belong in any collection.
Since I don't need to tell you about the content, I will go on at some length instead about the quality of the publication itself. Firstly, be careful reading other reviews on this title as they refer to much older editions. If you buy the book from Amazon today you'll get a huge coffee-table book with startlingly crisp printing and vibrant graphics. This book is what I had hoped for from the 'Complete Peanuts' series and is just about everything you could ask for in a reprint series.
The only negative I'll bring up is that it's almost too nice to actually read. The paper is thick stock; the dust jacket is pristine; it's a durable hardcover. It's like having a new car that you park far from the front of the lot so nobody parks near you. I feel guilty sitting down to actually read it for fear that I'll get something on it or some simple mischance will mar its perfection. If you have no such compunctions then you'll be fine.
In summary, this is the book you want and makes a breathtaking gift for any fan of the comic. I live in fear that the binding may give out after years of reading but if a few pages make their way lose then they'd all be suitable for framing. It's just THAT high quality.
Since I don't need to tell you about the content, I will go on at some length instead about the quality of the publication itself. Firstly, be careful reading other reviews on this title as they refer to much older editions. If you buy the book from Amazon today you'll get a huge coffee-table book with startlingly crisp printing and vibrant graphics. This book is what I had hoped for from the 'Complete Peanuts' series and is just about everything you could ask for in a reprint series.
The only negative I'll bring up is that it's almost too nice to actually read. The paper is thick stock; the dust jacket is pristine; it's a durable hardcover. It's like having a new car that you park far from the front of the lot so nobody parks near you. I feel guilty sitting down to actually read it for fear that I'll get something on it or some simple mischance will mar its perfection. If you have no such compunctions then you'll be fine.
In summary, this is the book you want and makes a breathtaking gift for any fan of the comic. I live in fear that the binding may give out after years of reading but if a few pages make their way lose then they'd all be suitable for framing. It's just THAT high quality.
November 12, 2013
Fantastic book!!! This is an oversized full color book of all the Sunday comics from 1952 to 1955. This is the first of 10 books republishing all the Sunday Comics of Peanuts. This is the first book back when Charlie Brown was babysitting Lucy, and was a practical joker. Very enjoyable, a definite keeper.
September 2, 2020
Everyone comes from somewhere and this is Peanuts before the characters grew up, both physically and emotionally (even artistically). There are nascent hints of what the future holds but even in large-format colour it’s difficult to digest Schulz’s work being this unsophisticated.
April 12, 2020
Reading these colored strips digitally is an absolute delight!
May 8, 2023
3.5 stars. Its amazing how much color makes these comics really pop! Especially the earliest drawings, which are sharply different from the strip that emerges, even by the end of the 3 years represented in this collection.
November 11, 2018
Classics.
March 16, 2024
A beautiful collection of the color Sundays of Charles Schulz's phenomenal Peanuts strip. The oversized production does Schulz's cartooning real justice, and the color restoration work, the paper quality and binding are all spectacular. These earlier Sundays do show a more raw Schulz at work who hasn't quite landed the designs of the Peanuts gang completely, as much of the characters are a fair bit more "spherical" than their appearance in later years. Charlie Brown is also distinctively more mischievous than morose here, but the comic strip is still as charming here in the early years. Not all the jokes land for me, but Peanuts real power is the ability to craft simple, endearing tales that feel completely timeless.
August 9, 2022
Este libro recopila las Sundays de los cuatro primeros años de Peanuts esta vez a color. Es un buen complemento de el The Complete Peanutstambién editado por Fantagraphics. En estas historias, el estilo y el dibujo todavía no está en su momento definitivo, ni todavía los personajes han desarrollado del todo su personalidad. Destacará que desde Linus como bebé que no sabe caminar a sus primeros paseos. Destacar la serie del torneo femenino de golf con Lucy de jugadora y Carlitos de caddy entrenador. Es un buen complemento de la edición del Complete, esta vez con las páginas en color tal y como fueron concebidas.
August 13, 2024
Komik yang memperkenalkan karakter Peanuts untuk pertama kali lewat koran mingguan. Para karakternya di sini mengalami perkembangan seiring berjalannya waktu. Seperti sosok Charlie Brown yang penggambarannya berbeda seperti sekarang serta Snoopy yang masih digambarkan sebagai anjing biasa, sedangkan sekarang ia bisa berdiri. Selain itu, karakter Lucy van Pelt pun pada awal kemunculannya digambarkan sebagai bocah yang umurnya lebih kecil dari Charlie Brown.
Sangat seru membaca Peanuts edisi awal karena saya merupakan salah satu penggemar komik karya Charles M. Schulz ini. Sebab, seluruh karakter yang digambar di sini hanyalah anak-anak dan hewan, tanpa adanya keterlibatan orang dewasa.
Sangat seru membaca Peanuts edisi awal karena saya merupakan salah satu penggemar komik karya Charles M. Schulz ini. Sebab, seluruh karakter yang digambar di sini hanyalah anak-anak dan hewan, tanpa adanya keterlibatan orang dewasa.
May 19, 2019
Pure genious! An incredible range of expressions, movement by adding and subtracking small lines or drawing a complex series of overlapping lines to produce incredible effects, Lucy jumping rope or Snoopy dancing.
I learned english through Peanuts in the 70's and I love it even more now with my adult, educated outlook.
I learned english through Peanuts in the 70's and I love it even more now with my adult, educated outlook.
February 25, 2019
As a fan of the comic, I was fascinated to see how the characters have evolved to what we know them to be today. I knew that Linus was the wisdom seeker of the group but I had no idea he was a baby genius.
February 13, 2019
It was wonderful to read these early strips and see the origins of the characters i love. It was also fun to read the strip from the day I was born. Linus is still my favorite.
October 20, 2020
I'm totally biased.
One of my favourite comic strips. What's not to love.
I especially love the original artwork ♡
One of my favourite comic strips. What's not to love.
I especially love the original artwork ♡
June 13, 2021
This is a collection of early Sunday strips. It is interesting to watch how the characters evolve, especially Lucy and Linus.
March 17, 2025
These Sunday collections of Peanuts are like reading them, particularly the ones that I've read in numerous other anthologies, in context. Pretty cool!
March 19, 2025
Great Comic
Enjoyed these as a kid, a perfect time killer for flights or clearing your head. Short,simple, and relevant even today
Enjoyed these as a kid, a perfect time killer for flights or clearing your head. Short,simple, and relevant even today
May 31, 2020
A lovely collection of the early Sunday funnies. The best days were still ahead for Charlie and the gang but this was a fine start.
August 20, 2014
I'm a bit fortunate in being gifted this, and the ongoing 'Complete Peanuts' by Fantagraphic Books from my ex-partner. The quality is excellent, in this volume you can see how Schulz drawing style with each character getting their form that would be consistent through the next 45 years and some of the gags work much better in full colour such as Schroeder going three shades of green. You'd need a strong bookshelf as this is a large, heavy tome which makes it a great size to browse as it sits open better coffee table style than the smaller Complete Peanuts but you'd probably need to be a serious collector to want both imo.
February 10, 2018
I never was a big comics or Peanuts fan, but this collection from 1952-1955 is a nice reminder that this comic strip was one of the most durable ever. (Aug 31. 2014)
Now at the later date of Feb. 2018 I looked at several more pages of this work.I want this on my list in Feb. 2018, but can't figure out how to get it there. Goodreads is not very user friendly.
Now at the later date of Feb. 2018 I looked at several more pages of this work.I want this on my list in Feb. 2018, but can't figure out how to get it there. Goodreads is not very user friendly.
November 24, 2013
Perfection.
February 5, 2014
It's Peanuts! And in color!
April 30, 2014
This book was so fun. I remembered collecting peanuts cartoons when I was a kid. Loved them all, lots of laughter, fun and memories.
December 4, 2016
I am growing my fondness to this book and it's characters. recommended for young and even older readers!
June 21, 2014
Loved seeing the early character development; humor was always the same!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews