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The Complete Peanuts #2
The Complete Peanuts, 1953-1954
Our second paperback volume of the acclaimed Complete Peanuts series finds Schulz continuing to establish his tender and comic universe. It begins with Peanuts third full year and a cast of eight: Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, baby Linus, and Snoopy. By the end of 1954, Pigpen and his dust cloud join the crowd. Linus emerges as one of the most complex and endearing characters in the strip, and acquires his security blanket! Charlie Brown is becoming his best-known self, the lovable loser, but he hasn t yet abandoned his brasher, prankish behavior from our first volume. And, Lucy has grown up and forcefully elbowed her way to the center of the action. For readers unfamiliar with the early years of the strip, Snoopy s appearances here may come as the biggest surprise: he behaves, for the most part, like a dog!"
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
191 people are currently reading
1162 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,037 books1,632 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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July 24, 2018
Good ol’ Charlie Brown is back!
STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
This is the second volume of the Complete Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz, starting in 1953 and reaching until 1954.
While there aren’t almost any adult in scene, a curious thing is that you can’t understand what they say, instead of the usual “Blah, blah, blah” in more modern strips, where you have to figure it out what they’re saying due what the kids replied about.
And with Snoopy, from time to time, you still are able to read his thoughts and even there a strip where it’s implied that he can “talks”. Also, it’s still not clear of whom Snoopy is, since there is a strip where Paty and Shermy are painting Snoopy’s house and Charlie Brown pass by to see as if he wasn’t Snoopy’s owner at all.
Charlie Brown is in a transition status, where he’s quite cynical and even doing pranks to his friends, along with beginning to go into “adorable looser” mode, where he can’t accomplish to succeed sometimes.
And Shermy is still around, since Linus is still a baby (as I mentioned in the previous review, that it’s quite odd that Linus eventually, I guess in a “magically” way, he’ll become of the same age than Charlie Brown).
ENTER: PIG-PEN & …
In this second volume is introduced the distinctly famous Pig-Pen, which is the kid who is always dirty with a cloud of dust all around him.
It’s not so rare that in the recent “The Peanuts” CGI movie, they made Patty (don’t get confused with Peppermint Patty) has a romantic interest on Pig-Pen, since she was the first one to meet him, in his introductory strip.
Also, there is the introduction of an odd character named “Charlotte Braun” who is not related to good ol’ Charlie Brown, but it’s obvious that she was intended to be like a “female counterpart” to Charlie Brown, but since I never watch her in any TV special or even the CGI movie, I guess that she didn’t remain long in the comic strip. I’ll know for sure when I’d been reading the next volume.
LUCY DISCREETLY GROWIN’ UP
Lucy is still a kindergarten girl, visible shorter than the other kids, and along the volume, while she’s still quite childish in her comments, you will notice about finals strips that she’s already of the same height than the other kids, with more maturish remarks and attitude.
STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
This is the second volume of the Complete Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz, starting in 1953 and reaching until 1954.
While there aren’t almost any adult in scene, a curious thing is that you can’t understand what they say, instead of the usual “Blah, blah, blah” in more modern strips, where you have to figure it out what they’re saying due what the kids replied about.
And with Snoopy, from time to time, you still are able to read his thoughts and even there a strip where it’s implied that he can “talks”. Also, it’s still not clear of whom Snoopy is, since there is a strip where Paty and Shermy are painting Snoopy’s house and Charlie Brown pass by to see as if he wasn’t Snoopy’s owner at all.
Charlie Brown is in a transition status, where he’s quite cynical and even doing pranks to his friends, along with beginning to go into “adorable looser” mode, where he can’t accomplish to succeed sometimes.
And Shermy is still around, since Linus is still a baby (as I mentioned in the previous review, that it’s quite odd that Linus eventually, I guess in a “magically” way, he’ll become of the same age than Charlie Brown).
ENTER: PIG-PEN & …
In this second volume is introduced the distinctly famous Pig-Pen, which is the kid who is always dirty with a cloud of dust all around him.
It’s not so rare that in the recent “The Peanuts” CGI movie, they made Patty (don’t get confused with Peppermint Patty) has a romantic interest on Pig-Pen, since she was the first one to meet him, in his introductory strip.
Also, there is the introduction of an odd character named “Charlotte Braun” who is not related to good ol’ Charlie Brown, but it’s obvious that she was intended to be like a “female counterpart” to Charlie Brown, but since I never watch her in any TV special or even the CGI movie, I guess that she didn’t remain long in the comic strip. I’ll know for sure when I’d been reading the next volume.
LUCY DISCREETLY GROWIN’ UP
Lucy is still a kindergarten girl, visible shorter than the other kids, and along the volume, while she’s still quite childish in her comments, you will notice about finals strips that she’s already of the same height than the other kids, with more maturish remarks and attitude.
February 11, 2021
The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 2: 1953-1954 collects the Peanuts strips from 1953-1954.
On the heels of finishing the first volume, I had to restrain myself from going out and buying more. Fortunately, I got the second volume in a slipcase with the first.
The strip and Shulz's art evolve quite a bit in this volume. The strip looks brighter and the characters look more familiar. Lucy goes from being a toddler herself to having a baby brother named Linus. Pig-Pen and Charlotte Braun are introduced and Shermie, Violet, and Patty continue heading for the door.
Charlie Brown still has some life to him and isn't the doormat he'd be for the last 30 years of his life. I didn't really understand why Violet got phased out in favor of Lucy until I read this volume. Lucy is a pain in the ass but still likes Charlie Brown on some level. Violet is just a stone cold bitch.
This volume isn't quite as gritty as the previous volume but still has a lot more grit than the MetLife Presents Charlie Brown we all grew up with. So when does Snoopy officially become Charlie Brown's dog? He seems not to belong to any of the gang so far in his life, although there might be a long life of Snoopys that die and get replaced throughout the life of the strip.
The evolution of the Peanuts gang continues in The Complete Charlie Brown Volume 2. They aren't hawking insurance policies yet! Four out of five stars.
On the heels of finishing the first volume, I had to restrain myself from going out and buying more. Fortunately, I got the second volume in a slipcase with the first.
The strip and Shulz's art evolve quite a bit in this volume. The strip looks brighter and the characters look more familiar. Lucy goes from being a toddler herself to having a baby brother named Linus. Pig-Pen and Charlotte Braun are introduced and Shermie, Violet, and Patty continue heading for the door.
Charlie Brown still has some life to him and isn't the doormat he'd be for the last 30 years of his life. I didn't really understand why Violet got phased out in favor of Lucy until I read this volume. Lucy is a pain in the ass but still likes Charlie Brown on some level. Violet is just a stone cold bitch.
This volume isn't quite as gritty as the previous volume but still has a lot more grit than the MetLife Presents Charlie Brown we all grew up with. So when does Snoopy officially become Charlie Brown's dog? He seems not to belong to any of the gang so far in his life, although there might be a long life of Snoopys that die and get replaced throughout the life of the strip.
The evolution of the Peanuts gang continues in The Complete Charlie Brown Volume 2. They aren't hawking insurance policies yet! Four out of five stars.
February 24, 2019
With twenty-five volumes to this series, each featuring more than three hundred pages of Peanuts comic strips, there's no better way to immerse yourself in the world of Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and Violet. Spanning all of 1953 and '54, the characters begin to clarify in this second volume, and we get a feel for which running gags will endure. We find a classic strip right away, January 7 of '53 (page three), about Lucy's expulsion from nursery school. That's followed January 14 (page six) by another classic, Charlie Brown grousing to Violet that he suspects she doesn't like him at all. January 15 (page seven) we're reintroduced to Charlie Brown's talent for crafting bizarre snowmen, and January 27 (page twelve) is a hilarious mixup between Schroeder and Lucy at his toy piano; he uses music vocabulary she mistakes for an out-of-the-blue term of endearment. January 30 (page thirteen), Lucy is carrying a small Charlie Brown doll. Charlie Brown is pleased...until he sees what she does with it. February 1 (page fourteen) is a Sunday of subtle Peanuts philosophy, with Lucy and Patty visiting the dime store. Patty can see over the counter to the toys, dolls, and trinkets, but Lucy isn't tall enough to look at anything more than the paneling and carpentry of the counter fronts. However enthusiastic a friend may be about an interesting subject, sometimes we have growing to do before we're able to match their comprehension and appreciation.
February 5 (page sixteen) Schroeder tells Charlie Brown he practices piano ten hours a day and can play a wide variety of classical pieces. When Charlie Brown responds that he saw a man on T.V. play piano with his nose, Schroeder wonders if a disciplined prodigy like himself will ever get his due. It's hard to earn acclaim in a world that's drawn to the sensational. February 8 (page seventeen) is a laugh-out-loud Sunday: as Lucy and Snoopy share a box of cookies, Lucy leaves the box behind to answer the doorbell, but "counts" the cookies to safeguard against Snoopy stealing. Insulted, Snoopy gobbles a few; with her eccentric counting, Lucy will never know...will she? The build-up and punchline are very funny. February 9 (page eighteen) Charlie Brown eats "spite" candy on the other side of a door closed against Snoopy. But how tasty are sweets when you eat them to spite a friend? Pleasures just aren't the same when you use them against someone you care about. February 19 (page twenty-two) is a type of gag that repeats intermittently, Lucy listening to a recording on her record player (in this case, it's the Georgie Porgy nursery rhyme). Her comment after it ends is hysterically funny. February 20 is a keen observation about appetite. Charlie Brown declines when Violet offers him ice cream, but he gradually warms to the idea and ends up craving it. How disappointing to learn there was no ice cream at all; what's more, the dessert wouldn't have crossed his mind if Violet hadn't offered. When you get excited about a treat, losing out on it is a real downer. March 5 (page twenty-eight) Charlie Brown expresses sadness at a song on the record player. But when the music ends, he asks Violet to replay it; sometimes a sad song does us good, even if it brings melancholy memories to the surface.
A classic Linus-and-Lucy gag marks March 8 (page twenty-nine), with Lucy mystified why her baby brother is such a bundle of nerves. The answer is obvious to anyone but Lucy. May 20 (page sixty) Lucy tells Patty how relieved she'll be when nursery school lets out for summer, though Lucy's choice of vacation activities sounds strangely similar to what she bemoans at school. It's more satisfying to learn and play because we like to than because it's mandated. May 25 (page sixty-three) is a classic joke, playing off Charlie Brown's feelings of inadequacy for an amusing insult, and June 28 (page seventy-seven) is an insightful look at children's games. When Charlie Brown and Shermy play Cowboys and Indians, they argue constantly over whether their "gunfire" hit its target. It turns out Charlie Brown has no interest in Cowboys and Indians; he enjoys verbal sparring. How similar to many who enter politics or law not because they love doing good, but want to intellectually hammer the opposition. July 7 (page eighty-one) is a theme broached repeatedly by Peanuts. When Charlie Brown sees Patty and Violet talking quietly, he assumes they're speaking negatively about him. However, we see that the conversation has nothing to do with Charlie Brown. A key aspect of humility is to not fool yourself into believing you're the center of other people's existence; it's also the only way to live in peace, not obsessing on what others think or say about you. July 20 (page eighty-seven) Charlie Brown has a blasé reaction to Schroeder telling him about the foreign piano pieces he's learned to play. "That's nice, Schroeder...I think everyone should have a hobby." How demoralizing to be a fine artist and have your labor regarded as nothing more than a casual pastime. I empathize, Schroeder.
July 24 (page eighty-eight) Charlie Brown admits he's a "lonesome cowboy." It's not easy having different interests when your peers pursue the latest fads; you feel left behind by the world. October 15 (page one hundred twenty-four) Charlie Brown is stunned that Patty invites him to her party. He's dull at parties, he says, no fun at all, but he's glad she's asking. After Charlie Brown's spiel, though, maybe Patty has changed her mind. As the saying goes, “If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” December 5 (page one hundred forty-five) is a well-known strip, Snoopy licking Linus's face and Lucy restraining her brother, who wants to reciprocate. December 18 (page one hundred fifty-one) is a classic, Lucy explaining that her mother is teaching Linus to feed himself by sending him to bed without supper if he knocks his bowl off the table three times. The punchline is quintessential Charles Schulz. Peanuts is replete with sophisticated music humor, and January 2, 1954 (page one hundred fifty-seven) is a famous example. Charlie Brown's George Frederick Handel pun is not appreciated by Schroeder. Another classic sprouts up January 7 (page one hundred sixty), Charlie Brown and Patty arguing over ownership of a snowman. Patty taking her half and going home is hilarious. January 14 (page one hundred sixty-three) Violet derides Snoopy for his trick of balancing full glasses of water on both outstretched ears. She says it's a waste of time, considering all the world's problems. The criticism deflates Snoopy, but sometimes we should admire a skill because it's impressive in its own right, not based on whether it's more broadly useful. Otherwise, we miss wondrous things people can devote themselves to achieving.
Another famous strip comes along January 18 (page one hundred sixty-five), Schroeder staying home from school to celebrate a birthday. Which classical musician is it this time? February 6 (page one hundred seventy-two) is good old-fashioned Peanuts comedy, Violet inquiring as to what Charlie Brown likes just so she can reject him more thoroughly. February 26 (page one hundred eighty-one) is an insight into artistic sensitivity. Like Charlie Brown, we often convince ourselves we're looking for honest opinions of our work, when in reality we want positive reactions even if they're not the whole truth. It's a candid strip for a cartoonist to create. Peanuts turns out some excellent Schroeder jokes, and March 26 (page one hundred ninety-three) is one of this book's best. The jack-in-the-box visual gag is wildly funny. April 15 (page two hundred two) is a wordplay bit featuring the title of a book Charlie Brown is reading, and April 24 (page two hundred five) is another hysterical commentary by Lucy about a record she listens to, the song "Mary Wore Her Red Dress." The punchline is sublime. May 9 (page two hundred twelve) begins a rare Sunday miniseries, lasting four consecutive Sundays. Lucy, a golf prodigy, enters the Women's State Amateur Championship and improbably is on the brink of victory...until a complication stops her. More music comedy comes our way May 20 (page two hundred seventeen), Lucy misinterpreting a word Schroeder uses about song styles on a Chopin record he purchased. July 13 (page two hundred forty) is a momentous occasion in Peanuts history: the introduction of Pig-Pen, who's as dirty on day one as any day since. Who doesn't love Pig-Pen despite (or because of) his inexorable cloud of dust?
October 12 (page two hundred seventy-nine) Schroeder again runs up against the world's ignorance in relation to his talent. Schroeder knows classical music like a scholar, but it's Charlie Brown's knowledge of baseball history that engenders Violet's admiration. Will Schroeder's genius ever be recognized? October 23 (page two hundred eighty-three) Snoopy gets tired of his position in front of the T.V. being usurped, and humorously overreacts to make his point to Charlie Brown. While preparing for Halloween on October 29 (page two hundred eighty-six), Schroeder figures he'll wear a jacket over his ghost costume if it's cold out, but Patty is right: somehow it seems to diminish the effect. The visual is amusing, as is the case for the October 30 strip, when Charlie Brown's mother can only spare a washrag for his ghost costume, not a full sheet. November 3 (page two hundred eighty-eight) Charlie Brown and Lucy gaze at the night sky, and Lucy wonders why Charlie Brown never thinks about how he'd react if the moon fell on his head. It's not an imminent threat, but thinking in unusual ways expands our minds beyond arbitrary barriers we otherwise put in place. Lucy has a point when she asks, "How come you never think about things like that?" November 30 (page three hundred) Charlie Brown is surprised to meet Charlotte Braun, a kid who talks too loudly and wants it clearly known she's not related to Charlie Brown. December 9 (page three hundred four) Lucy compares the likelihood of her eventual marriage to Charlie Brown or Schroeder, and Charlie Brown rails against Schroeder for giving even more extreme odds than he himself offered Lucy. December 20 (page three hundred nine) Charlie Brown attempts to teach Linus to blow up a balloon, but the toddler somehow blows square balloons. Charlie Brown and Lucy think something is wrong with Linus for how he inflates balloons, but is there? Is it not a gift to do something that brings variety to a world awash in homogeny? That always was Linus's special knack. December 29 (page three hundred twelve) is a fresh, funny sight gag to finish this book with a flourish, a return to Charlie Brown's snowman art but with a new angle. Peanuts heads into 1955 with a bright future, already perhaps the best comic strip of its era.
I love Charles Monroe Schulz and Peanuts. The subtle humor and insight, the neighborhood camaraderie among the kids and the overall upbeat feel in spite of Charlie Brown's well-earned pessimism make the strip a work of art that uniquely enhances children's literature. Peanuts brought comfort via daily newspaper for half a century, and does the same today for those who read Schulz's books. I'd rate Volume 2 of The Complete Peanuts at least two and a half stars, perhaps the full three, and I recommend it to anyone wondering what they might be missing. I take every opportunity to spend an afternoon with Charlie Brown and the gang.
February 5 (page sixteen) Schroeder tells Charlie Brown he practices piano ten hours a day and can play a wide variety of classical pieces. When Charlie Brown responds that he saw a man on T.V. play piano with his nose, Schroeder wonders if a disciplined prodigy like himself will ever get his due. It's hard to earn acclaim in a world that's drawn to the sensational. February 8 (page seventeen) is a laugh-out-loud Sunday: as Lucy and Snoopy share a box of cookies, Lucy leaves the box behind to answer the doorbell, but "counts" the cookies to safeguard against Snoopy stealing. Insulted, Snoopy gobbles a few; with her eccentric counting, Lucy will never know...will she? The build-up and punchline are very funny. February 9 (page eighteen) Charlie Brown eats "spite" candy on the other side of a door closed against Snoopy. But how tasty are sweets when you eat them to spite a friend? Pleasures just aren't the same when you use them against someone you care about. February 19 (page twenty-two) is a type of gag that repeats intermittently, Lucy listening to a recording on her record player (in this case, it's the Georgie Porgy nursery rhyme). Her comment after it ends is hysterically funny. February 20 is a keen observation about appetite. Charlie Brown declines when Violet offers him ice cream, but he gradually warms to the idea and ends up craving it. How disappointing to learn there was no ice cream at all; what's more, the dessert wouldn't have crossed his mind if Violet hadn't offered. When you get excited about a treat, losing out on it is a real downer. March 5 (page twenty-eight) Charlie Brown expresses sadness at a song on the record player. But when the music ends, he asks Violet to replay it; sometimes a sad song does us good, even if it brings melancholy memories to the surface.
A classic Linus-and-Lucy gag marks March 8 (page twenty-nine), with Lucy mystified why her baby brother is such a bundle of nerves. The answer is obvious to anyone but Lucy. May 20 (page sixty) Lucy tells Patty how relieved she'll be when nursery school lets out for summer, though Lucy's choice of vacation activities sounds strangely similar to what she bemoans at school. It's more satisfying to learn and play because we like to than because it's mandated. May 25 (page sixty-three) is a classic joke, playing off Charlie Brown's feelings of inadequacy for an amusing insult, and June 28 (page seventy-seven) is an insightful look at children's games. When Charlie Brown and Shermy play Cowboys and Indians, they argue constantly over whether their "gunfire" hit its target. It turns out Charlie Brown has no interest in Cowboys and Indians; he enjoys verbal sparring. How similar to many who enter politics or law not because they love doing good, but want to intellectually hammer the opposition. July 7 (page eighty-one) is a theme broached repeatedly by Peanuts. When Charlie Brown sees Patty and Violet talking quietly, he assumes they're speaking negatively about him. However, we see that the conversation has nothing to do with Charlie Brown. A key aspect of humility is to not fool yourself into believing you're the center of other people's existence; it's also the only way to live in peace, not obsessing on what others think or say about you. July 20 (page eighty-seven) Charlie Brown has a blasé reaction to Schroeder telling him about the foreign piano pieces he's learned to play. "That's nice, Schroeder...I think everyone should have a hobby." How demoralizing to be a fine artist and have your labor regarded as nothing more than a casual pastime. I empathize, Schroeder.
July 24 (page eighty-eight) Charlie Brown admits he's a "lonesome cowboy." It's not easy having different interests when your peers pursue the latest fads; you feel left behind by the world. October 15 (page one hundred twenty-four) Charlie Brown is stunned that Patty invites him to her party. He's dull at parties, he says, no fun at all, but he's glad she's asking. After Charlie Brown's spiel, though, maybe Patty has changed her mind. As the saying goes, “If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” December 5 (page one hundred forty-five) is a well-known strip, Snoopy licking Linus's face and Lucy restraining her brother, who wants to reciprocate. December 18 (page one hundred fifty-one) is a classic, Lucy explaining that her mother is teaching Linus to feed himself by sending him to bed without supper if he knocks his bowl off the table three times. The punchline is quintessential Charles Schulz. Peanuts is replete with sophisticated music humor, and January 2, 1954 (page one hundred fifty-seven) is a famous example. Charlie Brown's George Frederick Handel pun is not appreciated by Schroeder. Another classic sprouts up January 7 (page one hundred sixty), Charlie Brown and Patty arguing over ownership of a snowman. Patty taking her half and going home is hilarious. January 14 (page one hundred sixty-three) Violet derides Snoopy for his trick of balancing full glasses of water on both outstretched ears. She says it's a waste of time, considering all the world's problems. The criticism deflates Snoopy, but sometimes we should admire a skill because it's impressive in its own right, not based on whether it's more broadly useful. Otherwise, we miss wondrous things people can devote themselves to achieving.
Another famous strip comes along January 18 (page one hundred sixty-five), Schroeder staying home from school to celebrate a birthday. Which classical musician is it this time? February 6 (page one hundred seventy-two) is good old-fashioned Peanuts comedy, Violet inquiring as to what Charlie Brown likes just so she can reject him more thoroughly. February 26 (page one hundred eighty-one) is an insight into artistic sensitivity. Like Charlie Brown, we often convince ourselves we're looking for honest opinions of our work, when in reality we want positive reactions even if they're not the whole truth. It's a candid strip for a cartoonist to create. Peanuts turns out some excellent Schroeder jokes, and March 26 (page one hundred ninety-three) is one of this book's best. The jack-in-the-box visual gag is wildly funny. April 15 (page two hundred two) is a wordplay bit featuring the title of a book Charlie Brown is reading, and April 24 (page two hundred five) is another hysterical commentary by Lucy about a record she listens to, the song "Mary Wore Her Red Dress." The punchline is sublime. May 9 (page two hundred twelve) begins a rare Sunday miniseries, lasting four consecutive Sundays. Lucy, a golf prodigy, enters the Women's State Amateur Championship and improbably is on the brink of victory...until a complication stops her. More music comedy comes our way May 20 (page two hundred seventeen), Lucy misinterpreting a word Schroeder uses about song styles on a Chopin record he purchased. July 13 (page two hundred forty) is a momentous occasion in Peanuts history: the introduction of Pig-Pen, who's as dirty on day one as any day since. Who doesn't love Pig-Pen despite (or because of) his inexorable cloud of dust?
October 12 (page two hundred seventy-nine) Schroeder again runs up against the world's ignorance in relation to his talent. Schroeder knows classical music like a scholar, but it's Charlie Brown's knowledge of baseball history that engenders Violet's admiration. Will Schroeder's genius ever be recognized? October 23 (page two hundred eighty-three) Snoopy gets tired of his position in front of the T.V. being usurped, and humorously overreacts to make his point to Charlie Brown. While preparing for Halloween on October 29 (page two hundred eighty-six), Schroeder figures he'll wear a jacket over his ghost costume if it's cold out, but Patty is right: somehow it seems to diminish the effect. The visual is amusing, as is the case for the October 30 strip, when Charlie Brown's mother can only spare a washrag for his ghost costume, not a full sheet. November 3 (page two hundred eighty-eight) Charlie Brown and Lucy gaze at the night sky, and Lucy wonders why Charlie Brown never thinks about how he'd react if the moon fell on his head. It's not an imminent threat, but thinking in unusual ways expands our minds beyond arbitrary barriers we otherwise put in place. Lucy has a point when she asks, "How come you never think about things like that?" November 30 (page three hundred) Charlie Brown is surprised to meet Charlotte Braun, a kid who talks too loudly and wants it clearly known she's not related to Charlie Brown. December 9 (page three hundred four) Lucy compares the likelihood of her eventual marriage to Charlie Brown or Schroeder, and Charlie Brown rails against Schroeder for giving even more extreme odds than he himself offered Lucy. December 20 (page three hundred nine) Charlie Brown attempts to teach Linus to blow up a balloon, but the toddler somehow blows square balloons. Charlie Brown and Lucy think something is wrong with Linus for how he inflates balloons, but is there? Is it not a gift to do something that brings variety to a world awash in homogeny? That always was Linus's special knack. December 29 (page three hundred twelve) is a fresh, funny sight gag to finish this book with a flourish, a return to Charlie Brown's snowman art but with a new angle. Peanuts heads into 1955 with a bright future, already perhaps the best comic strip of its era.
I love Charles Monroe Schulz and Peanuts. The subtle humor and insight, the neighborhood camaraderie among the kids and the overall upbeat feel in spite of Charlie Brown's well-earned pessimism make the strip a work of art that uniquely enhances children's literature. Peanuts brought comfort via daily newspaper for half a century, and does the same today for those who read Schulz's books. I'd rate Volume 2 of The Complete Peanuts at least two and a half stars, perhaps the full three, and I recommend it to anyone wondering what they might be missing. I take every opportunity to spend an afternoon with Charlie Brown and the gang.
April 20, 2025
This second meaty volume opens with an introduction by Walter Cronkite. It's not great. The strips make up for that.
There's no significant change in the established characters across these two years, but some refinements take place: Linus remains an infant, although a preternaturally talented one; Snoopy is still in his early puppy form; Lucy demonstrates her loud fussbudget self more clearly. Good ol' Charlie Brown shows his depression and insecurity and desperate need for affection more clearly.
Two new characters are introduced in 1954: 'Pig Pen', a one-note character but an enduring one, filthy but without his later trademark cloud of dust that follows him everywhere; and Charlotte Braun. Everyone remembers Charlotte Braun, yeah? She has curly hair, and she talks loudly. At least Schultz is trying new things.
Some firsts: Snoopy's doghouse takes on its Tardis-like quality in one strip; Lucy expresses her eternally unrequited romantic interest in Schroeder; and a consecutive series of Sunday strips plays out a continuous story when Lucy participates in a women's golf tournament. I don't know if Schultz ever attempted such a thing again. I suppose I'll find out over the next 46 years.
There's no significant change in the established characters across these two years, but some refinements take place: Linus remains an infant, although a preternaturally talented one; Snoopy is still in his early puppy form; Lucy demonstrates her loud fussbudget self more clearly. Good ol' Charlie Brown shows his depression and insecurity and desperate need for affection more clearly.
Two new characters are introduced in 1954: 'Pig Pen', a one-note character but an enduring one, filthy but without his later trademark cloud of dust that follows him everywhere; and Charlotte Braun. Everyone remembers Charlotte Braun, yeah? She has curly hair, and she talks loudly. At least Schultz is trying new things.
Some firsts: Snoopy's doghouse takes on its Tardis-like quality in one strip; Lucy expresses her eternally unrequited romantic interest in Schroeder; and a consecutive series of Sunday strips plays out a continuous story when Lucy participates in a women's golf tournament. I don't know if Schultz ever attempted such a thing again. I suppose I'll find out over the next 46 years.
September 10, 2019
The characters are still evolving into their famous incarnations. Charlie Brown is less of a prankster. Snoopy now “talk-thinks” at times; his facial expressions are priceless. Lucy has become a big loud presence and it’s no wonder her brother, the brilliant (though silent) baby Linus, starts to use a security blanket by volume’s end. Also near the book's end, Pig-Pen is introduced for the first time, as is a character named Charlotte Braun.
I’d wondered at the quality of a very few of the strips near the end and that’s explained in a publisher’s note at the back of the book. A number of these early strips, published in only a few newspapers originally, were never saved properly or reprinted. Most newspapers archive on microfilm only and that’s useless for graphic reproduction. Consequently, finding and restoring the early strips took some time and lots of work, and are a Peanuts-lovers’ dream.
I’d wondered at the quality of a very few of the strips near the end and that’s explained in a publisher’s note at the back of the book. A number of these early strips, published in only a few newspapers originally, were never saved properly or reprinted. Most newspapers archive on microfilm only and that’s useless for graphic reproduction. Consequently, finding and restoring the early strips took some time and lots of work, and are a Peanuts-lovers’ dream.
November 14, 2014
The opening of the strip with all the comics.
Continuing onward from the formation in Volume 1, Volume 2 has the characters and cast taking shape. The only new character is Pig-Pen. Who is even a corrupting influence.
I think Charlie Brown has fewer smart-alec moments but I didn't count. He still has his moments; when Lucy tries demanding a drink and then complaining that he put his fingers on the ice cubes, he throws the drink over her. When he wants to quit school, he gets talked back into going -- he needs to count to nine, to ensure he has enough players for his baseball team. On the other hand, he loses a lot of checkers games, and Lucy overbears him with her silliness on occasion, such as when she insists that it's a new sun every day.
It also introduces such immortal themes as the baseball game. Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite though the kite-eating tree does not appear.
Continuing onward from the formation in Volume 1, Volume 2 has the characters and cast taking shape. The only new character is Pig-Pen. Who is even a corrupting influence.
I think Charlie Brown has fewer smart-alec moments but I didn't count. He still has his moments; when Lucy tries demanding a drink and then complaining that he put his fingers on the ice cubes, he throws the drink over her. When he wants to quit school, he gets talked back into going -- he needs to count to nine, to ensure he has enough players for his baseball team. On the other hand, he loses a lot of checkers games, and Lucy overbears him with her silliness on occasion, such as when she insists that it's a new sun every day.
It also introduces such immortal themes as the baseball game. Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite though the kite-eating tree does not appear.
June 11, 2023
Classic Peanuts from the very first years is the pinnacle of comic strips. The humor anticipates much that was to come later in strips such as Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side. Charles Schulz was incredibly perceptive and found the perfect tone in having preschool kids voice grown-up struggles with social life and self-understanding. As I read this volume, I was frequently sharing specific pages with people who would share my appreciation for the absurd beauty of them. I have too many favorites to be able to pick out just a few to mention in a review. Best to pick up the book and read just a few pages at a time.
July 13, 2021
1 of 26 volumes of collected work. Staggering. Review will be appended to all volumes when I've completed them all.
March 16, 2014
When I was in middle school my Mom bought me a yellow sweatshirt with Charlie Brown on it and the phrase, "I need all the friends I can get." Thanks, mom, that really helped me. Suddenly I became wildly popular, of course…. But seriously, it sort of confirmed for me my outsider, nerd status as hyper sensitive guy, never to be cool. Each and every day I read Peanuts and it was my favorite, always, offering insight and humor. I was Charlie Brown, as were a million others reading.
9 Year old Harry and I finished this book of daily strips, accomplished in my birth year and a character largely unknown to Harry, of course, Schulz gone, the holiday specials fading… But you know, he is like me in many ways, reading with a headlamp late into the night, every book he can get his hands on… Stacks of them in and around his bed. He's cooler than I was, but he's sensitive and sweet and can related to Charlie Brown, I bet.
Though I read Peanuts strips religiously, a daily devotion, for more than thirty years of my life, I had not seen this early stuff, which is part of a multivolume collection of all of his strips. Who needs to read them all but scholars and sentimental collectors? But I saw them in the library and I thought I would look at a couple early volumes and a couple later ones to compare, with Harry, and to see if I would again enjoy, and whether Harry would enjoy. The early stuff has all of his signature economical tone and saddish humor (like Pooh, in a way, all these comically dysfunctional character!), and if his drawing is a little rougher and less developed in these early days, it is all there in the spareness, the economical line. A master, without question. You can see how (sad) Chris Ware (and so many others, of course) was influenced by Schulz. A master, without question, and one easy for daily readers to sort of forget as a master since he was just so much in our lives, he made it look easy, like there was nothing to it. And so fun to read again. For some reason I stopped reading daily comic strips several years ago. Maybe I need to read more again, online and in the last years of print?
And for Harry? I was looking this morning for the 1952-53 volume, all over the house, after finishing this one first with him… and finally, I looked in his bed, and there, with a book mark 1/3 of the way in, is this volume. He likes Charlie Brown! He likes Peanuts! I will add his commentary later…. and I have to see if I can find that sweatshirt for him… nah… something cooler for him.
9 Year old Harry and I finished this book of daily strips, accomplished in my birth year and a character largely unknown to Harry, of course, Schulz gone, the holiday specials fading… But you know, he is like me in many ways, reading with a headlamp late into the night, every book he can get his hands on… Stacks of them in and around his bed. He's cooler than I was, but he's sensitive and sweet and can related to Charlie Brown, I bet.
Though I read Peanuts strips religiously, a daily devotion, for more than thirty years of my life, I had not seen this early stuff, which is part of a multivolume collection of all of his strips. Who needs to read them all but scholars and sentimental collectors? But I saw them in the library and I thought I would look at a couple early volumes and a couple later ones to compare, with Harry, and to see if I would again enjoy, and whether Harry would enjoy. The early stuff has all of his signature economical tone and saddish humor (like Pooh, in a way, all these comically dysfunctional character!), and if his drawing is a little rougher and less developed in these early days, it is all there in the spareness, the economical line. A master, without question. You can see how (sad) Chris Ware (and so many others, of course) was influenced by Schulz. A master, without question, and one easy for daily readers to sort of forget as a master since he was just so much in our lives, he made it look easy, like there was nothing to it. And so fun to read again. For some reason I stopped reading daily comic strips several years ago. Maybe I need to read more again, online and in the last years of print?
And for Harry? I was looking this morning for the 1952-53 volume, all over the house, after finishing this one first with him… and finally, I looked in his bed, and there, with a book mark 1/3 of the way in, is this volume. He likes Charlie Brown! He likes Peanuts! I will add his commentary later…. and I have to see if I can find that sweatshirt for him… nah… something cooler for him.
November 7, 2014
Just like its predecessor, there are a lot of Peanuts cartoons collected here that I don't recall reading in my younger days. How much of that is that the memories of those collections are lost to the ravages of time and how much of it is that these particular cartoons weren't included in previous collections, I can't really say. What I can say is that reading the entire creative output of Charles M. Schulz from two years is a fascinating journey.
In this second collection, the characters and characteristics of those characters are starting to come into better shape. Snoopy still acts like a regular dog, only occasionally talking to the audience and rarely having the flights of fancy that will later define him. Lucy comes to the fore a bit more and feels like the showcase star of this collection -- from her being a fussbudget to her dissatisfaction with going to nursery school. There are hints of the Lucy that many of us associate with the character developing here, though I'd argue she has a gentler, more human side than we see in later years. (This may be something that I will have to observe as I continue to read these collections).
Over the course of two years, you can see Schultz refining his technique, his humor and his characters. There are some characters who make appearances here that will slowly fade into the background, while others are just emerging. Schroeder has his love of Beethoven and serves as a sounding board for budding cartoon artist Charlie Brown. Pigpen makes his debut toward the later half of the collection, with various observations that you can kick up a cloud of dust everywhere you go and still be happy and well adjusted. One of the more intriguing introductions toward the end of 1954 is Carlotta Brown, who essentially looks like Charlie Brown, drawn in a dress and with curly hair. Her other defining characteristic is that she talks in a loud voice (think Monty Python's guy who likes to shout). It will be interesting to see how long she stays around and if and how Schultz fazes her out. I'll be honest that I've never come across her in previous collections -- and there may be a reason.
The book remains a fascinating look at an iconic comic strip as it develops. It also continues to show that Peanuts is never static.
In this second collection, the characters and characteristics of those characters are starting to come into better shape. Snoopy still acts like a regular dog, only occasionally talking to the audience and rarely having the flights of fancy that will later define him. Lucy comes to the fore a bit more and feels like the showcase star of this collection -- from her being a fussbudget to her dissatisfaction with going to nursery school. There are hints of the Lucy that many of us associate with the character developing here, though I'd argue she has a gentler, more human side than we see in later years. (This may be something that I will have to observe as I continue to read these collections).
Over the course of two years, you can see Schultz refining his technique, his humor and his characters. There are some characters who make appearances here that will slowly fade into the background, while others are just emerging. Schroeder has his love of Beethoven and serves as a sounding board for budding cartoon artist Charlie Brown. Pigpen makes his debut toward the later half of the collection, with various observations that you can kick up a cloud of dust everywhere you go and still be happy and well adjusted. One of the more intriguing introductions toward the end of 1954 is Carlotta Brown, who essentially looks like Charlie Brown, drawn in a dress and with curly hair. Her other defining characteristic is that she talks in a loud voice (think Monty Python's guy who likes to shout). It will be interesting to see how long she stays around and if and how Schultz fazes her out. I'll be honest that I've never come across her in previous collections -- and there may be a reason.
The book remains a fascinating look at an iconic comic strip as it develops. It also continues to show that Peanuts is never static.
May 25, 2012
Nella striscia del 1° giugno '54 compare per la prima volta la coperta di Linus (e nella tavola domenicale del 17 ottobre '54 si viene a sapere che è proprio fatta di ciniglia), il 13 luglio '54 è la volta di Pig-Pen, nella striscia del 6 agosto '54 c'è il tema di un film di David Lynch. Quanto al resto, Lucy si conferma per il secondo e terzo anno consecutivi la piantagrane numero uno al mondo e il buon vecchio Charlie Brown è sempre il buon vecchio Charlie Brown.
June 10, 2024
- it's a bit unnerving seeing them discuss some serious topics like the h-bomb
- lucy entering her bully era
- shroeder and his beethoven obsession is cute
- snoopy acting like a normal dog??? I want my eccentric boy, also no woodstock sto far.
- charlotte braun was a weird choice. I'm glad she was phased out
- lucy entering her bully era
- shroeder and his beethoven obsession is cute
- snoopy acting like a normal dog??? I want my eccentric boy, also no woodstock sto far.
- charlotte braun was a weird choice. I'm glad she was phased out
December 29, 2025
Amazing Work
As with the last volume, I have really enjoyed this look into the early years of the Peanuts strip. This may not be a popular sentiment, but I actually prefer the way Snoopy is drawn in these early years. He seems so much more relatable and huggable here.
As with the last volume, I have really enjoyed this look into the early years of the Peanuts strip. This may not be a popular sentiment, but I actually prefer the way Snoopy is drawn in these early years. He seems so much more relatable and huggable here.
May 10, 2020
Another great collection of Peanuts comics as we also see the debuts of messy little Pigpen and curly haired Charlotte. A (100%/Outstanding)
January 25, 2025
continua la lettura delle strips! sempre molto carine, ottime quando ho voglia di leggere qualcosa ma non ho la testa per i libri più pesanti che sto leggendo al momento (e quando c'è troppo casino per ascoltare gli audiolibri... salvatemi dalla maledizione della televisione sempre accesa ;;;)
March 17, 2019
The life of a child is so difficult. You have to decide what to play, who to play with, what toys to use, where to meet your friends. It's just so tiring day after day. I don't know how they do it. On top of it all they rarely support one another, preferring to be mean, sarcastic little devils instead.
November 21, 2025
Un altro passo nell’evoluzione dei Peanuts, con personaggi e temi che diventano sempre più definiti. Schulz affina il suo humour dolce-amaro e regala strisce brillanti, tenerissime e intrise di quella saggezza semplice che ha reso immortale la serie. Un volume che mostra un autore in piena crescita creativa.
February 4, 2020
Comics about nothing :)
Read
July 18, 2023its a nice throwback to the boomer times
February 17, 2020
So the way I usually do these The Complete Peanuts reviews is that I share my favorite strip from the collection I am reviewing, because it is almost impossible to review Peanuts because the likelihood is that anyone reading this volume already knows how great Peanuts is. However, The Complete Peanuts covers the entire run of Peanuts from 1950 to 2000 and it is pretty much accepted that Schulz' 60s output is the high water mark for the strip. As such, some of the volumes may not rise to the level of the five star treatment I would give Peanuts as a whole or especially the 60s volumes, which I have not reviewed yet. This is one of those volumes, where you see Schulz still experimenting with the characters in Peanuts and certain major players are not yet in their fully realized forms (the most obvious being Linus, who is still a toddler in this collection and not the child philosopher that most readers think of when they think of Linus. Snoopy is not what Snoopy becomes.) As such, this volume is not completely representative of Schulz' best work, even though it is obvious that this is a strip in its ascendance, and the best is yet to come.
With that in mind, I did have some difficulty picking my favorite strip from the collection. Later editions will pose me the opposite issue, where there are simply too many good choices to just pick one. I attribute this to the experimentation I alluded to earlier. The full cast is not yet in play in this collection, so the truly "classic" Peanuts is something to come. But this collection does feature the first appearances of Pig Pen in the strip, who first appeared in July of 1954. My pick is from August of 1954 and it is for purely sentimental reasons, as I believe this strip serves as the basis for one of the gags for my favorite Christmas specials, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Of course, Pig Pen's slovenly ways allow yet another channel for the Peanuts gang to channel their hostility on one of their own (I sometimes think that Schulz thought this was humanity's "default" setting.) This strip features the early character (not Peppermint) Patty laying into Pig Pen for being such a slob:
While I have stated that this collection is in some ways experimental on Schulz's part, Pig Pen's response to Patty's criticism is indicative of the sorts of philosophical questions Schulz could pose in four small panels. Yes, Pig Pen's more detestable attributes are on display, but as he notes, they are consistent. This poses a larger question that Patty should infer from the conversation. Is it better to know the devil you know or the devil you don't? Think about this from the perspective of a more serious issue--racism and white supremacism. Which is more insidious--the openly racist person who sounds and acts like a dangerous fool, or the person who claims not to be racist but when push comes to shove, their actions belie the actual truth. In my estimation, the closet racist is the more problematic person because they are harder to dismiss and therefore are more dangerous. This shows Schulz's ultimate genius on the pages of Peanuts--he is able to disarm these existential dilemmas by expressing them out of the mouths of babes. And yet, the dilemmas are not forgotten, and perhaps the strip is an impetus for the reader to engage in reflection and self-evaluation, even if the trigger was something so innocuous as what most would view as a harmless comic strip.
With that in mind, I did have some difficulty picking my favorite strip from the collection. Later editions will pose me the opposite issue, where there are simply too many good choices to just pick one. I attribute this to the experimentation I alluded to earlier. The full cast is not yet in play in this collection, so the truly "classic" Peanuts is something to come. But this collection does feature the first appearances of Pig Pen in the strip, who first appeared in July of 1954. My pick is from August of 1954 and it is for purely sentimental reasons, as I believe this strip serves as the basis for one of the gags for my favorite Christmas specials, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Of course, Pig Pen's slovenly ways allow yet another channel for the Peanuts gang to channel their hostility on one of their own (I sometimes think that Schulz thought this was humanity's "default" setting.) This strip features the early character (not Peppermint) Patty laying into Pig Pen for being such a slob:
While I have stated that this collection is in some ways experimental on Schulz's part, Pig Pen's response to Patty's criticism is indicative of the sorts of philosophical questions Schulz could pose in four small panels. Yes, Pig Pen's more detestable attributes are on display, but as he notes, they are consistent. This poses a larger question that Patty should infer from the conversation. Is it better to know the devil you know or the devil you don't? Think about this from the perspective of a more serious issue--racism and white supremacism. Which is more insidious--the openly racist person who sounds and acts like a dangerous fool, or the person who claims not to be racist but when push comes to shove, their actions belie the actual truth. In my estimation, the closet racist is the more problematic person because they are harder to dismiss and therefore are more dangerous. This shows Schulz's ultimate genius on the pages of Peanuts--he is able to disarm these existential dilemmas by expressing them out of the mouths of babes. And yet, the dilemmas are not forgotten, and perhaps the strip is an impetus for the reader to engage in reflection and self-evaluation, even if the trigger was something so innocuous as what most would view as a harmless comic strip.
January 26, 2022
Overview:
The daily and Sunday comics collected here are not available in any printed Peanuts collection. Since their original publication more than 50 years ago, dozens of them have remained unreprinted. Charlie Brown, Shermy, Patty, Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, the baby Linus, and Snoopy are among the characters featured in the second book, which is jam-packed with exciting happenings. Pigpen and his cloud of dust first appeared in the pages of the comic book in late 1954.
In this volume, Linus still does not speak but begins to emerge as one of the most captivating characters in the strip. For now, Charlie Brown's best friend remains Schroeder. Finally, as a proudly troubled girl, Lucy is undeniably the star of this second book.
Pros: When I read these comics from my youth, I can't help but feel nostalgic. Even though they are decades old, many of these tales have a fresh perspective because of the wry humor of that well-known cartoonist. It's fascinating to observe how the strokes have changed through time. The book provides daily doses of humor that don't have to be consumed all at once. It's ideal for breaking up a routine or when a particular reading is too demanding.
Cons: The different personalities of the members of the gang might be unusual to new readers as well as long-time readers. Really if such a remark isn't even a criticism, I'll leave it on the review anyway.
In this volume, Linus still does not speak but begins to emerge as one of the most captivating characters in the strip. For now, Charlie Brown's best friend remains Schroeder. Finally, as a proudly troubled girl, Lucy is undeniably the star of this second book.
Pros: When I read these comics from my youth, I can't help but feel nostalgic. Even though they are decades old, many of these tales have a fresh perspective because of the wry humor of that well-known cartoonist. It's fascinating to observe how the strokes have changed through time. The book provides daily doses of humor that don't have to be consumed all at once. It's ideal for breaking up a routine or when a particular reading is too demanding.
Cons: The different personalities of the members of the gang might be unusual to new readers as well as long-time readers. Really if such a remark isn't even a criticism, I'll leave it on the review anyway.
December 21, 2018
Схоже, я знайшла себе серед персонажів Peanuts: боюся, що це Люсі. =) А може, просто так здалося, бо її в цьому томі справді багато, недарма вона на обкладинці (Раніше я, звичайно, думала, що я Снупі...)
У другому томі Peanuts усе більше стають схожими на те, як ми їх знаємо, з'являються деякі культові образи, як-от Лайнус зі своїм коциком. Також тут набагато більше Снупі, якого усі ми так любимо.
У другому томі Peanuts усе більше стають схожими на те, як ми їх знаємо, з'являються деякі культові образи, як-от Лайнус зі своїм коциком. Також тут набагато більше Снупі, якого усі ми так любимо.
January 29, 2018
Still makes me laugh out loud, still gets to me with those soft and tragic moments. Peanuts is a masterpiece.
August 7, 2018
Another great volume of peanuts
January 13, 2024
Still hasn’t hit its stride (adults talk, Charlie Brown is rather arrogant in a few strips etc) but we have the introduction of Pig Pen and Linus’s blanket. The artwork is slowly morphing into the designs we love and the existential dread pieces by humor is much
More pronounced than the first volume
More pronounced than the first volume
August 1, 2021
Die "Peanuts" gewinnen an Fahrt - und an Profil. Erster Auftritt von Pig-Pen.
July 13, 2011
Charles Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, vol. 2: 1953-1954 (Fantagraphics, 2004)
1953 is still early days for Peanuts, and the strip still lacks some of what we now think of as that “classic” Peanuts vibe (Linus can't talk yet, Woodstock hasn't been introduced, the core gang is evolving but not quite there yet), but it gets closer to the mark. Pigpen is introduced mid-1954-ish and immediately becomes a main character. There's a great stretch in spring '53 about Lucy's attempt to become the world's first six-year-old golf pro. Snoopy stops being an expressionist in a couple of strips and starts getting vocals. (So does Linus, but like Snoopy, everything Linus says is in his head.) There are a couple of jokes that tread the line between “running gag” and “repetitive” still, but reading early Peanuts is like reading early Tintin (something we in America didn't have a chance to do until recently, and that too was thanks to Fantagraphics); it's great to see where the comic you've known and loved your whole life was before you were born. ****
1953 is still early days for Peanuts, and the strip still lacks some of what we now think of as that “classic” Peanuts vibe (Linus can't talk yet, Woodstock hasn't been introduced, the core gang is evolving but not quite there yet), but it gets closer to the mark. Pigpen is introduced mid-1954-ish and immediately becomes a main character. There's a great stretch in spring '53 about Lucy's attempt to become the world's first six-year-old golf pro. Snoopy stops being an expressionist in a couple of strips and starts getting vocals. (So does Linus, but like Snoopy, everything Linus says is in his head.) There are a couple of jokes that tread the line between “running gag” and “repetitive” still, but reading early Peanuts is like reading early Tintin (something we in America didn't have a chance to do until recently, and that too was thanks to Fantagraphics); it's great to see where the comic you've known and loved your whole life was before you were born. ****
January 5, 2008
I ordered a bunch of books from the library recently, but this is the only one that's come in, so I've been reading through it in spare moments. Franzen's references to Peanuts and Charles Schulz got me interested in reading some of the early strips. They are more sour than I expected, more adult, and funnier. I always thought of Charlie Brown as a pure victim, but in these strips he can be just as big a jerk as the other characters, as well as excessively self-pitying. Reading through these comics, I can see why people see Peanuts as an influence on Calvin and Hobbes. There's the whole idea of adult thoughts being put in the mouths of children, for one, but Schulz's crisp lines and economy of visual expression also find an echo in Watterson's work. There does seem to be more joy in Calvin and Hobbes, though. The world of Peanuts--and this I do recall from my experiences with the TV shows--is a fairly unhappy place, full of casual cruelty, anxiety, embarrassment, and irony.
March 31, 2010
I suppose I discovered the "extra depths" of Charles Schulz comic strips in the late 60s. Since then I've read them often oh so often. These are the beginnings of the strip...
This isn't the only comic with depths of wisdom hidden in the humor, but it may be the best.
What sums it up? Peanuts is great.
This isn't the only comic with depths of wisdom hidden in the humor, but it may be the best.
What sums it up? Peanuts is great.
July 17, 2015
The strip is certainly more recognizable than the first volume, but there are still some things you eventually won't see; adults and Snoopy talking the most glaring. I have to say that I love Lucy and think she's by far the strip's most amusing character. I'm surprised as there are a few repeated jokes, but most of them are fun and enjoyable.
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