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Peanuts: Where Beagles Dare
What's to Love: Remember those seasonal Peanuts animated specials that'd air during the holidays? If you're like us, you enjoyed those long-form stories, and you know what? We get the same satisfaction from our Peanuts original graphic novels, which also feature full-length stories. We've got a brand-new one in Peanuts: Where Beagles Dare!, and it comes out just in time for The Peanuts Movie! What It Is: Snoopy, the World War I Flying Ace, is on holiday in France but his leave is cut short when he's recruited for a top-secret mission. Snoopy must dodge his way through no-man's land, go deep behind enemy territory, and battle the Red Baron in the blackened skies above. Will Snoopy ever return home to quaff a few Root Beers with Woodstock and have dinner with Charlie Brown? Find out in this original graphic novel featuring Charles M. Schulz's beloved Peanuts characters and starring Snoopy!
115 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2015
590 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,019 books1,641 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 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 17, 2018
So this is another title I grabbed for my #DogDaysOfSummer challenge because even though I'm reading some longer length novels, I think it's also the perfect time for some fun. And what says fun more than Snoopy? In "Where Beagles Dare," Charlie has ordered Snoopy out of the house for the whole day because he is busy with something. So Snoopy is forced to rely on his imagination and take on the role of Flying Ace out searching for the Red Baron. This is a fun graphic novel and not only do we get to see Snoopy in Action, but we also get to visit with some of his relatives - Spike, Olaf, Andy, Marbles and Belle.
This book is a must have for any Snoopy fans or collectors and I'm pretty sure anyone who loves Peanuts enough to pick it up will love this one too!
This book is a must have for any Snoopy fans or collectors and I'm pretty sure anyone who loves Peanuts enough to pick it up will love this one too!
August 26, 2016
Beautiful art and a cute story line
August 4, 2020
WWII flying ace
It’s Snoopy against the red barron once more. Cut story well illustrated and just down right fun. Charles Schultz does it again.
It’s Snoopy against the red barron once more. Cut story well illustrated and just down right fun. Charles Schultz does it again.
July 9, 2022
I'm not usually a fan of Peanuts stories composed after Schultz's passing, but this one was actually really quite well done. The writers kept some of the wry wit characteristic of the original strip, and I ended up liking the plot more than I was expecting.
May 31, 2019
Classic Snoopy, always on the go after the Red Baron. Cute story!
March 1, 2020
I love Snoopy as the WWI Flying Ace.
June 14, 2020
Was a fun, entertaining read!
December 11, 2015
Simple and a bit meandering, playful and a bit redundant, WHERE BEAGLES DARE! is a quirky all-ages book.
Sharing time with the Flying Ace is easy. Snoopy, after all, is known nowadays for being anything but an ordinary dog. This wasn't always the case, but the Peanuts folks knowingly passed that threshold a long time ago (which means making a graphic novel about a winsome beagle pilot during the First World War nowhere near as far-fetched as it might seem).
As such, the story is typical: Flying Ace is downed in the French countryside, runs into a few compatriots, gets into a dogfight with the Red Baron, and returns home with a bullet-ridden Sopwith Camel to toast root bear with the crew.
WHERE BEAGLES DARE! is a fun read but it doesn't do anything new or special with Snoopy, with the Flying Ace character, or with Peanuts lore in general. To a point, if readers have already engaged Snoopy's Flying Ace exploits elsewhere, then there's no real need to read this graphic novel; WHERE BEAGLES DARE! tells a story that has been appearing in print and in animation for decades.
The story muscles its way from cover to cover by way of repetitive situational humor and constantly breaking the fourth wall. Although these tricks are usually quite funny the first time, they become dull before long. For example, Snoopy's pal Woodstock and the other mechanics are lazy, and the reader is bludgeoned with scene after scene of the birds playing cards, making excuses, and offering alternate modes of transportation (i.e., skateboard, roller skates). It's funny the first time, but after that, it's just filler and the visual gag is tiresome.
WHERE BEAGLES DARE! occasionally dips its toes into the politics of war, and provides an interesting point-counterpoint to the grim fact that Schulz's Flying Ace character is nothing more than a war fantasy. (Flying Ace: "That doesn't make any sense! If you're just going to treat everyone the same, why have a war in the first place?" or "I suppose true heroes don't do it for the glory, anyway. . .")
This graphic novel is a good gift for a young Peanuts fan who isn't particular about the dynamics of proper and fluid storytelling. Vicki Scott's pencils are on-model and facilitate great comfort when comfort is needed. Most children's books, after all, rely on simplicity (in this case, bland panel arrangement), repetition (recurring character tropes), and familiarity (breaking the fourth wall).
Sharing time with the Flying Ace is easy. Snoopy, after all, is known nowadays for being anything but an ordinary dog. This wasn't always the case, but the Peanuts folks knowingly passed that threshold a long time ago (which means making a graphic novel about a winsome beagle pilot during the First World War nowhere near as far-fetched as it might seem).
As such, the story is typical: Flying Ace is downed in the French countryside, runs into a few compatriots, gets into a dogfight with the Red Baron, and returns home with a bullet-ridden Sopwith Camel to toast root bear with the crew.
WHERE BEAGLES DARE! is a fun read but it doesn't do anything new or special with Snoopy, with the Flying Ace character, or with Peanuts lore in general. To a point, if readers have already engaged Snoopy's Flying Ace exploits elsewhere, then there's no real need to read this graphic novel; WHERE BEAGLES DARE! tells a story that has been appearing in print and in animation for decades.
The story muscles its way from cover to cover by way of repetitive situational humor and constantly breaking the fourth wall. Although these tricks are usually quite funny the first time, they become dull before long. For example, Snoopy's pal Woodstock and the other mechanics are lazy, and the reader is bludgeoned with scene after scene of the birds playing cards, making excuses, and offering alternate modes of transportation (i.e., skateboard, roller skates). It's funny the first time, but after that, it's just filler and the visual gag is tiresome.
WHERE BEAGLES DARE! occasionally dips its toes into the politics of war, and provides an interesting point-counterpoint to the grim fact that Schulz's Flying Ace character is nothing more than a war fantasy. (Flying Ace: "That doesn't make any sense! If you're just going to treat everyone the same, why have a war in the first place?" or "I suppose true heroes don't do it for the glory, anyway. . .")
This graphic novel is a good gift for a young Peanuts fan who isn't particular about the dynamics of proper and fluid storytelling. Vicki Scott's pencils are on-model and facilitate great comfort when comfort is needed. Most children's books, after all, rely on simplicity (in this case, bland panel arrangement), repetition (recurring character tropes), and familiarity (breaking the fourth wall).
December 31, 2019
I don't know who this is for. It can't be children with all of the references to World War 1. Children, today, don't know much of nothing of any wars. It's otherwise too childish for adults. A comics enthusiast or Schulz fan might be the best audience, a category I would best fit. But the inconsistent approach to story and characters makes it all hardly worthwhile.
I get what was trying to be pulled off here, but the effort should have been better thought out. The entire project appears rushed. The art is a better example...
The Schulz organization has a staff and freelancers to tackle art projects. They are producing a ton of books, toys, clothing and a bevy of items Schulz didn't do. Seems with all that available, quality and effort would be invested in a book project. The drawing, inks and, especially, the coloring could've taken more care.
Bottom line: I don't recommend this book: 2 out of ten points.
I get what was trying to be pulled off here, but the effort should have been better thought out. The entire project appears rushed. The art is a better example...
The Schulz organization has a staff and freelancers to tackle art projects. They are producing a ton of books, toys, clothing and a bevy of items Schulz didn't do. Seems with all that available, quality and effort would be invested in a book project. The drawing, inks and, especially, the coloring could've taken more care.
Bottom line: I don't recommend this book: 2 out of ten points.
December 27, 2015
This is another distillation of any number of individual strips into one semi-cohesive story. Focusing on Snoopy as the World War I Ace, having various 'adventures' in World War I/the Peanuts neighborhood. For the most part it feels classic, although there's a sequence with a skateboard that seems almost anachronistic. Still, even that keeps the tone consistent; Snoopy's 'mission' actually works out in an interesting manner, and the story pulls together at the end with a real ending, which is more than I can say of most of these distilled collections. The art is updated to the new style that definitely evokes the classic strips while being modern enough to reach current sensibilities. It does manage to walk the tightrope to the best of both worlds.
February 15, 2016
A fun story with Snoopy as the WWI flying ace. I enjoyed the update, although it didn't quite capture Schulz's essential pathos. Snoopy was a bit too cheerful. But a worthy effort and a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the Peanuts characters.
June 1, 2018
Com um ar um tanto quanto diferente dos quadrinhos clássicos, tanto pelo formato do livro, quanto pelas cores, e inclusive pelo arco narrativo que existe e é um só no livro inteiro, esse livro captura a essência dos clássicos. Historinha e arte bonitinhas.
January 29, 2020
Snoopy has always been one of my favorite Peanuts characters. This book is a complete story, which is nice. I'm used to seeing only a frame or two from the Sunday strips. And I had no idea that Snoopy has a sister!
December 30, 2015
Charming and funny.
March 7, 2016
Pretty witty and fun; the Boom crew did a good job with this one.
April 23, 2016
I enjoyed this Peanuts story! For my full thoughts, go to my review on No Flying No Tights: http://noflyingnotights.com/2016/04/2...
November 1, 2017
Delightful!
February 20, 2024
Maybe I had expectations that were too high, but I don't know if I expected much. It's just flat.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews