Complete Peanuts 5 now shipping

Forgive me for falling behind folks – I’ve had my advance copy of TheComplete Peanuts 5 cover Complete Peanuts volume 5: 1959-1960 for a while now, but life has not allowed me the time to read and review it. Not that it should need much review; this is Peanuts really heading into what many folks feel is its definitive and best period. Sally gets born, Linus does amazing things, Snoopy (still walking on all fours for the most part) boxes with a glove on his nose. I am partway through reading the introduction, and it isn’t really an “introduction by Whoopi Goldberg” as the cover trumpets. Rather, it’s an interview with Whoopi, on the subject of Schulz and Peanuts. She’s clearly a big fan, but there is something a little odd about reading someone being interviewed about having interviewed someone else (Goldberg interviewed Schulz for a talk show she had for a while. I find if you say “Whoopi talked to Sparky” out loud, it’s hard to sound like an adult.)

Do you really need a review to know you want this book? Order it now!

For those of you who have been buying the boxed sets, yes, there will be a boxed set of volumes 5 and 6.

Upcoming releases
A book I’d not expected to resurface

Back in 2011, Schulz’s granddaughter Dena Hodges issued the first two chapters of  a memoir called In the Shadow of the Family Dog. As I noted in my review at the time, the chapter and the description of the project made it clear that the focus was her relationship with …

Upcoming releases
A box of squares

This May, Fantagraphics is collecting the various small square Peanuts books they’ve published into a new box set, Peanuts All Year Round Mini Collection. This includes: A Valentine for Charlie Brown — Valentine’s Day and romance strips Batter-Up Charlie Brown! — baseball strips Waiting for the Great Pumpkin — Halloween …

Upcoming releases
Game Day returns

Back in 2020, Fantagraphics dropped Game Day, a boxed set of sports-themes Peanuts strip reprint paperbackss, as a Costco exclusive. Next June it’s coming back, this time in hardcover and available through the usual sources. Designed as a Father’s Day gift, it should be good for anyone who likes Peanuts …