Well, I’ve got my hands on the Peanuts-covered issue of Racer X Illustrated which I mentioned earlier. It’s apparently not on the stands quite yet — I checked my local Borders yesterday, and they still had copies of the previous issue out (which means that the next issue should be findable when it arrives) — but, well, there are occasional perks to being the AAUGH.com guy.

The article behind the illustration is by Sparky’s son Craig, talking about how he got into motocross, and how his presence there brought about a week of strips and a TV special built around the sport. The Peanuts coverage piece gets seven pages (including reprinting all five of the Joe Motocross strips) plus a one-page sidebar on other motocrossing cartoon characters, a two-thirds page piece toward the front talking about the cover, and even a one-page ad for downloading You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown through Amazon Unbox video downloads… even though You’re A Good Sport doesn’t appear to be actually available there yet.

I have a liking for this sort of piece, ones which aren’t general Peanuts articles in general magazines, but which show how the strip connects to some specific audience. If it’s more about Craig than it is about Peanuts, that’s fine, because it clearly shows how that informed what Peanuts did, and gives just that much more insight on how Sparky gets his ideas. This isn’t a must-own, but if the concept intrigues you, seek it out. The issue is $4.99.

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