That Racer X Illustrated piece

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.

Upcoming releases
Destined to blow up

Puffer Jacket Snoopy is a thing… enough of a thing that I’ll be discussing an item that only barely qualifies for this blog (it comes with a book… a tiny book of stickers.) Amazon is now listing for October release a Desktop Inflatable Puffer Jacket Snoopy. It’s one of the …

Upcoming releases
The Return of What’s Necessary

Coming in April is a reissue of Only What’s Necessary, Chip Kidd’s second book on the art of Peanuts, reissued for the 75th anniversary of the strip. (My review of the original 2015 edition is here.) For those keeping track, this is the third cover for this book. Here are the …

Upcoming releases
Covers to coming things

It’s that time when all the computer systems update and suddenly we’re seeing covers t0o some of the books that are rolling down the road toward us. The big one in this batch is probably Snoopy: The Story of My Life, which is the Cartoon Art Museum’s Andrew Farago ghosting …