Nat explains more of his book
- By : Nat
- Category : Upcoming releases
Whoops – meant to post this last week. Yes, the book is now shipping from some sources. Sales links at the bottom of the post.
Let’s see where we’re up to in our look at The Peanuts Collection? Ah, yes, “Supporting Characters” – this is a spread for those characters who do no earn their own spread, discussing how Peanuts had a large cast that included characters who didn’t last, didn’t stand out, or were justthere for special purposes. So we see pins with second-stringers Patty, Shermy, and Violet; a sketch for a bread ad featuring Violet, some strips with specialty characters Maynard and Joe Agate… and an envelope, addressed to Miss Elizabeth Swaim. Reach into the envelope and pull out a handwritten letter from Schulz to Miss Swaim, promising that a supporting character she dislikes will soon be out of the strip… and including a cartoon showing that character coming to a violent end.
But let’s switch from bringing a child to a violent end to better causes, for a spread om Peanuts being used for charity and the like. See posters featuring Snoopy and the gang being used for environmental purposes, a thank you letter from Jimmy Carter to Schulz thanking him for his help…. and the interactive item on this spread, which is the only comic strip reprint publication I know of to be published by the US government.
It’s a tipped-in reproduction of Security is an Eye Patch, a collection of amblyopia-related strips put out by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. this pamphlet has always been one of the pieces of my collection which I like to show off, and now I get to share it with many thousands of people.
Shroeder earns his own spread, including images of a Schroeder music box and a Schroeder napkin, and sheet music for “Lucy Loves Schroeder” and “Sing Along with Schroeder”. And then we get a spread on when Peanuts was ahead of the curve, like when it got into environmental issues, or religious issues, or integrated the comic strip when so few were. In fact, tucked into a page is a reproduction of the letter from one Harriet Glickman – the letter that inspired Schulz to bring Franklin into the strip. I interviewed Ms. Glickman, to get a better understanding of what happened and to add some fresh quotes to the work.
And then there’s a spread on a favorite Peanuts theme, “Unrequited Love”, with another interactive piece.
For those who like to order from your favorite online sites, here are the links:
