R.I.P. Kim Thompson

Word has come out that Kim Thompson, long a key player at Fantagraphics Books and most relevant to this blog the editor of The Complete Peanuts series, has passed away from lung cancer.

I first met Kim a couple decades back, at a private game of Five Card Nancy during the San Diego Comic Con. Even though he was connected to some things with which I had some disagreements, I quickly found him affable, and he certainly cared about the comics (if you want to see his sensibility, pick up some issues of the offbeat funny animal anthology Critters.) i didn’t deal with him at all regularly until The Complete Peanuts, where he showed strong interest not only in making sure that everything was complete, but that it was as good as possible, seeking out help finding source for strips where they had copies but where the reproduction quality was a little off. He was the editor who eagerly approved the book Charle Brown’s Christmas Stocking (and chose for it that title, better than what I had offered it with)’ and again worked hard with attention to detail to make it the best little book it could be.

Others are posting far more personal reminiscences; I have none to offer. But he cared about the comics and he put the effort into treating them well, and that is good enough for me. Even on those simple terms, it was good he was around.

Share the news!
Uncategorized
Random little catch-up items

So many little things to catch up on. So much going on… and my life is so full (my son is heading off to college this week.) What can I cover? While Dolores goes unnamed in theĀ A Summer Musical special, I am told that she is named in the Cantonese …

Uncategorized
Addendum to the The Wolf video

Shortly after I posted the video about the comic strip”The Wolf” which suggested ways in which it set the path for “Peanuts”, my pal and co-writer, Schulz Museum curator Benjamin L. Clark, pointed out something I had missed — while “Willie” had offered strips run in a two-tier format before …

Uncategorized
Unquote alone

The warning signs about the new book Rediscovering the True Meaning of Christmas with A Charlie Brown Christmas”: Celebrating Christmas with a Charlie Brown Touch starts with the title, and its curious use of a single double-quotation mark. That’s part of the name every time it’s listed, whether on the …