Dedicated comic book fans have recently had the chance to buy “Artists Editions”, big reprints of classic stories shot directly from the original art, so that you can see every subtlety, every bit of paste-up, all the technique that went into drawing the work. These books are relatively few (largely because for most classic works, the original art is dispersed if it still exists at all), quite expensive (about $150 per book), and huge, because the art is reproduced at full size.

Well now IDW, the publisher that originated these editions, is turning their sights on Peanuts… which is actually quite an easy thing to do in some ways, as you don’t need to worry about full stories, and the Schulz Museum itself has a large number of quality pieces. It may be a little tricky to buy these; some volumes have only been sold directly by the publisher, and they tend to have relatively small print runs and have rarely gone to second print. The press release they put out was a bit odd (starting “The esteemed entertainment property, Peanuts, will be returning this winter”, as though there isn’t a continuous stream of Peanuts projects), and doesn’t set a specific date, page count, or price… but I will try to keep you informed as the details appear.

(In the interest of proper disclosure, I should note that I have a minor business relationship with IDW, which is unrelated to this project.)

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