Batter up Charlie Brown? Why, are you planning to deep fry him??

Upcoming releases

Batter Up, Charlie Brown "graphic novel" coverIt looks like Simon & Schuster’s Simon Spotlight imprint is keeping a reasonably aggressive bimonthly schedule for their Peanuts Graphic Novel series, as they’ve just announced the third one, coming in May. This will be the baseball-themed Batter Up, Charlie Brown!, and like the other volumes will include one new short story, but will mostly be made up of reprints from the Kaboom Peanuts comics and some genuine Schulz strips. In this case, the bulk of the reprint material will be the 2012 graphic novel It’s Tokyo, Charlie Brown! (which they push as it being a “classic” graphic novel; I guess things become “classic” quickly these days.)

If the title sounds familiar, well, yes, it’s the title of a still-in-print baseball-themed strip collection. I appreciate the Peanuts folks’ dedication to keeping my collectors guide necessary, so it can straighten out things like this.

And as long as I’m putting up a blog post, I’ll quickly note that Hallmark has made last year’s huge attempt at an Ultimate Charlie Brown Christmas adaptation, the one with lights and sounds and pop-ups, available again for this Christmas. Usually we would not see Christmas book availability announced this early, but I guess as this is an available-again thing, no reason to hide it, it won’t be a big reveal. Besides, Hallmark may be facing the same problem as other retailers: overstuffed warehouses. All those deliveries that were delayed by supply chain problems are now showing up, just as inflation is making people be a bit more cautious about their spending, so stores are putting out product earlier than normal because they don’t have the warehouse room to keep it stored. This too shall pass.

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Upcoming releases
The Essential Peanuts preview

The magazine People ran a preview of The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, the upcoming Peanuts retrospective written by my bud Mark Evanier. I’ll let you head there for the content, but I am going to talk on one part of the preview pointed to me by AAUGH Blog …

Upcoming releases
Charlie Brown’s America goes soft

Coming in December is a paperback edition of Blake Scott Bell’s Charlie Brown’s America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts. I reviewed the hardcover when it came out in 2021, and that positive recommendation still stands. Share the news!

Upcoming releases
Finally, a Peanuts book that is ALL ABOUT ME!

Since you’re following this blog, I know that you’re interested in my updates and insights on Peanuts books. I’m not sure how deep your interest in the humble AAUGH Blogger goes… but if you want it, you will soon have the chance to purchase a Peanuts book that’s ALL ABOUT ME! …