In which Snoopy turns into Al Franken, I suppose

Upcoming releases

I went to check Hallmark’s Peanuts books, to see if they have anything new. They’re offering the cool light-up, pop-up adaptation of the Great Pumpkin special which I ran a video of back in 2016 – only that’s an old cover, the new one was added in 2021.

But not quite available yet, but coming this month, is…. The Nightmare of Franken-Snoopy!

Written by Joey Benevento and drawn by the ever-able Rich LaPierre, this story is set in Charlie Brown’s dreams, so Franken-Snoopy himself is non-continuity. But if you think that’s going to keep Hallmark from making some merch, ahh, you haven’t met Hallmark!

The book itself has a “surprise” pop-up at the end, common with recent Hallmark storybooks. That makes it either a regular book with a nice little surprise, or a weak pop-up, depending on your expectations going in.

(By the way, if the reference to former Senator Al Franken in the title of this post has you remembering that there was some kind of Franken/Snoopy link, you’re right. Back in 1999, before he entered the political arena, Franken put out the novel Why Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency, in which he contemplates himself running for president and how badly things go. In the novel, his campaign his heavily backed by the insurance companies, and with MetLife’s backing, Snoopy appears in his ads. This use of Snoopy is touched on repeatedly in the book.)

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 …