Review by Library Journal Review
This 26th and final volume of the "Complete Peanuts" series presents selected examples of Schulz's Peanuts work outside of newspapers, some of it quite rare. Opening with a real treasure, the first-ever complete reprint of the 17 pre-Peanuts cartoons that Schulz (1922-2000) sold to the Saturday Evening Post, it continues with work from comic books, women's magazines, and several long-out-of-print storybooks and gag cartoon collections, including two delightful tomes spotlighting Snoopy's writing career. Also featured is some of Schulz's advertising work, including his 1960s ads for the Ford Falcon showcasing genuine (and funny) four-panel Peanuts strips not available elsewhere. And while the gang's gushing praise for the car can certainly be seen as uncomfortable commercialism, it's too bad that the selection of these strips here is not complete. Schulz's widow, Jean, provides a very personal afterword about their life together. VERDICT The dreary and uninviting covers of the hardcover "Complete Peanuts" books do not adequately reflect the fun within. But Fantagraphics deserves much thanks for publishing a complete collection of the world's most popular comic strip. Libraries collecting the set shouldn't miss this fine extra volume.-SR © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
