Reviews for Complete Peanuts, Volume 1: 1950-1952

The average rating for Complete Peanuts, Volume 1: 1950-1952 based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-02-02 00:00:00 Keryn Hamilton Good grief! Here we go! AND THERE WERE THREE This is the first volume of the Complete Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz, starting in 1950 and reaching until 1952. This first volume is quite amusing to read, since in this first three years of the comic strip, Peanuts still isn't in its most known and popular status quo. You have only three kids and even one of them won't be seen again when the comic strip would settle in its recognized presentation. There is Charlie Brown, of course, the heart and soul of the comic strip, and you have Patty (not Peppermint but the other Patty) and Shermy (who is the kid that you won't hear about him later). But even Charlie Brown and Patty aren't like the ones that you'd be more familiarized later. Charlie Brown is quite happy and even cynical, he likes to make pranks to his friends and he doesn't have any trouble talking to girls even about romantic issues. Patty is essentially what Lucy would be eventually on the more recognized format. ENTER: SNOOPY Soon, Snoopy, one of the most famous dogs in comic strips and media, and in many cases, the most recognizable character of the whole comic strip. However, he is still in a development process in this first volume. Snoopy still walks in four paws like a regular dog and his behaviour (while some unusual) still can be considered like the one of a regular dog too. It's odd that sometimes is not clear who is the owner of Snoopy, since you would assume that it's Charlie Brown and eventually you find the dog house on Charlie Brown's yard, but in some of the first strips, you find Charlie Brown visiting the house of other friends and Snoopy appears there as if he was belonging there. Even in some strips you can "hear" Snoopy's thoughts as if he would be talking that it's quite unusual. VIOLETS AREN'T BLUE HERE Along with Charlie Brown, Patty, Shermy and Snoopy, you get soon enough Violet too, and since they're younger than the usual age that you'd be more familiarized with them, Violet, while basically what you could expect from her, there are also some aspect according with her pre-school age like playing with mud pies. LUCY, SHROEDER AND LINUS, BUT… Quite advanced in this first volume, finally appears Lucy, Shroeder and Linus… …BUT… …they are not exactly like the ones that you'd recognized and even there is a very odd time displacement with them… …since Lucy and Shroeder are quite younger than Charlie Brown and the rest. Shroeder already has his musical facet and he's fan of Beethoven alright, but definitely he's younger that the other kids, and Lucy even can't read yet and she still sleeps in a cradle, which is quite odd (for being mild in this strange situation) since in the Peanuts most recognizable period, Shroeder and Lucy would be classmates of the rest of the gang that noticing the difference of age, it would make this impossible. Linus appears in very few strips here, and he's a baby that still don't talk. Also, quite odd since he'd be Charlie Brown's best friend sharing the same age in the most known era of the comic strip. I guess Schulz will ask for the assistance of The Doctor or Marty McFly to fix this odd time displacement in these first three years of the popular comic strip.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-22 00:00:00 Paula Goldberg So this is Peanuts at the beginning, a little meaner and leaner and more roughly sketched. And you get an intro from Garrison Keillor and a long analytical essay and an interview with the sometimes crusty Schulz, who, as it turns out, HATED the title he was forced to accept, Peanuts, which he said lacked "dignity" and depth, which is what (and I agree) his work and humor and insights afforded the reader, even from the start. All of the characters are sort of more blunt, and more direct than we knew them to be by the time the sixties rolled around, as editors "urged" him to soften that approach to his world a bit, make it a bit warmer and sweeter than you see it in these early days. In the interview he is hard on the industry, and on editors who controlled what he could and could not publish (the avoidance of politics, for instance), though he is also grateful for what the comics world gave him, such as fame and recognition. And a living! The interview and the other materials help you appreciate his rich artistic purposes in the work. I liked the somewhat darker tone and find it interesting. It was great to see the series from the beginning, always strong work, right from the first, as he sort of worked out what he wanted to do with it, artistically and in terms of character development. Amazing to go back and witness the daily, serial creation of this world so many came to love and appreciate, and to see how it began to be sustained (and to sustain us!) for so long.