Nuts about Peanuts

Not the edible kind -- the Schultz kind, you know - Sparky's work.

Truth is I've never really liked the Peanuts comic strip. I love the cartoon version they play on TV at Christmas, but the daily strip never really appealed to me the way, say, a Calvin and Hobbes did. I always respected the comic, and liked the characters, but the strips just didn't move me.

But, if there's one thing I like, it's origins, and the evolution of things -- especially when it comes to pop culture. One of my favorite "historical" comic strip books is Gary Larson's Prehistory of the Far Side, which has early versions of Far Side strips, and general info on the creative process behind Larson's work (as well as some hilarious rejected, or never submitted, comics). So when 2 new books about Peanuts came out I jumped on them. Or, rather, jumped on one of them, and plan to jump on the other as soon as it is released.

The first book is not a Peanuts book per say, but rather a collection of the pre-cursor to Peanuts - "L'il Folks". L'il Folks was a comic Schultz produced before Peanuts. It, like it's progeny, stars a bunch of little kids, and a dog that became Snoopy. In fact, in the book we find several L'il Folks panels presented next to the Peanuts strips they became years later, along with explanations of each strips. Great stuff. The book is only available at the Schultz Museum and has already sold out once.

The second book is upcoming the first collection of Peanuts strips from Fantagraphics that should be available everywhere: The Complete Peanuts: 1950-1952. It will include all strips from 1950-1952 in chronological order, and should make a nice follow up to L'il Folks. Fantagraphics is planning on publishing 25 volumes -- all of Schultz Peanuts strips I believe. Seth, of Palookaville fame, designed this volume, so it should be a sight to behold.

Why do I love these types of books? I guess because it gives me a glimpse into the artistic process, enabling me to see how things evolved over time. I also really like early works of creators -- I feel that a person's early work is more raw and immediate -- less polished and less mass-media friendly, which for me makes it more personal and real. While often not a creators best work, I think their first work is often their most interesting -- capturing the creative explosion that erupted from their brains when they first conceived their creations, and wanted to unleash them to the world at large.

I know from some of my own work, that early versions, while often utterly embarrasing and horrible to behold, contain some of the most immaculate of gems. I'm sure Schultz felt the same derision about some of his early strips; luckily most readers won't feel the same way.

On to the reading!