The Complete Peanuts 1955-1956: Vol. 3 Hardcover Edition

Anyone who is reading this doesn't really need to be told the joys of Peanuts; otherwise you wouldn't have bought this book. And the joys of these little volumes are legion, from the introductions by various writers (this time Matt Groening of Simpsons fame) to the comic strips themselves. Overall, this volume, covering 1955-1956, is another triumph. The only reason I wanted to make a particular comment about this volume is that, for the first time, I read strips that I knew. Granted, I wouldn't even be born for more than a decade so I never saw these strips in their first run but this is part and parcel of the Peanuts story. When I was a kid and I visited my grandmother's house, she had paperbacks containing old Peanuts strips. I don't even remember the titles, but I remember the strips: they all starred Snoopy and they showed him impersonating other animals (like the python) and other characters (like Lucy). All these strips are in this volume. In the previous two volumes my key joy had been seeing the beginning and reading strips I had never seen before. In this volume there was still some of that but my overriding feeling was that of visiting my grandmother's house when I was a kid. It is a nice feeling.

This series has been one of my favorite comic projects in years. It's amazing to see all these early strips, many of which I've never read before, collected in such a high-quality volume. This book, the third in a 25-volume series, includes several significant firsts in Peanuts history -- Linus's first words, the beginning of Snoopy's rather overactive fantasy life, and the first time Lucy ever pulled that football away from Good Ol' Charlie Brown. This book also features an introduction from "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. His piece doesn't particularlly shed any new light on the comic strip or on Schulz himself, but it's still a fairly touching piece on what Schulz meant to him, in his career, and that's probably what you can expect for a lot of these volumes. "Peanuts" was, and remains, my favorite comic strip of all time. This series is something I've been waiting for for years, and I'm delighted to see it doing so well.

I wasn't aware until just a month ago that this project was underway. I can't say how thrilled I am. I agree with another reviewer, however, that two volumes a year isn't fast enough. Reading this volume has brought back many feelings I had as a child growing up. Of course, I was only 7 and 8 when these appeared and I don't believe I had discovered Peanuts yet. However, they are a comment on the time in which they were written, 1955 and 1956. I think at some point in the far, far future, history students may be assigned reading various volumes of this effort to get a flavor for the time they were written. I also think that publishing them in their original order is wonderful. I'm not sure that the original chronology has been followed before. This book, the previous volumes and all that follow are for those of us that are diehard, dedicated Peanuts fans. Reading this volume has also made me appreciate just how rich our lives have been because of talented creators like Charles Schulz. I can't wait for the next one.

The Peanuts that became world famous begins to show itself in this volume. As great as the first two volumes were, Schultz really hit his stride in 1955-1956. The characters begin to take on the characteristics that they continued to have for over 40 years. The most obvious development is Snoopy's. Before 1955, Snoopy more or less played the role of a typical dog (with some brilliant exceptions). By the end of this volume Snoopy has flowered into the famous dog that most kids still recognize on sight (just go to the Mall of America's "Camp Snoopy" and observe the number of young kids screeching "Snoopy! Snoopy!"). He does imitations of animals, of other characters, he dances gleefully, slides on the ice, drips with sarcasm, develops "weed claustrophobia", demands potato pancakes, adds an air conditioner to his dog house, puts on a sad and happy expression, says "If I were a human being I wouldn't even own a dog!", swoons to Chopin, and does countless other things that everyone now associates with Snoopy. Though he continued to develop somewhat in later years, the fundamentals of his character can be found in this volume. Linus grows up from the last volume. He speaks constantly, and begins to accomplish the amazing feats that irk Charlie Brown. The blanket shows up with full force. He also uses his finger pistol to "BANG!" Lucy when she shafts him in some way. Lucy has been toned down a little bit from the last volume, where she resembled nothing less than a destructive whirlwind. She destroys fewer things here, but the insults from her tongue make up for it (one of the best is "YOU STRUCK OUT!!" on 8/18/56). She continues being over-confidently naive with a definite nasty twist. She also looks at bugs (good one on 7/30/55) and serves Charlie Brown hot root beer (9/29/56). Charlie Brown becomes even more miserable. When Shermy asks him if he knows what he'll be when he grows up, Charlie Brown answers "Lonesome" (1/31/56). When Patty tells him "And that's all you'll ever be!! Just 'Good Ol' Charlie Brown'" he stands alone dejected and says "What's the sense in living?" (2/28/55). Schultz proved back in the 1950s that comic strips are capable of evoking complicated emotional reactions (and he wasn't the first to do so). Should we laugh at Charlie Brown? Feel sorry for him? Wonder how he arrived at his state? Pity him? Probably some of all the above. Peanuts was never a simple "HA HA!" comic strip. Its complexity and depth hiding under the seemingly banal simple guarantees its staying power and ranking as one of the greatest comic strips ever. Those who say that entertainment cannot be art have the example of Peanuts to contend with. Other characters pervade the strips: Schroeder plays Beethoven and reveals his closet full of Beethoven busts; Shermy hangs around less than in previous volumes; Charlotte Braun even makes some very brief appearances (she's the one who talks loud); by the beginning of this volume even Schultz seemed to recognize t