The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958 (edition 2005)

This edition marks the turning point, where Peanuts really comes together into the strip I never liked that much. I can appreciate it for what it is, but it doesn't appeal to me. The gags get repetitive, the characters become archetypes, and the art becomes tighter--which is a negative in that the Peanuts gang loses that "kid" look and starts looking like the tribe of really short 35-year-olds they act like. (The early strips had much looser lines and the kids looked more like kids (albeit hydrocephalic ones); their faces now have gained a maturity that I suppose reflects their characters but not their ages.)

I fully expect to be flogged for disliking Peanuts. This probably isn't the time to confess I'm also not fond of apple pie, and I kick puppies in my spare time. ( )

Quite possibly my favorite from the Complete Peanuts reissues, so far anyway. Lots and lots of snoopy ( )

The fourth volume of the planned complete "Peanuts", the first comic strip I remember loving and collecting. These strips show quite a bit of development, both artistically and thematically. This is closer to the great strip I remember, and there are indeed many great episodes in here, with relatively few clunkers. Snoopy especially grows here, with his first well-realized fantasies of life as it might be were he not a dog. Schultz is also developing his familiar and long-running gags, such as Charlie Brown and the Kite, his "pencil pal", Linus' dependence on his blanket, Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick, Charlie Brown's "goatishness", and so on. ( )

I finished this book extremely quickly, because it is after all a comic strip, and I've always found it to be a pleasant read. I enjoy collecting this series. I try to read a new one only after I have one in reserve. When the next volume comes out in October, I will read the volume that came out in May. This strip doesn't introduce any new characters into the series, but continues to develop the existing characters of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and Shroeder. The former front runners, Patty, Shermy and Violet appear much less in this volume, and from what I understand, they will disappear completely in time. This also have the lovable Pig Pen making a few appearences in some strips. ( )