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plaidbrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Years 3 and 4 of Peanuts still don't quite resemble the strip we eventually all grew to know and love, but it's definitely starting to get there at this point. Characters are beginning to change into their more recognizable forms and personalities are starting to cement themselves (Charlie Brown is insecure, Lucy's a fussbudget, Linus begins clinging to his blanket, etc.), but Schulz is still clearly trying to find his feet. Some new characters work (Pigpen), others do not (don't get too attached to Charlotte Braun... just 7 strips and she's gone forever), and a few experiments are just clearly doomed to failure from the start (a continuing Sundays-only story featuring - GASP - adults!). But no matter the outcome, it's fun to see the strip evolve.
half_bloodreader's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting to compare what we now know as The Peanuts to its earlier stages.
Lucy was definitely less annoying at this point and less of a know-it-all. There were a lot of puns and jokes that fit the slower 50's.
Lucy was definitely less annoying at this point and less of a know-it-all. There were a lot of puns and jokes that fit the slower 50's.
anjana's review against another edition
5.0
https://superfluousreading.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/the-complete-peanuts-vol-2-1953-1954-by-charles-m-schulz/
xterminal's review against another edition
4.0
Charles Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, vol. 2: 1953-1954 (Fantagraphics, 2004)
1953 is still early days for Peanuts, and the strip still lacks some of what we now think of as that “classic” Peanuts vibe (Linus can't talk yet, Woodstock hasn't been introduced, the core gang is evolving but not quite there yet), but it gets closer to the mark. Pigpen is introduced mid-1954-ish and immediately becomes a main character. There's a great stretch in spring '53 about Lucy's attempt to become the world's first six-year-old golf pro. Snoopy stops being an expressionist in a couple of strips and starts getting vocals. (So does Linus, but like Snoopy, everything Linus says is in his head.) There are a couple of jokes that tread the line between “running gag” and “repetitive” still, but reading early Peanuts is like reading early Tintin (something we in America didn't have a chance to do until recently, and that too was thanks to Fantagraphics); it's great to see where the comic you've known and loved your whole life was before you were born. ****
1953 is still early days for Peanuts, and the strip still lacks some of what we now think of as that “classic” Peanuts vibe (Linus can't talk yet, Woodstock hasn't been introduced, the core gang is evolving but not quite there yet), but it gets closer to the mark. Pigpen is introduced mid-1954-ish and immediately becomes a main character. There's a great stretch in spring '53 about Lucy's attempt to become the world's first six-year-old golf pro. Snoopy stops being an expressionist in a couple of strips and starts getting vocals. (So does Linus, but like Snoopy, everything Linus says is in his head.) There are a couple of jokes that tread the line between “running gag” and “repetitive” still, but reading early Peanuts is like reading early Tintin (something we in America didn't have a chance to do until recently, and that too was thanks to Fantagraphics); it's great to see where the comic you've known and loved your whole life was before you were born. ****
bookishheather's review against another edition
5.0
(Please note: I am going on fuzzy memory here. Forgive any errors.)
Linus has just been born, and the strip is still developing. My favorite part of this book is in what you don't know about until the next volume: one strip was printed as best as the production team could present it at the time, but in the time between this volume and the next, someone unearthed a more complete copy of the same strip—so they were able to reprint it in its entirety, completely correct, in the next volume. That kind of research work gives me tingles.
Linus has just been born, and the strip is still developing. My favorite part of this book is in what you don't know about until the next volume: one strip was printed as best as the production team could present it at the time, but in the time between this volume and the next, someone unearthed a more complete copy of the same strip—so they were able to reprint it in its entirety, completely correct, in the next volume. That kind of research work gives me tingles.
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