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A review by bookishheather
The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 24: 1997-1998 by Charles M. Schulz
3.0
This volume sees the return of Crybaby Boobie, and Rerun Van Pelt really developing as a character. Andy and Olaf's misdirection seems to be the running gag of this volume, with one strip showing Snoopy writing thoughtfully about them and musing "we'll probably never see them again."
Did Charles Schulz just kill off two of his characters? I wondered when I read this. Continuing the thought, I realized that I was reading the penultimate volume and started wondering about the circumstances and timeline of Schulz's retirement and death. I was really worried! The question lead me to a piece in The Atlantic called "The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy."
As it turns out, Andy and Olaf show up again just a few pages later—and again and again after that. They spend much of this two-year volume looking for Spike, it seems, getting within visual distance of him in the night before continuing through the desert. But thinking about the fact that this is the second to last volume was important because instead of looking for firsts, I'm now looking for lasts.
It occurs to me that I may cry at several points during the last volume. The piece in The Atlantic referred to Schulz's later strips as "shaky," although haven't they always been a bit? But will I notice his physical issues in the work as I read that last book?
In 2004 I remember reading a NPR article about the incipient publication of the first volume of the series and Fantagraphics' plans to release the entirety of the work in 25 volumes over the course of 12 years. I vowed to read them all, but it was inconceivable at the time that I'd be on the other end of the task looking back. Now that I am near the point of looking back, I am still just as amazed and thankful to Fantagraphics for the amazing project they've completed and the hard work that went into it.
What will be next for me and Peanuts then? TO RE-READ THEM ALL!
Did Charles Schulz just kill off two of his characters? I wondered when I read this. Continuing the thought, I realized that I was reading the penultimate volume and started wondering about the circumstances and timeline of Schulz's retirement and death. I was really worried! The question lead me to a piece in The Atlantic called "The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy."
As it turns out, Andy and Olaf show up again just a few pages later—and again and again after that. They spend much of this two-year volume looking for Spike, it seems, getting within visual distance of him in the night before continuing through the desert. But thinking about the fact that this is the second to last volume was important because instead of looking for firsts, I'm now looking for lasts.
It occurs to me that I may cry at several points during the last volume. The piece in The Atlantic referred to Schulz's later strips as "shaky," although haven't they always been a bit? But will I notice his physical issues in the work as I read that last book?
In 2004 I remember reading a NPR article about the incipient publication of the first volume of the series and Fantagraphics' plans to release the entirety of the work in 25 volumes over the course of 12 years. I vowed to read them all, but it was inconceivable at the time that I'd be on the other end of the task looking back. Now that I am near the point of looking back, I am still just as amazed and thankful to Fantagraphics for the amazing project they've completed and the hard work that went into it.
What will be next for me and Peanuts then? TO RE-READ THEM ALL!