The Complete Peanuts: 1955-1956

The third volume in our acclaimed series takes us into the mid-1950s as Linus learns to talk, Snoopy begins to explore his eccentricities (including his hilarious first series of impressions), Lucy's unrequited crush on Schroeder takes final shape, and Charlie Brown becomes...well, even more Charlie Brown-ish!

Over half of the strips in this volume have never been printed since their original appearance in newspapers a half-century ago! Even the most dedicated Peanuts collector/fan is sure to find many new treasures. This volume includes an introduction by Matt Groening (The Simpsons) as well as the popular Complete Peanuts index, a hit with librarians and collectors alike, and an epilogue by series editor Gary Groth.

"These early strips show that as well as timeless humor, it is such melancholic aspects as natural-born fussbudget Lucy's bitterness and Charlie Brown's frustrations over baseball, kites, valentines, and just about everything else he attempts that make them resound to this day." Booklist

"As essential as pop texts get." The Onion

"A treat...a package with mass appeal." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Even the most demanding Peanuts fan couldn't ask for more." Comics Buyer's Guide

This book collects 730 daily and Sunday comic strips, the vast majority of which are not currently available in any in-print Peanuts collection, and over 100 of which have never been reprinted since their initial appearance in papers over 50 years ago.

Over half of the strips in this volume have never been printed since they ran in newspapers decades ago! Even the most dedicated Peanuts fan is sure to find many new treasures. Introduction by Matt Groening.

The Complete Peanutsconfronts us afresh with what a brilliant, truly modern and totally weird idea it was to create a comic strip about a chronically depressed child...Fantagraphics' heroic project (designed with subtle, quiet beauty bythe caroonist called Seth) enables us to glimpse the moment when 'goodol' Charlie Brown' could say with frowning vehemence, 'The rest of thisday can't possibly hold any good for me!'... [

The third volume in our acclaimed series takes us into the mid-1950s asLinus learns to talk, Snoopy begins to explore his eccentricities(including his hilarious first series of impressions), Lucy'sunrequited crush on Schroeder takes final shape, and Charlie Brownbecomes...well, even more Charlie Brown-ish! Over half of the strips inthis volume have never been printed since their original appearance innewspapers a half-century ago! Even the most dedicated Peanutscollector/fan is sure to find many new treasures. The Complete Peanutswill run 25 volumes, collecting two years chronologically at a rate oftwo a year for twelve years. Each volume is designed by theaward-winning cartoonist Seth (It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken)and features impeccable production values; every single strip fromCharles M. Schulz's 50-year American classic is reproduced better thanever before. This volume includes an introduction by Matt Groening (The Simpsons) as well as the popular Complete Peanutsindex, a hit with librarians and collectors alike, and an epilogue by series editor Gary Groth. 2005 Eisner Award winner, Best Archival Collection/Project.

- Amongst the top ten favorite and familiar media properties in the world

- Over 350 million Peanuts books sold worldwide

- Over 200,000 sold in this series

- This is the first comprehensive collection of every strip ever created by Schulz

- Advance Reading Copies

Charles M. Schulz was born November 25, 1922 in Minneapolis. His destiny was foreshadowed when an uncle gave him, at the age of two days, the nickname Sparky (after the racehorse Spark Plug in the newspaper strip Barney Google).

In his senior year in high school, his mother noticed an ad in a local newspaper for a correspondence school, Federal Schools (later called Art Instruction Schools). Schulz passed the talent test, completed the course and began trying, unsuccessfully, to sell gag cartoons to magazines. (His first published drawing was of his dog, Spike, and appeared in a 1937 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! installment.) Between 1948 and 1950, he succeeded in selling 17 cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post, as well as, to the local St. Paul Pioneer Press, a weekly comic feature called Li'l Folks. It was run in the women's section and paid $10 a week. After writing and drawing the feature for two years, Schulz asked for a better location in the paper or for daily exposure, as well as a raise. When he was turned down on all three counts, he quit.

He started submitting strips to the newspaper syndicates. In the spring of 1950, he received a letter from the United Feature Syndicate, announcing their interest in his submission, Li'l Folks. Schulz boarded a train in June for New York City; more interested in doing a strip than a panel, he also brought along the first installments of what would become Peanuts — and that was what sold. (The title, which Schulz loathed to his dying day, was imposed by the syndicate.) The first Peanuts daily appeared October 2, 1950; the first Sunday, January 6, 1952.

Diagnosed with cancer, Schulz retired from Peanuts at the end of 1999. He died on February 13, 2000, the day before Valentine's Day — and the day before his last strip was published — having completed 17,897 daily and Sunday strips, each and every one fully written, drawn, and lettered entirely by his own hand — an unmatched achievement in comics.

The Complete Peanuts will run 25 volumes, collecting two years chronologically at a rate of two a year for twelve years. Each volume is designed by the award-winning cartoonist Seth (It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken) and features impeccable production values; every single strip from Charles M. Schulz's 50-year American classic is reproduced better than ever before.