"The Complete Peanuts: 1950 to 1952"

I received my copy of the first volume in a 25 volume collection of all of Mr. Schulz' "Peanuts" comics. The first volume covers the comic's first two years. At that time, Snoopy did not walk on two legs or express thoughts or pretend that he was a WWI flying ace. Sherman, Violet and a character named Patty (but not "Pepperment Patty") shared equal time with Charlie Brown. Schroeder is a baby who can barely speak, let alone play the toy piano. But most significant of all: Charlie Brown is not a putz. He is a little simple but he gets along with the other characters very well. I am not finished with the book but I am certainly enjoying what I am reading!

It is a beautiful book too. Very nice design.

As I read it, I am reminded of when I was about 8 or 9. I was an aspiring artist then and I wanted nothing more than to be a cartoonitst like Mr. Schulz. I copied his work and studied it very closely seated at my desk in my room, listening to the transistor radio my great grandfather got me for Christmas. I even created a character for "Peanuts", a beagle much like Snoopy. I sent a copy of a strip I drew of this character to United Press Syndicate, in the hopes that it would get to Mr. Schulz. I dreamed that he would like it so much that he would include him in the comic. I remember that I received a few copies of renderings of some of the "Peanuts" characters in reply. One of them was Snoopy's litter-mate Spike. I am sure that these pictures were standard issue for fan mail at the time (mid- to late seventies) but I loved them.

I regret to say that the drawings are gone now and I hadn't thought about it in a long time. This new book brought that back to me. Mr. Schulz was the coolest!