Fantagraphics To Publish Every Peanuts Strip

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgFantagraphics Books [1] has announced the complete reprinting of Charles Schulz’s classic PEANUTS comic strips. The collection will be a total of 25 books published two per year for the next 12 1/2 years. The first collection will hits shelves April 1, 2004. THE COMPLETE PEANUTS series will be designed by the cartoonist SETH (PALOOKAVILLE, IT’S A GOOD LIFE IF YOU DON’T WEAKEN) and produced in full cooperation with United Media, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and Schulz’s widow, Jean Schulz.

Fantagraphics Books co-publisher Gary Groth said, “PEANUTS is a towering achievement in the history of comics. I can’t think of a better way to honor Schulz’s artistic legacy than to make his oeuvre available to the public in a beautifully designed format that reflects the integrity of the work itself.”

The project began germinating in 1997 when Groth approached Schulz about publishing a PEANUTS anthology. Groth said, “It’s safe to say that this project wouldn’t have happened if Jean Schulz weren’t as enthusiastic and supportive as she’s been.

Added Jean Schulz, “This seemed like an impossible project, considering all the lost‚ strips, but Gary’s determination never flagged, and we are so happy with the aesthetic sensibility of the Fantagraphics team.”

SETH said, “ It’s a genuine honor to be designing these Schulz collections. I want to emphasize the sophistication of Schulz’s work by creating a package that is both austere and direct. I would like to try to reflect the quiet and melancholy of the strip in a package that hopefully, shows the proper amount of respect for Mr. Schulz. Undoubtedly, PEANUTS is a great newspaper strip and I am humbled and gratified to help steward this complete strip compilation into the world.”

Each volume will run approximately 320 pages in an 8x6 1/2 hardcover format, presenting two years of strips along with supplementary material. The series will present the entire run in chronological order, dailies and Sundays. The first volume will cover the strips from 1950 - 1952. Dailies will run three to a page, while Sunday strips will each take up a full page and be printed in black-and-white, an aesthetic choice agreed upon by the editors, the designer and Mrs. Schulz. The volumes will sell for $28.95.

Fantagraphics Books has been the leading proponent of comics and cartooning as legitimate forms of art and literature since it began publishing the critical trade magazine The Comics Journal in 1976. Fantagraphics has published work from Daniel Clowes, Joe Sacco, Chris Ware, R. Crumb, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Jim Woodring, Jules Feiffer, Gene Deitch and many others. For more information, visit www.fantagraphics.com [2].