The Complete Peanuts: Comics and Stories 1950 to 2000

This 26th and final volume of the "Complete Peanuts" series presents selected examples of Schulz's Peanuts work outside of newspapers, some of it quite rare. Opening with a real treasure, the first-ever complete reprint of the 17 pre-Peanuts cartoons that Schulz (1922–2000) sold to the Saturday Evening Post, it continues with work from comic books, women's magazines, and several long-out-of-print storybooks and gag cartoon collections, including two delightful tomes spotlighting Snoopy's writing career. Also featured is some of Schulz's advertising work, including his 1960s ads for the Ford Falcon showcasing genuine (and funny) four-panel Peanuts strips not available elsewhere. And while the gang's gushing praise for the car can certainly be seen as uncomfortable commercialism, it's too bad that the selection of these strips here is not complete. Schulz's widow, Jean, provides a very personal afterword about their life together.