Charles M Schulz's Lucy (Family Comic Friday)

This week’s Family Comic Friday is actually perfect for the entire family! If you are age 3 or 93, who doesn’t like Charles Schulz’s Peanuts? Today’s review looks at a collection of classic and new Peanuts stories starring everyone’s favorite crabby sister and busy-body- Lucy Van Pelt!

Charles M. Schulz’s Lucy
Stories and art by Charles Schulz, Jason Cooper, Vicki Scott, Scott Jeralds
Inks by Paige Braddock and Justin Thompson
Pages: 96
Retail Price: $14.99
Published by kaBOOM! Studios

The focus of the Peanuts cartoon has always been Charlie Brown and his faithful dog, Snoopy. But the best lines and funniest acts of practical jokes and grumpiness come from Lucy. The sister of Linus, Lucy bosses everyone around. It’s probably because she’s the oldest of all the characters.

This collection of everything Lucy is culled from over 50 years of Peanuts comic strips and the Peanuts comic book from kaBOOM! The Schulz strips have been remastered. The inks have never been clearer and the colors have never been so popping!

What’s extremely impressive about this book is how well other writers and artists such as Scott Jeralds and Vicki Scott capture the look and essence of the Peanuts gang! There have been other comic books based on comic strips and they pale in comparison to the genuine article. But that’s no so here! The world of lil’ folks created by Charles Schulz is alive and well in this book!

Parents and guardians will delight in not having anything objectionable in this volume. There are a couple of sections featuring quotes by Schulz about his inspirations in creating the Peanuts characters. While quite insightful, there are a few big words on those pages that younger readers might need some help with. But there’s only a two or three of those sections and they are only a page in length each.

With stories themed around baseball, a school science fair, the Christmas stress of being watched by Santa, and an art lesson by Linus on how to draw his sister, there’s a little something for everyone in this hardcover collection.

Charles M. Schulz’s Lucy was originally supposed to debut in print on January 30th, 2019. The book has been delayed by the published until February 5th. It can be purchased as a hardcover via Amazon or your favorite local bookseller or comic book shop.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

It's a Dog's Life, Snoopy

With the new Peanuts movie hitting theatres last Friday, I thought it would be fitting to read a collection of Snoopy cartoons. This full-color collection of Peanuts tales contains a full year of yuks. From the snows of January to the dog days of summer (pun intended) to the crisp nights waiting for the Great Pumpkin and back to snow with the holidays fast approaching, there’s lots of great jokes and gags. Is every joke a winner? No, but the vast majority of strips are perfect. A few jokes repeat, so be patient.

I love the snowy strips best.

Sadly, you can see the years wearing on creator Schulz as not every strip is drawn with crisp definitive lines found in Peanuts tales. Even some of his signatures are chicken scratches. It sometimes makes this collection a little sad as you know that in this later year treasury each entry is coming towards the end of the Peanuts strip’s run, which on it's very last day of publishing, Schulz passed.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.