And the fact that so many newspapers continue to re-run old strips of Schulz’s so long after his death instead of filling that valuable (to cartoonists) space with something—anything—else is about as eloquent expression of the regard Schulz is held in as anything I could pound out in a few sentences here.

Do note that, when Schulz passed away, no descendant of his or hand-picked assistant/apprentice took over the strip for him—Peanuts not produced by Schulz was apparently judged so wrong it wouldn’t even be attempted, better to just have folks re-read older strips than attempt new ones by someone else.

That was a big part of the reason I was so shocked when Boom Studios announced a new ongoing Peanuts comic book series on their Kaboom kids imprint. They had previously produced an original graphic novel based on a new animated special which itself was pieced together from Schulz strips—last spring’s Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown—but this seemed like something pretty different. It wasn’t a media tie-in or a one-off lark project, it was going to be something rather sustained.

Now, when I say “shocked,” I must admit that I didn’t drop my coffee cup on the kitchen floor, upon which it shattered with a crash. My jaw may have dropped—but only slightly. I did not scream a strangled cry, although I’m pretty sure I thought, “Why?”

As I said, there didn’t seem to be much appetite for a new Peanuts in the newspaper comic strip market, and Fantagraphics has already devoted itself to a remarkable curation and collection process with their Complete Peanuts program, making every Schulz strip ever available in beautifully designed and printed hard covers that look handsome on a shelf and are widely available at libraries. Why make a comic book, featuring new material? Who would have the audacity to publish it, and to tell those stories? And who would it be for? What demand would it meet?

Getting answers to these questions proved remarkably simple: All I had to do was read the first issue.

It’s definitely worth noting that the series is hardly Schulz-free. In addition to bearing his full name above the logo and a drawing of his on the covers, the first issue reprints a few classic Peanuts strips. These are three in number, and each fill-up a whole page, so they are presumably Sunday strips.

The rest of the book is filled with two new stories, one written and penciled by Vicki Scott and the other written by Shane Houghton and drawn by Matt Whitlock. Neither attempts to ape the comic strip format at all, and are in the same style and format of the previous Boom graphic novel.

The panels are big—there are even a few splashes—and the colors are bright. The lay-outs are inventive, and seem to be almost flagrant in their resistance to confining grids, with inset panels of various shapes (square, circle, explosion, light bulb) and implied panels separating action into distinct moments, as in a scene where Charlie Brown sings a song, eleven Charlie Browns all drawn in sequence, standing before bars of music drawn in waves behind him. They are also rather action-packed for Peanuts stories, with a lot of running, yelling, screaming and some chasing—as with Warm Blanket, the comic book reads a lot like a comic book based on a cartoon instead of a comic book based on a comic strip.

This is a distinction that might not mean a whole lot to that many people, but reading it I got the feeling that I was reading a new comic book series based on the Peanuts animated cartoons, not the Peanuts comic strips. Sure, the former is ultimately based on Schulz’s work, but the fact that the comic book had more aesthetically in common with the animation than the strip was comforting. Those were always works of collaboration, after all, whereas the strip was always just Schulz, from increasingly scribbly line to dialogue balloon tail.

Therefore, whereas a new comic strip by anyone other than Schulz would feel wrong, a new comic book in the spirit of the animation? I’m fine with that. Heck, I kind of welcome it.

Those of us who care about such things can quibble over the quality of the endeavor. It’s very much an old-school gag comic, of the sort DC’s Tiny Titans and some of the Archie Comics are the only real practitioners of left. Some of the gags are very short, as in the Schulz reprints, and some are longer, short stories, but they’re gag-oriented ones.

Are they funny, or relevant? They didn’t crack me up or anything, but I thought they were well done, and I could definitely see them appealing to kids. And that, I think, answers the most pressing of my original questions about the comic, the question of why do it at all, and who is it to be for.

It’s probably not for  comic book or strip critics or aficionados—although it’s definitely worth checking out just to see how Boom approached a difficult task—nor is it for people like me who tend to think, think and over-think such things.

It is, however, definitely for those who like Charlie Brown and Snoopy, who are familiar with them from cartoons as much as from the funny pages, and can read.

It is, in short, Peanuts for peanuts. And that’s an audience that can always use more high-quality comics addressed to them.

A snippet from Peanuts 1 (Art by Vicki Scott/inked by Paige Braddock)

Did you pick up Peanuts 1 yesterday? If you love all ages books, you should have. The first issue of this ongoing KABOOM! monthly features new stories by Vicki Scott, Paige Braddock, Shane Houghton and Matt Whitlock–and original Charles Schulz stories of course. In fact, Braddock wears many hats on this project. First off, she is the creative director of Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. Secondly Braddock (also creator of the ensemble comedy comic strip, Jane’s World) inks the stories, as well provides colors on the cover. Anytime an all ages title like this new release from the KABOOM! gang (in partnership with Peanuts Worldwide) comes out, I want to shout it from the rooftops. On a personal level, I am overjoyed to interview Braddock in this brief email interview, as I have been a fan of her work since her days many, many years ago–on staff as an illustrator at my local newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As much as I wanted to interview her some about Jane’s World and The Martian Confederacy (her collaboration with Jason McNamera), I opted to make the focus of today’s interview on Peanuts. My thanks to Braddock for her time.

Tim O’Shea: Were you involved in selecting the other writers of the stories, such as Shane Houghton and Vicki Scott?

Paige Braddock: Shane Houghton was selected by Boom, but I was familiar with his other work on Reed Gunther. Shane also did some test pages for Boom and we reviewed those at the studio. I met Vicki Scott during the Happiness is a Warm Blanket graphic novel project. It’s a funny story actually… I had met her husband, Bob, who was at the time an animator at Pixar. I knew his work and contacted him about working on the graphic novel. He was pretty busy so he suggested that maybe his wife could help out. I was thinking to myself, his wife?! Then of course his wife, Vicki, turned out to be this incredibly talented artist. Since that first project, she and I have collaborated on a couple of children’s books based on the Peanuts characters. Vicki also turned out to be quite gifted at writing and capturing the “voice and tone” of these characters.

O’Shea: What is the key to capturing the spirit of the classic Peanuts tales without blatantly trying to copy the late Charles Schulz?

Braddock: I think we are still working very hard to figure that out. Part of the equation is taking stories from the comic strip and adapting them by creating more cinematic scenes and character images from maybe a different viewpoint. Keeping true to the stories while creating art scenes and staging that you might not encounter in the comic strip. We’re also doing some short original stories which we review by committee here at the studio to make sure we stay on model. Lex Fajardo is the project manager for these books. He and our art director, Iain Morris, contribute in keeping us on track. Once we’ve run a story and thumbnails through our proofing process here we send them to Boom for their editorial review. This series really is a group effort. We also include some “pure Schulz” work in each issue. There are at least 3 Sunday comics that run in each monthly book. We figure most kids don’t read newspapers so at least this will give them a chance to encounter Schulz, unfiltered by other writers and artists.

O’Shea: I always thought the coloring on Peanuts Sunday strips were distinctly unique, are there certain colors that you avoid when telling a Peanuts tale?

Braddock: If you look at collections, like the 25th anniversary Peanuts book, the Sunday color is really vibrant and sort of unpredictable. I think Schulz wasn’t afraid to use bright colors or to use them in an unconventional way. Like, a pink sky, for example. Erin Samuels, who worked with Schulz has done the color Sunday work for at least the last 15 years. I think she’s done a good job of following his lead. For the comic books, we’ve had a lot of discussion about color. Just simply as a result of size and print quality we can do more with color for the comic books than we can do in newsprint, which tops out at 150 dpi. The majority view is that we’d like to push the envelope a little in terms of color and application (textures, fades, ect.) but we don’t want to use too many gimmicks that would distract viewers from Schulz’s simple character design. It’s going to be a balancing act for sure. When I first started working here at the studio I did some one-on-one Sunday color work with Sparky (Schulz). I was the first one to really use the computer to enhance the color on the strip. Sparky definitely was open to experimentation. He wanted to try things that I would have thought were too “out there,” but he clearly liked trying new things.

O’Shea: What makes the Peanuts universe (and its characters) so timeless?

Braddock: The short answer I think is “universal themes.” Schulz tapped into some collective experience that enables Peanuts characters to resonate just as much with a school teacher in Iowa as a business man in Japan. That’s a pretty amazing feat. I personally think it’s not just the universal themes, but the depth in which he deals with them. Schulz managed to achieve a certain level of depth within the discourse in the comic strip, without it seeming forced or trite. Peanuts seems real. I think it seems so real because Schulz put so much of his personal feelings, insecurities and doubts into each character. It seems real because it is real, if that makes sense. That sort of authenticity takes personal bravery and I think his vast readership obviously appreciated that authentic, voice.

O’Shea: How hard was it to work on the Peanuts story in between the other projects you are working on?

Braddock: It’s actually been a lot of fun. For me, this job started out as an art job. I was hired by Schulz to do illustration work. The job got sort of side tracked after Schulz retired, and I was asked to do a lot more “direction” and less hands-on artwork. So I’m really glad to be finally back to doing what I was hired to do. After 12 years at the studio, I’m a lot better at drawing the characters than I was when I started.

O’Shea: Anything we should discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Braddock: There hasn’t been a Peanuts comic book series since Dell published comics back in the 1960s. As a fan of both comic books and Peanuts, I’m glad that comic shops will once again have Peanuts on their shelves. As a comic reader, I think Peanuts will be a breath of fresh air in terms of material that’s suitable for all ages. Some of the super hero stuff has gotten so dark and violent that speaking as a comic book fan, I’m glad there will be a “happy” alternative on the shelf.

Last year around this time, Calamaties of Nature creator Tony Piro posted a pointed parody of A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was well received, but, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, it was also copied, altered and posted all over the internet without attribution.

Yesterday, Piro noted the problem:

My use of the Peanuts characters, in a comic that I drew and wrote myself, is allowed as a parody. But when people grab my art, change a few words, and label it as their own, it amounts to theft. Of course people are free to make their own parodies, but they should use their own art and writing. I could attempt to police these copies, but ultimately this is impossible to do on the internet, especially once images start spreading on social sites like Facebook.

Of course, if his appropriation of Charles Schulz’s characters is allowable as parody, couldn’t some of his imitators claim the same thing about their appropriation of Tony Piro’s comic? Semantics aside, Piro realizes the futility of trying to stop the appropriators, so his solution is to ask his readers to post his version of the comic, with attribution, in a sort of good-information-crowds-out-bad strategy. To show that he’s no Grinch, Piro will donate $1 to Doctors Without Borders for every 500 extra page views the comic gets.

And to round out this Christmas story, someone popped up in comments to apologize for unknowingly using an altered version of the comic. Of course, the trolls were there too…

(Via Fleen.)

Following the announcement of the creators for their new Peanuts ongoing series, BOOM! Studios has announced variant covers for the first four issues available to comics retailers as order incentives. The covers feature Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy as they first appeared in the comic strip reproduced directly from Charles Schulz’ original panel art.

The first Peanuts miniseries, which BOOM! confirmed will be published as a series of miniseries a la Hellboy, will hit stores in January. Check out the other covers after the jump.

*****

Peanuts #1

BOOM! Studios has announced the creators for their upcoming Peanuts comic book, which will feature both new stories and reprints of strips by creator Charles Schulz.

The ongoing series, which was announced last summer as a part of their KABOOM! kids line, will feature new stories by Vicki Scott (Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown), Paige Braddock (Creative Director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, Jane’s World, Martian Confederacy), Shane Houghton (Reed Gunther) and Matt Whitlock. Scott and Braddock worked together on a story that appeared in #0 preview issue that was released earlier this month.

This isn’t the first time Charlie Brown and the gang have appeared in comic book form, and it isn’t even the first time they’ve appeared in comics done by someone besides creator Charles Schulz. As detailed on Comicartville.com, the Peanuts characters appeared in numerous comics in the 1950s and 1960s, some of which were reprints of newspaper strips, some new stories by Schulz and some by artists who worked for him.

“I’ve always been under the impression that Charles M. Schulz always drew and directly supervised all aspects of his strip and characters, so this was something of a surprise,” wrote Dr. Michael J. Vassallo on Comicartville.com. “From a variety of sources, I learned that these DELL issues were produced by a crew of artists working for Schulz and who did advertising artwork for him. The main artist was Dale Hale. This information has been confirmed for me by the late comic strip art collector/historian/agent Mark J. Cohen, who was gracious enough to ask Charles M. Schulz over dinner about his contribution to those Dell issues. Mr. Schulz enumerated that he did the very first one himself with Jim Sasseville doing the next few and Dale Hale doing all the rest.”

This first issue of Peanuts ships in January.

Love & Rockets New Stories #4

Fantagraphics sent over their list of books debuting at the San Diego Comic-Con later this month, and boy is it packed tighter than my suitcase on vacation day. The publisher will have almost two dozen new books at the show, including the last Mome; new stuff from Michael Kupperman, the Hernandez Bros. and Johnny Ryan; tons of Eurocomics; a Lou Reed/Edgar Allan Poe joint; and more. Check them out:

Love & Rockets New Stories 4 by Los Bros Hernandez: Featuring new stories by Jaime and Gilbert, including new material featuring Maggie set in the present and during her teen years.

Mark Twain’s Autobiography by Michael Kupperman: Probably the one I’ve been looking forward to the most, Kupperman publishes Mark Twain’s “biography” since the day the author/humorist died through last year — including his affair with Marilyn Monroe and his time-traveling adventures with Einstein.

Prison Pit Vol. 3 by Johnny Ryan: More deranged, twisted ultraviolent fun from Ryan.

Mome 22, edited by Eric Reynolds: The double-sized last volume of Fantagraphics’ anthology, featuring comics by Kurt Wolfgang, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, Tim Hensley, Anders Nilsen, Zak Sally, Tom Kaczynski, Andrice Arp, Eleanor Davis, Joe Kimball, Laura Park and many, many more.

The Raven by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti: Musician Lou Reed teams up with Stigmata creator Lorenzo Mattotti for “the definitive book version compiling the songs, verses and narratives that comprise POEtry/The Raven,” a musical and subsequent CD based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Art of Joe Kubert, edited by Bill Schelly: This is a coffee table book “that honors this legendary creator with beautifully reproduced artwork from every phase of his career as well as critical commentary by the book’s editor, comics historian and Kubert biographer Bill Schelly.”

Setting the Standard: Alex Toth

Setting the Standard: Alex Toth, edited by Greg Sadowski: Collecting the influential artist’s work from his time at Standard Comics.

Esperanza by Jaime Hernanadez: The fifth volume of “Locas” stories, collecting the remainder of the stories from Love and Rockets Volume II, picking up where 2010’s Penny Century collection left off.

Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi: Tardi “returns to the world of guns, crime, betrayal and bloodshed with this stunning, grisly, and remarkably faithful interpretation” of Jean-Patrick Manchette’s last completed crime thriller.

Murder By High Tide: Gil Jordan by M. Tillieux: A “never-before-translated classic from the Golden Age of Franco-Belgian comics,” this collects two stories featuring Detective Gil Jordan.

The Pin-Up Art of Humorama, edited by Alex Chun: A collection of single-panel pin-up cartoons and other material published under the Humorama banner in the 1950s in digest-sized magazines like Romp, Stare and Joker, by creators like Bill Ward, Jack Cole, Dan DeCarlo and more.

Drawing Power, edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard: An oversized, full-color, 128-page book that looks at the history of cartoon advertising from the 1870s to the 1940s.

Sibyl-Anne vs. Ratticus by R. Macherot: A translation of Franco-Belgian all-ages comics, featuring mice fighting rats who want to take over their land. This is the first time it’s been translated into English.

Willie & Joe: Back Home hardcover and Willie & Joe: The WWII Years softcover by Bill Maulden: Both collect World War II-era cartoons by “the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army.”

The Armed Garden by David B.: A collection of stories of “history, magic and gods” by the creator of Epileptic.

Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 (Vol. 16) by Charles Schutz: A new volume of the popular and charming strip.

Even More Jewish Comedians by Drew Friedman: The third and final volume collecting Friedman’s caricatures of Jewish comedians.

The Hidden

The Hidden by Richard Sala: A post-apocalyptic story of a group of survivors who end up at an abandoned trading post, where they try to figure out if the world has really ended.

The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen: The first American collection of stories by the popular Belgian cartoonist, whose work has appeared in Mome.

Nuts by Gahan Wilson: A collection of one-page stories that ran in National Lampoon in the 1970s, these focus on a normal kid dealing with life rather than the vampires and other ghoulies you might expect from Wilson.

Fantagraphics also provide a list of creators who would be at the show:

Wilfred Santigo
Anders Neilson
Rob Goodin
Joyce Farmer
Johnny Ryan
Los Bros Hernandez (Jaime, Beto, and Mario)
Easter Pearl Watson
Mark Kalesniko
Bill Schelly
Paul Hornschemeier
Tim Hensley
John Pham

With that in mind, and since I’m always fascinated by this sort of cross-pollination, I thought I’d make a quick (and by no means definitive) list of some songs based on or about some beloved comic book characters. As a self-imposed caveat, I tried to stay away from theme songs or film contributions, so as much as I love The Ramones’ version of “Spider-Man,” I’m keeping it off the list for that reason.

Oh, and don’t forget to offer you’re own picks in the comments section …

1. Evangeline by Matthew Sweet

Sure, anyone can make up a song about Superman or Wonder Woman, but if you really want to establish your nerd cred, you need to write a song about a comic book character so long-forgotten even serious fans would need ten minutes or so to scratch their heads before saying, “Oh yeah, her.” So it was with Gen X songsmith Matthew Sweet, who penned a rather plaintive paen (“as sung by Johnny Six” the liner notes helpfully tell us) to the “sexy, killer vigilante nun” created by Chuck Dixon and Judith Hunt back in the heady days of the 1980s for Comico Comics. It’s a rather irresistible song — arguably one of Sweet’s best — as the singer looks at the figure he has placed on a pedestal and begs her to forget about all that “marriage to God” nonsense and give him the time of day, at least for a little bit. The fact that it features a really killer hook doesn’t hurt matters much.

B-Side: It’s not comics specifically, but the videos to Sweet’s Girlfriend and I’ve Been Waiting contain snippets from the anime Space Adventure Cobra and Lum, respectively.

2. Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) by XTC

Many of us look to our comic book heroes for inspiration during our seminal years, though I’m willing to hazard a guess that few took our cues from grizzled World War II sergeants. That’s not the case with the lead singer of this jaunty new wave ditty, who seems to be operating under the delusion that behaving like the seminal Joe Kubert character will help him with the ladies. “If I could only be tough like him then I could win my own, small, battle of the sexes,” he opines. Good luck with that buddy.

B-Side: That’s Really Super, Supergirl, from the bands Skylarking album.

3. Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen

Copyright issues are always a tricky landmine to walk through when paying homage to one of your favorite characters via song. Not that it was an initial concern for The Royal Guardsmen, who recorded their 1966 tribute to that “funny looking dog with a big black nose” and his seemingly never-ending battle with Baron von Richthofen only to be served with legal action by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and his syndicate. The latter won the suit, but allowed the band to keep performing so long as they received all publishing revenues, ensuring that future generations could enjoy quirky pop songs about airplane-flying canines.

B-Side: Knowing a good thing when they saw it, the Guardsmen penned several other songs about Snoopy as well (with Schulz’s blessing), including the oddity Snoopy’s Christmas, which finds the beagle and Red Baron exchanging holiday pleasantries.

4. Superman’s Song by Crash Test Dummies

As a general rule, I don’t much care for songs about Superman, as they tend to be a lazy out for songwriters to pen asinine excuses about why it’s OK that they’re big, fat wussies. This song, however, from the Crash Test Dummies’ first album, is a notable exception, as it offers a salute to the man in blue, yellow and red that is both wistful and a bit tongue-in-cheek, reminding us that while “Tarzan wasn’t a ladies man,” “Superman never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy.” Yeah, it’s cheesy at times, but its elegiac tempo keeps it from getting too gimmicky and pushes through the novelty to create a bit of genuine earnestness.

B-side: If you really need another song that about Superman, there’s always the Kinks’ Superman would fit the bill nicely, though it isn’t really about him so much as about how great it would be to be like him.

5. Magneto and the Titanium Man by Paul McCartney

It’s a well-recorded fact that Macca is a fan of Jack Kirby’s work, enough so that he paid homage to some of the King’s characters via this ditty. In the song, the titular characters, along with the Crimson Dynamo for some reason, engage in gossipy behavior, accusing the singer’s beloved of robbing the local bank. All is resolved in the end, however, though not perhaps to Magneto’s satisfaction. Like most of McCartney’s stuff during this period, it’s pretty frothy, inconsequential material, but it’s certainly better than just about anything on Pipes of Peace.

B-side: Macca didn’t write any more songs about Marvel Comics characters, but the band Suicide did pen a rather nifty tune about Ghost Rider, “motorcycle hero.”

6. Ghost World by Aimee Mann

Apparently Mann is quite the alt-comix aficionado. For one thing, she had Seth design her Lost in Space CD. Prior to that, she penned this tribute to Dan Clowes’ graphic novel concerning teen-age ennui. While the song doesn’t match the book lyric for panel, it manages to mirror the general themes and tone of the book rather well, especially in the chorus where Mann declares “I’m bailing this town or /tearing it down or/ probably more like hanging around.”

B-side: Um … did you know Guided By Voices wrote a song about Matter-Eater Lad?

Borders

Retailing | Bankrupt bookseller Borders Group said in court papers filed Friday that it will name a stalking-horse bidder by July 1, with an eye toward completing the sale of all of its assets by the end of July. The Detroit News spotlights the two private-equity firms that have placed bids to buy at least a majority of the book chain’s 416 remaining stores: Phoenix-based Najafi Cos., which owns the Book of the Month Club, Columbia House and BMG; and Los Angeles-based Gores Group — the likely stalking-horse bidder — whose investments include Alliance Entertainment and Westwood One. [Reuters, The Detroit News]

Legal | Peanutweeter, a blog that combined frames from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips with real, out-of-context tweets, has been taken down by Tumblr as the result of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint from Iconix Brand Group, which acquired a majority stake in the Peanuts assets last year. One blogger, however, argues the blog should be considered fair use. [RIPeanutweeter, Boing Boing]

Retailing | David Ranii looks at how some North Carolina comic stores are weathering the recession. [The Charlotte Observer]

Geoff Johns

Creators | The Detroit Free Press profiles native son Geoff Johns. [Detroit Free Press]

Creators | Heath McCoy profiles artist, and Calgary native, Fiona Staples ahead of her Joe Shuster Awards win: “So many (artists) get disappointed, because they really wanted to work at Marvel or draw Batman or that sort of thing, and that only happens for a fraction of them. It’s not the most practical goal … You sort of get tunnel vision fixating on these things … My goals are just set in terms of the level I want my art to be at.” [Calgary Herald]

Comics | BBC News Scotland spotlights Spirit of Hope comic produced by the U.K. nonprofit group Comic Book Alliance to benefit earthquake victims in Japan and New Zealand. [BBC News]

Comics | Roger W. Rautio Jr. of Canton, Ohio New York, hopes to establish a permanent Comic Book Hall of Fame. He just needs money and a location. [Watertown Daily Times]

Broadway | Julie Taymor, who was fired in March as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, is alarmed that the producers consulted focus groups for their overhaul of the $70-million musical: “Shakespeare would have been appalled. Forget about it. It would be impossible to have these works come out because there’s always something that people don’t like.” [The New York Times]

Created in the late 40s between Schulz’ first work Li’l Folks and the debut of Peanuts in 1950, it contains characters that bear more than a passing resemblance to future Peanuts stars Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The artwork is being offered by the family of the late Frieda Rich, a lifelong friend of Schulz who served as the inspiration for the Frieda character with the famous “naturally curly hair.”

This will be one of many pieces that’ll hit Heritage Auctions’ auction block on May 5, and the organizers expect this piece to bring more than $20,000 alone.

Borders

Retailing | The financially troubled Borders Group reportedly could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as today or Tuesday, setting the stage to close about 200 of its 674 Borders and Waldenbooks stores and eliminate thousands of jobs. [The Wall Street Journal]

Retailing | Diamond Comic Distributors revealed that 98 percent of the more than 500 direct market stores visited by secret shoppers during the first month of day-early delivery were found to be in compliance with the program’s street-date requirements. According to Diamond, of the 10 stores discovered to be in violation of the agreement, one was reported by another retailer while the others were discovered by secret shoppers. [ICv2.com]

Jack Kirby

Legal | Marvel Entertainment is asking that a judge, rather than a jury, decide whether the heirs of Jack Kirby successfully terminated copyright grants to such characters as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor. [The Trademark Blog, via THR, Esq.]

Awards | Although Jeff Lemire’s Essex County was eliminated in the first day of debate for Canada Reads, it topped the Canada Reads 2011 People’s Choice Poll with a staggering 53.15 percent of the votes. [Top Shelf Productions]

Retailing | Matt Price rounds up news from ComicsPRO’s annual meeting in Dallas, where the trade group honored Stan Lee and Jack Kirby with the ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award and set Oct. 1 as the date for this year’s 24 Hour Comics Day. Brian Hibbs offers some thoughts on comments about digital comics made by DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee. [Nerdage]

Grant Morrison

Creators | Grant Morrison talks about his Batman books, Joe the Barbarian, and his desire to tackle The Flash and Wonder Woman: “I think one of the things that was lost on the Wonder Woman strip early on was a kind of slightly strange sexuality that the creator, William Marston, brought to the book. So, I think over the years a lot of people have had trouble dealing with the character–you know, she’s an icon, she’s a representation of women, but at the same time there has been a sexuality there that most people don’t want to go near, which is quite understandable. But because the character was so rooted in it, I think she kind of lost a little bit of her ‘sauce,’ you know? [Laughs] There have been great versions — I’m not saying there haven’t been good Wonder Womans over the years, but I think there’s always that little bit of something that Marston took with him, and it wasn’t the same with Superman and Batman. They didn’t rely on that aspect of the character to be successful in the early days. So, that’s my feeling on Wonder Woman: it’d be nice to restore a little bit of that without being purient or sensationalistic.” [Omnivoracious]

Creators | Ben Morse interviews Robot 6 contributor Sean T. Collins about his webcomic (with collaborator Matt Wiegle) Destructor. [The Cool Kids Table]

Zita the Spacegirl

Creators | Cartoonist Ben Hatke is profiled by his local newspaper about his First Second graphic novel Zita the Spacegirl. [Journal and Courier]

Comic strips | The newspaper editor who last week asked readers whether it’s time to drop Peanuts received an emphatic “No.” [Yuma Sun]

Editorial cartoons | Andrew Wheeler has launched Editorial Explanations, a blog devoted to humorously explaining editorial cartoons. [Editorial Explanations]

Isotope's "FailFrog" button

Comic-Con | Badges for Comic-Con International sold out Saturday during a marathon online-registration session that taxed the servers of convention sales partner TicketLeap and frustrated ticket buyers. Four-day passes were gone by about 2 p.m. PT; the event sold out by 6 p.m. (Additional passes may become available as cancellations are processed.) As we noted earlier, San Francisco comics retailer Isotope is memorializing Saturday’s experience with a “San Diego Comic Con 2011 Registration Disaster Commemorative Fail Frog button,” featuring a modified version of the TicketLeap logo that frustrated users saw every time they refreshed their web browser.

On the TicketLeap company blog, CEO Chris Stanchak acknowledged that “our platform experienced capacity issues for a 4 hour period” on Saturday: “While we knew the event was going to put significant demand on our system, we did not expect the traffic we received. [...] The traffic we received yesterday was several orders of magnitude higher than our high end estimate. Due to the heavy strain on the system, users for all events across our system received ‘Over Capacity’ errors. This prevented ticket buyers from buying tickets and it prevented event organizers from managing their events.” Tom Spurgeon offers commentary. [Comic-Con International]

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)

Publishing | Georgia Congressman John Lewis, a leader in the American civil-rights movement, will co-author the autobiographical graphic novel March for Top Shelf Productions: “A meditation in the modern age on the distance traveled, both as a nation and as a people, since the days of Jim Crow and segregation, March tells the first hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights.” It’s tentatively set for release in 2012. [press release]

Business | AOL Inc. struck a deal Sunday to by The Huffington Post for $315 million as part of an ongoing effort transform the former Internet service giant into a “new American media company.” Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, will become president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, which will integrate both company’s content, including the AOL-owned comic-book blog Comics Alliance. [Advertising Age, The Hollywood Reporter]

Crime | Dan Herbeck updates the investigation of the case of Homer Marciniak, a 77-year-old man from Medina, N.Y., who died in of a heart attack on July 5, several hours after he was beaten by burglars who broke into his home to steal his comic-book collection. Rochester businessman Rico Vendetti was charged with hiring the alleged burglars, including 17-year-old Juan C. Javier — both deny any involvement — but community members want prosecutors to pursue homicide charges. [The Buffalo News]

Alan Moore

Creators | Nicole Le Marie reports on the “read-in” led by Alan Moore to protest the planned closing of the St. James Library in his hometown of Northampton. [Northampton Chronicle]

Creators | Cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks discusses her busy schedule, including an upcoming third graphic novel for First Second, collaboration, her webcomic The Adventures of Superhero Girl, and more. [Sequential Tart]

Creators | Grace Bello interviews bestselling author, television host and comics writer Brad Meltzer. [Bookslut]

Comic strips | An editor at the Yuma Sun asks readers if, 11 years after the death of cartoonist Charles Schulz and the final new installment of Peanuts, it’s time for the newspaper to let go of the comic strip. [Yuma Sun]

Art Spiegelman

Creators | Michael Cavna talks with cartoonist Art Spiegelman about being only the third American to receive the Grand Prix from the Angoulême International Comics Festival. As recipient of the honor, the 62-year-old artist will help plan next year’s festival. “I don’t know whether you should say ‘congratulations’ or ‘condolences,’ ” he says. [The Washington Post]

Legal | A Michigan judge on Monday ordered the DNA of former retailer Michael George to be compared with a hair found on the body of his wife when she was shot to death in 1990 in their comic book store. George, 50, was found guilty in March 2008 of first-degree murder, but that conviction was set aside because of prosecutorial misconduct and the possibility of new evidence. [The Detroit News]

Eric Stephenson

Publishing | Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson discusses the state of the company, cover prices, digital comics, and the health of the medium and the industry: “I think the industry has certainly been healthier, but I’m not going to go on my blog and write about how the sky is falling, like some have done. I mean, I get it: The sky has fallen for you, but don’t try to apply your weird logic to the rest of the business just because bad decisions have pushed you personally to the brink of collapse. I mean, look: This year is actually my 20th year of working in comics in one form or another, and pretty much from day one, it’s been nothing but doom and gloom from all quarters. Is the industry in perfect health? For fuck’s sake, no. Things could be much, much better, but you know, we’re slogging through this shit economy and then asking people to buy five Deadpool comics. People aren’t having it.” [Multiversity Comics]

Publishing | Rich Johnston delves into financial documents and comes away with a snapshot of Radical Publishing’s inner workings. [Bleeding Cool]

Fear Itself

Publishing | Douglas Wolk compares the issue counts of recent comic-book events — including tie-ins and one-shots — and declares Secret Invasion king with a staggering total of 102. [Techland]

Publishing | On a related note, David Uzumeri looks at recent comic-event marketing. [Comics Alliance]

Retailing | Atlantis Comics in Lakewood, Colorado, has announced it will no longer be receiving shipments of comics, “or anything else new for that matter.” However, owner Rod DiManna, who opened the store in 1994, wrote on its website that he won’t be closing the store, as he still has a lease to honor. Instead, he’ll sell his back stock. “This is all very sudden for me, as it is for most of you,” DiManna wrote. “There are a multitude of reasons why this is happening, and now really isn’t time for me to go into lots of detail about it. However, I promise I will eventually lay it all out for everybody soon. I look forward to telling you all about it.” [Atlantis Comics]

Retailing | Kansas City’s B-Bop Comics will close its 11-year-old midtown location in March. [The Pitch]

Mike Mignola

Creators | Mike Mignola writes briefly about his career with Dark Horse. [Dark Horse]

Creators | Matthias Wivel concludes his two-part conversation with Chris Ware. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Faith Erin Hicks recounts how she became a comic-book consumer. [And Then Canada Exploded]

Creators | Kiel Phegley, news editor of Comic Book Resources, writes about Gene Luen Yang’s recent lecture at his graduate school. [The Cool Kids Table]

Events | A new exhibit called “The Browns and the Van Pelts: Siblings in Peanuts” will run through June 19 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif. [Press Democrat]

Webcomics | Oliver Ho spotlights Cameron Stewart’s Sin Titulo. [PopMatters]

Comics | Blogosphere godfather NeilAlien hands out the Doctor Strange-centric 2010 NeilAlien Awards. [NeilAlien]

Comics | Jase Peeples traces the history of Batwoman. [SheWired]

Paige Braddock and Jason McNamara, circa 2008

A couple of years back I attended a panel at the Alternative Press Expo featuring Jason McNamara, writer of the Martian Confederacy, interviewing the books’ artist Paige Braddock for her spotlight panel at the show. It was an interesting discussion, so when Jason approached me about the possibility of doing an interview on the follow-up to the book, I asked him if maybe he’d be willing to interview Paige instead. And here it is. You can check out a preview of the book here.

by Jason McNamara

She’s an incredible talent, a generous collaborator and a very good friend. I’m talking, of course, about Paige Braddock.

Raised in the South, Paige graduated from the University of Tennessee and spent years working as a journalist before being recruited by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz to join his studio, where she’s now the Creative Director.

After hours, Paige is also the Eisner-nominated creator of Jane’s World, the saga of hapless journalist Jane Wyatt, cracking jokes and suffering one lesbian misadventure after another. Paige employs a classic Sunday-morning approach to modern relationships, creating a natural entry point for all readers. Created as an online strip in 1998, JW became a comic book in 2002 when Paige founded Girl Twirl publishing imprint. Jane’s World continues to be published twice a year as a series of graphic novels and is serialized at Comics.com.

A few years ago, Paige approached me about collaborating on a project. The result was 2008’s The Martian Confederacy, a futuristic Sci-Fi romp, equal parts Noam Chomsky and Dukes of Hazzard. With the upcoming release of our second volume, I thought this would be a great time to catch up.

The Martian Confederacy

1) At what age did you know you were a cartoonist?

Would you believe 7. Seriously. It pays to focus on your goals and aspirations early in life.

2) Tell me about how you came to work at Schulz and what was the most important thing you learned from him?

It was really through a collection of random encounters… once in a hotel gift shop, once pitching a baseball and once when he and his wife Jeannie were in the audience when I gave a talk in San Antonio. Among other bits of “life” wisdom, I got two really good cartooning tips from Sparky. One was to clean up my lettering and use all caps. The other was to work on drawing more expressive mouths. More yelling. He was right. Big expressive mouths are funny. As the creator of Lucy, he should know.

3) In your mind, do you have a perfect ending to JW?

I don’t have an end for Jane’s World yet. As a matter of fact, every time I think I’m winding down and I take a break from JW (like now, to work on The Martian Confederacy) the stories just start bubbling up. The characters in JW seem to have lots of stories to tell. I like those characters. I miss them like I miss old friends when I’m not working on their story lines.

4) Janes World is consistently fun and seems to be agenda free; are you ever tempted to wade into politics when something like Prop 8 comes along?

I am tempted. But I’m never convinced I’m right enough to take a political stance in the comic. It’s sort of like keeping my personal life (my real life) separate from my work life (Jane’s World). It’s more fun to just make people laugh. I have touched on gay marriage and some other current events, but only from a humorous point of view.

5) We have a new volume (MC2) coming out. Why work with another writer in the first place? What are the pros and cons?

I think the biggest pro is that I don’t have to worry about the story, just the artwork… I mean, there is story telling in the artwork, but I don’t have to create the dialogue or other specifics of the text part of the story. I find it’s very hard to have more than one cast of characters talking in my head. I’m envious of creators who can tell more than one compelling story at a time. It’s been great to work with you because you take the story to places I wouldn’t think of… it stretches my skills as an artist… and it’s just plain fun to collaborate if the creative chemistry between the partners is good. And I think our chemistry has been great. If anything, I just feel bad that I can’t draw faster! We’d be halfway into book 3 if I could!!

6) What’s next for you as a creator?

A very wise person (you!) recently suggested that I do an autobiographical graphic novel. I think that might be my next project. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought.

7) Do you think we’ll still have books in ten years?

Well, Mrs. Claus brought me an iPad for Christmas and after downloading comic books to it… well, I’m just not sure. The whole digital comic app thing is pretty damn cool. But I personally hope we’ll still have books. While I appreciate a nice gadget, I’m sort of old school.

That flashing light means we’re entering the lightning round!

Favorite meal?

Hamburger and Fries or Pepperoni pizza… that’s a tough call…

Celebrity Crush?

Queen Latifah.

If you found yourself living on Mars in the year 3535 what would be the first thing you would do?

I’d get myself one of those cool floating airstreams with a nice view of the Bonneville Crater.

Do you know karate?

Unfortunately, no. But I can fire a 12-gauge and have one hanging over my front door as I type.

The Martian Confederacy: From Mars with Love will hit stores the first week of March. Hearts will be broken, moons will be destroyed and hooch will flow in zero gravity in this sci-fi romantic action comedy set in the year 3535.Diamond Order Code AUG101040

Complete Peanuts, Vol. 10

Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.

Happy holidays everybody and welcome to another edition of our monthly Comics College feature. As our holiday gift to you, dear reader, this month we’re examining the career of one of the most beloved and acclaimed cartoonists of the 20th century, Mr. Charles M. Schulz.

Why he’s important

At first glance, attempting to cover Schulz’s in a column of this nature seems like a silly venture. After all, his body of work consists mostly of one comic strip, done over five decades and is arguably one of the most famous comics ever known. But for many younger generations, even those who are comics fans, I suspect Peanuts is more of a curiosity than a living work of art; a cute, dinosaur strip that’s a bit too comfortable and familiar, something used to sell life insurance and Dolly Madison cupcakes but has about as much impact on their lives and sensibilities as Beetle Bailey or The Family Circus. It’s a strip for little kids, or for old Gen Xers and baby boomers who grew up watching that Xmas special.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Peanuts remains one of the sharpest, funniest, achingly sorrowful and most moving comic strips ever produced. Time has done little to age its relevance or its emotional power. Those who have balked at delving into the strip because they were forced to watch “It’s Flashbeagle Charlie Brown” at an early age should make the effort at a second look.

Where to start

Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years

Fantagraphics’ Complete Peanuts series seems like the obvious choice, but if you’re delving into Schulz’s world seriously for the first time, and if you haven’t been a fan up till now, then you may balk at starting a collection of $30 volumes, especially since the early years are very much formative ones, and quite different from where the strip ended up.

A better starting point may be one of the many treasury collections out there, and there are lots of them, that offer a “best of” sampler from the various decades. My own recommendation would be either Peanuts: A Golden Celebration or the more recent Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years. You can also try to track down Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz by Chip Kidd, which was quite seminal in it’s ability to cause people to rethink the stip’s artistic merits, though the emphasis is heavily on the early years, as much of that material had rarely seen print before and thus was new to a lot of fans and casual readers.

From there you should read

The Fantagraphics series is the logical next step of course. Ah, but where to start? Assuming you want to dive into prima-Schulz and not necessarily go in chronological order, (again, the first 2 or 3 volumes, though charming, aren’t indicative of the directions Schulz would take the strip) let me suggest that the period from about the mid-1960s to the early 70s (’till say about ’74) is when Peanuts was at its absolute best. A lot of fans tend to prefer the late ’50s/early ’60s stuff, because it’s a bit more melancholy and nastier (at least as far as the treatment of Charlie Brown is concerned), and Snoopy hasn’t stolen the spotlight away from Charlie Brown quite yet. But I think this slightly later period shows Schulz taking more chances, widening his cast and taking some more absurd and even occasionally surreal directions. Whatever time period you opt to dive into first, feel free to go back from there and start with the early, initial volumes and fill in any gaps as needed.

Further reading

The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972

Edited by Derrick Bang, Charles M. Schulz: Li’l Beginnings collects all of Schulz’s early Li’l Folks gag cartoons that he did for the St. Paul Pioneer Press before starting Peanuts. A little kid strip similar to Peanuts in many ways, it’s worth reading to see the groundwork being laid for what would eventually become his magnum opus, especially with the excellent commentary Bang provides.

Schulz actually attempted to do a separate comic strip while Peanuts was ramping up in popularity. Done with Jim Sasseville (who illustrated the Peanuts comic book stories) It’s Only a Game was a loose collection of gag cartoons centering on sports and recreational games, especially Bridge. It didn’t last long, as Schulz found himself quickly needing to spend more time on his main seller, but it’s a noteworthy strip for anyone who wanted to see how Schulz drew adults.

In a similar vein, Schulz’s Youth collects a number of gag cartoons Schulz did for various religious publications. They mainly consist of teenagers and kids saying witty or cute things about the Bible and spirituality and are utterly charming.

Schulz had a way with the written word as much as he did with pen and ink. Exhibit A in that case is My Life With Charlie Brown, a collection of written essays, stories and other prose pieces Schulz wrote for magazines and other publications, including the autobiography he wrote for the long out-of-print, 25th anniversary book Peanuts Jubilee. In a similar vein, Charles M. Schulz: Conversations collects a series of interviews with the cartoonist done by different people over the years. If you can find it, I’d also recommend tracking down a copy of You Don’t Look 35 Charlie Brown, which finds Schulz riffing on a variety of subjects, most notably the fine art of cartooning.

Ancillary material

The Peanuts Collection

A number of biographies of Schulz abound, including Good Grief by Rheta Grimsley Johnson, which is as yet unread by me but has won various plaudits from fans. More notable is Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis. The book reveals much about the author and his relationship to his art, and delves deep into his early life in Minnesota, but it was severely criticized by his children for its portrayal of Schulz as an emotionally stunted, withdrawn father, not to mention several factual errors. My recommendation would be to read it, but then immediately follow it up with Monte Schulz’s rebuttal/memoir that appeared in The Comics Journal #290.

Of course, Peanuts was more than just a comic strip, it was a merchandising machine. A bit of that influence can be glimpsed in The Peanuts Collection, which focuses on Peanuts memorabilia as much as it does the making of the actual strip.

I’m avoiding talking about the animated specials and movies here to focus on the comics (short advice: stick to the holiday specials for the most part) but if you want to look beyond the strip, there’s also A Treasury of Happiness, which collects all the little “gift books” that Schulz published over the years like Happiness is a Warm Puppy and Security is a Thumb and a Blanket. You could argue they aided in the “Hallmarkification” of the strip, but .

Avoid

Common consensus is that the ’80s and ’90s were Schulz’s fallowest periods. I don’t completely agree with that — even when Charlie Brown and Snoopy failed to provide decent material in the mid-80s, Peppermint Patty and Marcie were more than able to pinch-hit (indeed, some of the Marcie/Patty sequences rank among Schulz’s best story runs), and the later strips focusing on Rerun, Linus and Lucy’s little brother, are some of the funniest and most poignant work Schulz ever did. All that being said, those decades may be best approached after having delved deeply in the earlier years and developed an appreciation for the man and his work.

Next month: John Stanley

The Peanuts Collection

Nat Gertler is known by some folks as the publisher of About Comics, while others know him as the person who started 24 Hour Comics Day back in 2004. But for the sake of this interview, I email interviewed Gertler about his new book (set to be released on October 25), The Peanuts Collection: Treasures from the World’s Most Beloved Comic Strip. Here’s the official description for the book: “This fully authorized, one-of-a-kind illustrated book celebrates the 60th anniversary of the world’s most beloved comic strip characters. A compendium of rare materials from the Charles M. Schulz Museum and family archives, The Peanuts Collection comes in a sturdy slipcase and features high-quality reproductions of original sketches, comics, and photographs from the world of Peanuts. Removable film cels, stickers, and booklets are included, as well as reproduction prints of Peanuts artwork ready for framing. Written by Peanuts aficionado Nat Gertler, with quotes from Schulz family members and a foreword by daughter Amy Schulz Johnson, the text offers insight into the making of the comic strip and its impact beyond the realms of newspapers and books to film, television, and popular culture. The Peanuts Collection is a must-own keepsake for anyone who loves Snoopy and the gang. … Gertler is the founder and author of Aaugh.com, a comprehensive resource for Peanuts collectors and fans.” This interview was a fun one for me, thanks to Gertler’s thorough knowledge of Peanuts material (For example, I’m still trying to fully grasp the fact that there was once a Peanuts Book of Pumpkin Carols).

Tim O’Shea: You’re a respected Peanuts expert, but I’m curious if there was any trepidation on your part in taking on a project of this import and scale?

Nat Gertler: Does a kid feel any trepidation about getting the key to the candy store? I’d already been considering writing a book about all the angles one could look at Peanuts from. That book would’ve been a bit more academic, but I jumped at the chance to do this celebratory book, with all of its great visuals and the cool removable items.

O’Shea: What were some of the gems of this collection that it pleased you to be able to include?

Gertler: I love having the Schulz sketches, design work, and unfinished strips in there, as well as some of the nifty advertising uses – many folks know that Peanuts were used to advertise the Ford Falcon in the 1960s, but it was quite a surprise to find a Peanuts ad for the Ford Mustang. There’s a shot of an early Lucy doll where the eyes just freak me out, and there’s a letter from the other famous Lucy – Lucille Ball.

In terms of the “interactive” items – which are reproductions that are either removable from the book or tipped-in booklets that can be opened up right on the page – we’ve got the letter that inspired Schulz to integrate Peanuts by adding Franklin (and I did get to interview the lady who wrote it.) We’ve got trading cards, a custom greeting card that Schulz had designed for a friend, and the Security Is An Eye-Patch booklet – a Peanuts strip collection published by the U.S. government. And as the guy behind the AAUGH Blog, the item I get most often asked “where can I find this?” is the Peanuts Book of Pumpkin Carols, a greeting card booklet from 1967, so it made me happy to be able to reproduce that. There are hundreds of images and dozens of those interactive items in the book.

O’Shea: Did the family solely pick out the items for inclusion or did you work in concert with them in selecting material?

Gertler: Finding the items and images was a big team effort. Amy Wideman and Chris Campbell from the book packager becker&mayer! – these are the same folks who packaged The Marvel Vault, The DC Vault, and The Star Wars Vault – and I spent days going through the contents of the Schulz Museum archives, that was just one part of the effort. We met with the staff of Creative Associates – “Peanuts Central”, as I think of it – including Schulz’s son Craig and his widow Jeannie, brainstorming what the book should include. We were given access to staff’s offices, which means we got to explore and see a lot of interesting items for consideration. People on staff at the museum had definite and useful suggestions.

But we weren’t limited to those items. I knew of other materials that were out there, and reached out to both corporate owners and private collectors trying to find interesting items. So when you see some shots of the original art for “Li’l Folks” cartoons – that was the proto-Peanuts gag panel that Schulz did for Minnesota papers – what you’re seeing is material from a private collection. (In fact, some of those drawings have not been published before, because they were versions Schulz drew when trying to pitch “Li’l Folks” to syndicates… an effort that ultimately ended in Peanuts.) The private collection that got tapped the most was mine – not that I have any original art, but my madness is that I own over a 1000 Peanuts and Schulz-related books, so things like the images of the script for the first Peanuts play or Schulz’s cover for the Women’s Sports Foundation Cookbook come from my own sizable stash.

O’Shea: How long did the selection process take?

Gertler: From our time at the Museum to when the book was finalized was roughly half a year, and we were changing items right up until the end.

O’Shea: Who in the family and/or with the museum did you work with the most?

Gertler: Of the family, I worked the most with Jeannie, who is very involved in all things Schulz and was eager to see share her ideas of what should be included. She was also helpful in tracking down some of the material that was not in the museum’s hands. But then I’ve known Jeannie for about a decade now, and we’re used to hitting each other up for information. Lisa Monhoff and Nina Kollmar Fairles of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center were big helps, both in offering their own ideas in what the book should include, and being very good at responding to “We need something like X” requests.

O’Shea: Was there material that you were unable to include in this collection due to space? Any chance there might be a second volume if demand calls for it?

Gertler: I certainly hope we get to do a second volume, perhaps with a specific sub-focus (say, “Snoopy” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas”). With the vastness that is Peanuts, there is no shortage of interesting items to showcase.

O’Shea: How much research did you have to do in the development of the book’s text?

Gertler: While I know a lot about Peanuts, I certainly wanted to find a lot of angles to look at it from. So I did some original interviews, not just with some of the more obvious Peanuts-linked folks (such as Lee Mendelson, who produced the animated Peanuts for decades). I interviewed a member of the Royal Guardsmen, about what it was like hitting the music charts with songs about Snoopy and The Red Baron in the 1960s. And when I contacted the NASA press office to get some information about their Silver Snoopy awards program, I found myself facing the question “Would you like to interview an astronaut?” That is, by the way, a question that really doesn’t need to be asked! (Turned out to be a great catch, too – I already knew two ways in which Snoopy had actually gone into outer space, but astronaut Mike Massimino surprised me with a third.)

O’Shea: The book is described as offering “insight into the making of the comic strip and its impact beyond the realms of newspapers and books to film, television, and popular culture”. Can you give a few examples of some of the impact beyond newspapers?

Gertler: Peanuts has been a success in many forms, whether you look at the books that hit the best-seller lists, the TV where “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has run on network for more than 40 years now; “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” continues to be among the most produced musicals in American theater. But beyond that, it’s a clearly a central cultural touchstone. Not everyone discovers Peanuts in the same way – some know it form the newspaper and some from the TV, some from visiting a Peanuts theme park or seeing Snoopy dolls – but there is a broad awareness of the characters, which is why you can hear Peanuts being referred to in everything from Sunday sermons to rap music. When Quentin Tarantino uses a Charlie Brown kimono in Kill Bill to illustrate something about a character, or Arrested Development drops in some music from the animated Peanuts to set a mood, or Stephen Colbert doodles Snoopy on screen, they’re taking advantage of the culture currency of Peanuts. They are characters we’re all aware of – and that’s true even far beyond the U.S.

And its impact is felt in other ways. It seems to me that there are whole categories of publishing that can be traced back to Peanuts – that’s something that I want to do more research on at some point. When you see a book on the science of Star Trek or philosophy as explained through Buffy the Vampire Slayer, can’t that all be traced back to the best-selling The Gospel According to Peanuts. And when you see the gift book rack at your local bookstore, you’re looking at a breed of book that seems to owe much to Happiness is a Warm Puppy, which spent over 40 weeks on the best-seller list.

O’Shea: In the early days of Peanuts there were a great many cast members that did not appear in the main years of the strips success and history. Of the more obscure characters like them, do you have any favorites?

Gertler: Tapioca Pudding, a mid-1980s character who saw herself as licensable for putting on products. I wasn’t even thinking of her when I came up with a similar (if differently textured) concept in Licensable Bear™, but I’m definitely sympatico with what Schulz was doing there.

O’Shea: At your AAUGH.com site, you have a page devoted to errors in 2001′s Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz. Have you braced yourself for when people contact you with perceived errors, or are you vetting it so thoroughly you expect to avoid errors?

Gertler: We had a lot of eyes on the book, and while sometimes that can actually add errors to the book, I’d like to think we quashed them. But if more than two or three pop up, I’ll probably put a similar page up for this book. I’m a believer in accuracy.

O’Shea: Is there any strip currently being published that comes close to the influence of Peanuts? Or has the comics landscape as well as media in general changed too much to be able to have that level of influence?

Gertler: No newspaper strip today has the same degree of influence; even if you have a strip that’s as good as Peanuts - a tough thing to achieve – newspapers just don’t have the same impact.

One Piece, Vol. 59

Publishing | The 59th volume of Eiichiro Oda’s wildly popular pirate series One Piece will set a manga record with a 3.2-million copy first printing from Japanese publisher Shueisha. The previous record of 3.1 million copies was held by the 58th volume of the series. [Anime News Network]

Publishing | Mary Ann Gwinn spotlights the partnership between Fantagraphics Books and Rosebud Archives to publish archives of vintage comics. [The Seattle Times]

Comic strips | Craig Schulz, son of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, discusses the “Peanuts on Parade” public art project, David Michaelis’ controversial book Schulz & Peanuts: A Biography, and caring for his father’s legacy: “Our biggest fear has always been somebody buying up the rights and us not having any control. We’d rather have this property make $10 million a year for 50 years, than make $100 million in one year and walk away from it.” [The Press Democrat, via Journalista]

Conventions | Surprising virtually no one, San Diego’s hotel occupancies were the highest in the nation between Wednesday and Saturday nights during Comic-Con International. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

Digital comics | John P. Mello Jr. declares Marvel the winner in the “epic battle of iPad comic apps.” [MacNewsWorld]

Digital comics | Charlie Sorrel reviews the new ComicBookPad app from Developica. [Gadget Lab]

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1

Creators | Jonathan Hickman talks at length about his work for Marvel on such titles as Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Ultimate Thor, and how his mainstream success has affected sales of his creator-owned titles: “I think the real test of how my creator-owned work is going to be received is when we actually launch new stuff at the end of the year, and see how that does. I think that’ll be a better barometer. I don’t think I could sell less [because of my Marvel work]. Listen, I know people lose their shirt over at Image because they’re not aware of the financial realities of publishing an indie book. There are tricks that you can do when you publish and when you print and all that kind of stuff that most people don’t take into consideration, or [else] they’re not very good at accounting. I’m fortunate to be married to a nice lady who is very good at that stuff. I’ve made money on everything I’ve done at Image. The only thing that hasn’t made good money has been Transhuman, but again, I think that book will find its audience with time.” [Comics Alliance]

Creators | Brian Heater wraps up his four-part interview with Dean Haspiel. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Cartoonist Ralf Koenig discusses coming out, turning 50, and his influential gay comics. [Deutsche Welle]

Creators | Artist Ian Culbard chats briefly about collaborating with Ian Edginton on a series of Sherlock Holmes graphic novels for Self Made Hero. [BBC]

The Snoopy license plate

The California Association of Museums has launched a campaign to have a Snoopy drawing by Charles Schulz appear on a special California license plate. Proceeds from sales of the plates would establish a sustainable grant program to support state museums.

But for that to happen, at least 7,500 California drivers have to register interest in a Snoopy plate. Once there are enough interested Peanuts fans, the state will begin collecting a $50 fee from those who want the plate (more if you want it personalized). Curiously, The Snoopy Plate website doesn’t seem to list a deadline for registration.

The Snoopy plate is being made possible by Jean Schulz, the Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and United Media Licensing, who are granting royalty-free rights to the California Association of Museums.

Peanuts

Iconix Brand Group has partnered with the heirs of Charles M. Schulz to buy the rights to Peanuts from E.W. Scripps Co.

The $175 million deal is for Scripps’ entire United Media Licensing division, which includes Dilbert and Fancy Nancy.

However, Peanuts, whose 1,200 licensing agreements generate annual retail sales of more than $2 billion worldwide, represents a majority of United Media’s revenue. Iconix will control an 80 percent share of the Peanuts brand.

Iconix, which owns the Candie’s and London Fog brands, expects Peanuts to bring in roughly $75 million in annual royalties. The Schulz heirs will receive a portion of that revenue in addition to their minority stake in the partnership.

Peanuts, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, at its peak appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers. Its characters are licensed in about 40 countries by such companies at MetLife, Hallmark, Walgreen and Universal Studios.

This is perhaps both the nerdiest and most wonderful thing I have ever seen on the Internet. Using The Complete Peanuts as his Bible, Larry Granillo at Wezen-ball.com is attempting to calculate — on a year-by-year basis — how many games Charlie Brown’s baseball team lost.

Using my collection of these books (which only goes through 1970 for now – I’ve got to get on that), I’ve done my best to find every baseball-related strip produced in those twenty years and tally up any relevant stats that they reveal. For the most part this means counting wins and losses and documenting any stated scores, though there are a few strips here and there that mention other stats.

Yeah, I know, the team hardly ever won, but Granillo also tries to provide info on, for example, how many times Charlie Brown got hit by a line drive, and finds lots of fun trivia. Here he is, talking about the year 1954:

For as bad as Charlie Brown’s team is, he does manage to have some good players. Linus is often shown making amazing catches. On July 15, he makes his first (of many) eye-popping catch, snagging the ball after running through a jump-rope.

Jeez, chill out Schroeder

Yesterday was Beethoven’s birthday, and the Schulz Museum honored the occasion with a new online exhibit entitled Schulz’s Beethoven: Schroeder’s Muse. The site features an examination of both the famed composer’s music and how Schulz incorporated it into his strip, along with recollections from Jean Schulz and others, audio selections, sheet music, history and lots of comic strips. Here’s a snippet from the press release, which Mike Lynch was gracious enough to post online:

Schulz’s Beethoven, Schroeder’s Muse features 60 cartoons that include meticulously drawn music from Beethoven’s piano sonatas complemented with manuscripts, first editions, and artwork from the rich collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San José State University. Visitors to the on-line exhibition can listen to the music, travel to other websites to enrich their understanding of the strips, and explore cartoon and music history.

Sounds like a pretty good way to spend a Thursday afternoon to me.