The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 3: 1955-1956 by Charles M. SchulzMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 3: 1955-1956 collects Peanuts strips from 1955-1956, as the title indicates.
My archaeological dig into the early days of Peanuts continues with this volume, the third in Fantagraphics' Peanuts library.
Schulz style continues to evolve strip by strip, inching ever closer to the fully realized form it achieved sometime in the 1970s and coasted on for a couple decades more. The old strips take more chances with the art than the later strips, using more perspectives and a couple more camera angles.
The familiar characters already look how they're supposed to look but Shermie, Patty, and Violet haven't been run out of two for their parents' scandalous love triangle yet. Sally Brown, Peppermint Pattie, and Marcie still haven't appeared.
The stories are darker than the later ones as well, partly due to Charlie Brown's low self esteem and partly due to Violet and Patty being irredeemable bitches. Lucy actually likes Charlie Brown while the other two are just mean for the sake of being mean. Highlights include Linus being some sort of genius/magician and Snoopy acting like a python or alligator.
The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 3: 1955-1956 shows that before the Peanuts characters were selling insurance, they were a much darker, enjoyable bunch. Four out of five stars.
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