New Collection Honors Charles Schulz’s Enduring Legacy with ‘the Essential Peanuts‘
A new collection,The Essential Peanuts,is celebrating the work of cartoonist Charles Schulz and his beloved comic strip,Peanuts. Published by Abrams Books and released this week, the volume gathers together a curated selection of the strip’s most iconic and impactful moments, offering both longtime fans and new readers a complete look at schulz’s artistry.
The Essential Peanuts arrives as the comic strip continues to resonate across generations. The collection’s creation involved contributions from a diverse group of admirers, including Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong, NASA astronaut Mike Massimino (who took a Snoopy figure into orbit during a 2009 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission), and Essential Peanuts art director Chip Kidd. The book aims to showcase the strip’s global appeal and enduring artistic merit.
“The design of the characters, to me, is like emotional typography, if that makes any sense,” explains Kidd, also known for his cover design work on Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. “You can tell what the characters are feeling, even if, say, it’s in a language you don’t know. There’s just something about it that people can relate to. It’s the one comic strip I think everybody can agree on. Whether you’re 95 or a sulky teenager, you’re probably touched by Peanuts in some way. What [Schulz] produced in his lifetime is truly a startling work of art.”
Comic book historian Mark Evanier echoes this sentiment, stating, “Everybody can identify with at least one character.either you know someone in your life who’s like Lucy – or you are like Lucy. and we all have had our Charlie Brown moments. I have about three a day on average.”
The Essential Peanuts is now available for purchase from Abrams Books.
