Comics of Charles Schulz

<p><br />With contributions by:<br /><br />Leonie Brialey MJ Clarke Roy T. Cook Joseph J. Darowski Ian Gordon Gene Kannenberg Jr. Christopher P. Lehman Anne C. McCarthy Ben Owen Lara Saguisag Ben Saunders Jeffrey O. Segrave and Michael Tisserand<br /><br /><em>The Comics of Charles Schulz</em> collects new essays on the work of the creator of the immensely popular <em>Peanuts</em> comic strip. Despite Schulz's celebrity few scholarly books on his work and career have been published. This collection serves as a foundation for future study not only of Charles Schulz (1922-2000) but more broadly of the understudied medium of newspaper comics.<br /><br />Schulz's <em>Peanuts</em> ran for a half century during which time he drew the strip and its characters to express keen observations on postwar American life and culture. As <em>Peanuts'</em> popularity grew Schulz had opportunities to shape the iconography style and philosophy of modern life in ways he never could have imagined when he began the strip in 1950. Edited by leading scholars Jared Gardner and Ian Gordon this volume ranges over a spectrum of Schulz's accomplishments and influence touching on everything from cartoon aesthetics to the marketing of global fast food. Philosophy ethics and cultural history all come into play. Indeed the book even highlights Snoopy's global reach as American soft power.<br /><br />As the broad interdisciplinary range of this volume makes clear <em>Peanuts</em> offers countless possibilities for study and analysis. From many perspectives--including childhood studies ethnic studies health and exercise studies as well as sociology--<em>The Comics of Charles Schulz</em> offers the most comprehensive and diverse study of the most influential cartoonist during the second half of the twentieth century.</p>