Peanuts Every Sunday 1952-1955 (Peanuts Every Sunday)
Although Fantagraphics’ ongoing project reprinting Peanuts’ entire 50-year run has been a welcome endeavor, something was missing: to match the daily strips, the Sunday episodes appeared in black and white at a much-reduced size. A new, complementary series from the publisher rectifies this by collecting the Sunday episodes in a full-color, coffee-table format.  Over the course of the strip’s first four years, from 1952 through 1955, collected in this initial volume, we see the rapid development of the cast, as Charlie Brown evolves from a generally carefree tyke into a self-depreciating neurotic; Lucy—originally younger than the rest of the cast—becomes the bossy fussbudget fans recognize; and Snoopy begins his gradual process of anthropomorphization. These early strips also introduce such beloved tropes as Charlie Brown’s ongoing struggle with kites, Linus’ security blanket, and Schroeder’s affinity for Beethoven. By the end of the volume, Schulz has pared down his backgrounds to arrive at his distinctively economical visual style, but the enhancement of the collection’s larger size and restored color makes these simple drawings look positively sumptuous. --Gordon Flagg