February 25, 2014

Peanuts #16 arrives Wednesday, February 26

Issue #16 of Peanuts goes on sale Wednesday, February 26.  New stories in this month's installment of Boom! Studio's comic book include "The Artists," "New Shoe Zoom," "The Doctor is Way In," and "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not."  Comic Book Resources has a five-page preview of the issue.

Look for the mag at your local comic book store, but if you can't find it, you can purchase it from Boom! Studio's website.

As it does after every four issues, the monthly Peanuts comic book will be taking a break in March and return in April.

However, early in March will see the release of Peanuts Volume 3, a trade paperback collecting issues #5-8 of the comic (which were published separately last year).

February 20, 2014

This is America, Charlie Brown returns to DVD on June 17, 2014

On June 17, Warner Home Video will release all eight episodes of This is America, Charlie Brown in a two-disc DVD box set.

Promoted as "the first animated miniseries ever," the specials were broadcast in prime-time on CBS during the 1988-89 television season. Meant as both education and entertainment, the shows find the Peanuts gang witnessing and participating in historic events and discoveries. For more details, visit the Peanuts Animation & Video Page.

The eight episodes are:

  • The Mayflower Voyagers
  • The Birth of the Constitution
  • The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk
  • The NASA Space Station
  • The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad
  • The Great Inventors
  • The Smithsonian and the Presidency
  • The Music and Heroes of America

This isn't the first time all the episodes of This is America, Charlie Brown have been released on DVD - Paramount released a DVD set with the exact same contents back in 2006 - but that set has been out of print for many years, so this is a welcome reissue. (Given the previous release, Warner's claim on the cover that the specials are "together for the first time" is hogwash.) The Mayflower Voyagers appears as a bonus feature on the A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving DVD and Blu-ray, but otherwise, there is no duplication with other Warner Peanuts DVDs.

The list price for the set is $26.99, and it can be ordered from online retailers now.

February 2, 2014

New limited edition Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown prints for 2014 coming February 5

Dark Hall Mansion kicks off a new year of limited edition prints with two distinctly different Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown designs, going on sale Wednesday, February 5.

Drawn by artist Lorelay Bove (making her first contribution to the line of Peanuts prints), the standard edition evokes the 1975 television special's opening credits and a couple of key scenes with an appropriately pastel palette.  The contrasting variant print has a simplicity similar to Schulz's artwork for the comic strip, while still capturing the essence of the show's (and the strip's) somewhat maudlin take on Valentine's Day.

Standard edition

Variant edition

The officially licensed, numbered editions measure 18" x 24" and are individually screen printed.

The standard edition will be limited to 280 prints, and the variant edition will be limited to 50 prints.  In addition, there will be a special wood edition of 5 each of both the standard and variant artwork.

The prices will be as follows:

Standard: $65
Variant: $100
Wood: $250

The Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown prints go on sale Wednesday, February 5, 2013 at at a random time between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM (Pacific time) at Dark Hall Mansion's webstore. Dark Hall Mansion says they'll be shipping out the prints immediately so they'll arrive in time for Valentine's Day.

Visit Dark Hall Mansion's blog and their Facebook page for more information, larger pictures of the artwork, and behind-the-scenes photos.