Fantagraphics sale on The Complete Peanuts through Saturday, June 29

Fantagraphics, the publisher of The Complete Peanuts books, is running a very short sale on all volumes of The Complete Peanuts.  Through Saturday, June 29, 2013, you can take advantage of the following offers:

• $5 off single volumes;
• Five-volume "decade" sets for $99.99;
• Or the complete 25-book run of The Complete Peanuts, including future volumes as they're published, for $499.99 (with free shipping).

Visit Fantagraphics' website for more details and ordering.

If you don't already own all the volumes (and you should!), this is a good opportunity to build your collection... but remember that the offers are only good for the next couple of days.

Peanuts #9 on sale Wednesday, June 26

The Peanuts comic book from Boom! Studios returns after a two-month break. In issue #9 you'll find the new stories "Write & Wrong," "LOL Lucy," "Have Dish Will Travel," and "The Dogtor Is In," along with a few Classic Sunday Peanuts comic strips.

Look for Peanuts #9 at your local comic book shop, or order it directly from Boom! Studio's website.

Tom Everhart featured on the Today Show

Tom Everhart, the artist whose work features characters and elements from the Peanuts comic strips together with his own colorful squiggles and dot collages, was profiled by NBC's Today show on Monday, June 17, 2013.

You can watch the Today show segment online and hear how the artist met Schulz and came to include the Peanuts characters in his own artwork, and see some of Everhart's latest creations.

Peanuts in Vogue

You might not expect to find the Peanuts gang mentioned in the pages of Vogue - simple striped shirts, sandals, and dog collars perhaps not being the vanguard of fashion - but last week our favorite cartoon characters were featured in a splashy gallery on the Vogue UK website.

According to the short article, offbeat UK fashion label The Rodnik Band has teamed up with Peanuts to create a line of womenswear featuring our favorite characters on t-shirts, dresses, and accessories. The clothes go on sale in the UK in the fall. Visit the Vogue UK website to read the article, titled "Snoopy's Fashion Comeback," and be sure to view the gallery and see all the pictures.

UPDATE November 30, 2013: Elle UK reports that the clothes are now available for a limited time at Selfridges (both in store and online, apparently).

Peanuts #8 on sale Wednesday, April 24

The next issue of Boom! Studio's Peanuts comic book arrives on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. The stories in Peanuts #8 are "Ha Ha Herman," "Missing Peace," and "Lone Beagle," accompanied by a handful of classic Sunday Peanuts comic strips. See a preview at ComicVine.

As always, you can find the latest of issues of Peanuts at your local comic book store, or order it from Boom! Studios' website.

The Peanuts comic book will be taking a vacation next month, but will return in June.

New Peanuts feature film confirmed to be in 3D

According to a report from The Wrap last week, the Peanuts feature film scheduled to be released in fall 2015 will be in 3D.

This isn't much of a surprise - considering that nearly every film produced by animation studio Blue Sky Studios has been a 3D movie (and, in fact, nearly every animated film regardless of studio is 3D these days) - but it is the first confirmation that the new Peanuts film will be following that trend.

The Complete Peanuts 1987-1988 (Volume 19) out now

Volume 19 of Fantagraphics' ongoing reprint series, The Complete Peanuts 1987-1988, has been published and can be ordered from Fantagraphics, Amazon.com, or your local comic book store.

Containing all the daily and Sunday Peanuts comic strips from 1987 and 1988, Fantagraphics describes the highlights of the volume as:

An ill-considered attempt at flirting sends Charlie Brown to the school doctor... Linus's ongoing romance with the too-young "Lydia" of the many names continues... Snoopy is joined in the trenches by his brother Spike... Sally engages in a career as a playwright by penning the school Christmas play but mixes up Gabriel and Geronimo... A hockey mishap sends Snoopy to the doctor for knee surgery... Linus and Lucy’s kid brother Rerun begins to take on the greater role that will lead to him being one of the dominant characters in the 1990s... and Snoopy, inevitably, writes a "kiss and tell" book.

Another notable event in this collection is in 1988, when Schulz changed the daily strips from the "always 4 square panels a day" approach that he had used for 37 years to a more flexible layout with a variable number of panels that weren't always the same width.

The Complete Peanuts 1987-1988 also features a "foreword by Doonesbury author Garry Trudeau," but this is not a newly written piece - it was first published as an appreciation of Charles Schulz in the Washington Post in 1999, and has been reprinted in a couple of other collections about Charles Schulz since then.  Fantagraphics doesn't note this anywhere in the volume - tsk, tsk.

You can see a 15-page PDF preview and more images of the book at Fantagraphics' website.

Reminder: It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown airs Sunday, March 31

Don't forget that It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown together with Charlie Brown's All-Stars will be broadcast from 7-8 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Sunday, March 31, 2013 on ABC.

Peanuts Vol. 2 No. 7 out Wednesday, March 27

Volume 2, Number 7 of Boom! Studio's Peanuts comic book arrives Wednesday, March 27, 2013. In this issue you'll find the new stories "Bank Notes" and "Alley Oops," as well as a "Rainy Day Mini-Poster" and several classic Sunday Peanuts comic strips. There's a preview at Comic Book Resources as usual.

Look for this issue at your local comic book store (if you're having trouble finding it, consider setting up a subscription or standing order for the Peanuts comic), or order it from Boom! Studios' website.

Snoopy Coaster game released for iPad and iPhones

Snoopy Coaster, a new Peanuts-themed game for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, is now available at the Apple app store.

In the game, players guide the Peanuts gang on an endless roller coaster ride through various environments such as amusement parks, snowy mountains, and a forest of kite-eating trees as they try to jump and catch coins, pop balloons, and not fall off the tracks.  Snoopy Coaster was created by Developed by Chillingo, CGMagic, and Peanuts Worldwide.

You can see a trailer and more screenshots at the Chillingo website, or read the full press release.

While Snoopy Coaster is only 99 cents (in the United States), beware that it is rather aggressive about offering you "opportunities" and "encouragements" to spend more money for boosters and add-ons via in-app purchases - in some cases it's not clear that clicking on a button will lead to the program asking you to spend money (fortunately, the app store does ask you to confirm and you can cancel).  However, buying these add-ons doesn't appear necessary to play the game, at least not for the first few levels.  It's unfortunate that this otherwise cute game is so pushy.

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown's All-Stars to Air Sunday, March 31, 2013 on ABC

ABC will broadcast It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown together with Charlie Brown's All-Stars on Sunday, March 31, 2013 from 7 - 8 PM (Eastern/Pacific time). Yes, that means you can watch It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on Easter itself! This is a welcome return for It's the Easter Beagle, which last aired on TV in 2010.

Note that 7-8 PM is the correct broadcast time - while the original ABC press release and some other sources list the broadcast time as 8-9 PM, that is incorrect.

In 1974's It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Linus tries to convince the gang that there's no need to decorate their own eggs, because the Easter Beagle will bring them - but given Linus' history with the Great Pumpkin, his friends are skeptical. Meanwhile, Peppermint Patty and Marcie (ignoring Linus' advice) go through a series of mishaps preparing eggs for coloring.

Charlie Brown's All-Stars was the second-ever Peanuts television special, airing in 1966 just six months after the successful broadcast of A Charlie Brown Christmas. In this special, Charlie Brown tries to keep his baseball team together with the lure of getting actual uniforms and playing in a real league, but he faces a tough decision when he learns that the sponsor will only provide them if he takes the girls and Snoopy off the team.

Limited edition It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown prints coming March 15 from Dark Hall Mansion

Celebrate the classic springtime Peanuts special It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown with Dark Hall Mansion's latest limited-edition prints, arriving Friday March 15.

Created by artist Tom Whalen - who's done several previous Peanuts prints, so these new ones will go well with your collection! - the Easter Beagle artwork put Snoopy front and center, illustrating the joyful scenes where Snoopy peers into a decorated egg and imagines himself dancing with bunnies, and of course the denouement where the Easter Beagle bring eggs to the neighborhood kids. There are the usual nice little touches when you examine the details, and two different color schemes to choose from - bright springtime colors in the standard edition, and pastel hues in the variant edition.

Standard edition

Variant edition

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

The standard edition will be limited to 300 prints, and the variant edition will be limited to 50 prints, and there will be a special canvas edition of 10 each of both the standard and alternate artwork.

The prices will be as follows:

Standard: $65
Variant: $100
Canvas: $250

The It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown prints go on sale Friday, March 15, 2013 at 9:30 AM (Pacific time) at Dark Hall Mansion's webstore. Limited edition Peanuts prints from Dark Hall Mansion have been quick sellers, so if you're interested, don't wait too long to place an order once they go on sale.

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

Peanuts Volume 2 trade paperback from Boom! Studios now available

Peanuts Volume 2, the trade paperback collecting issues Vol. 2 #1 through Vol. 2 #4 of the Peanuts comic book, was released on March 6, 2013 and is now available.  You can get it at your local comic book shop, directly from Boom! Studios, or Amazon.com.  The list price is $13.99.

This paperback contains all the stories and classic Sunday Peanuts comic strips that appeared in those four issues, and as a bonus features a new cover unique to this collection (shown here) together with reproductions of both the regular covers of the issues and the "first appearance" variant covers.

Peanuts Vol. 2 No. 6 out Wednesday, February 27

Volume 2, Number 6 of Boom! Studio's Peanuts comic book arrives Wednesday, February 27, 2013.  The stories in this issue are "Dress for Success," "Mona Lucy," and "Restaurant Wars."  As always, a preview is at Comic Book Resources .

You can buy this issue at your local comic book store (consider setting up a subscription or standing order for the Peanuts comic if you're having trouble finding it), or order it from Boom! Studios' website.

Reminder: Peanuts Valentine's Day specials air Saturday February 9

Just a reminder that Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Valentine will air back-to-back on ABC from 8 - 9 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Saturday, February 9.

Update: if you missed the shows on TV, you can watch them on-line at on hulu.com or ABC.com .