Just a reminder that The Complete Peanuts, Volume 3: 1955-1956 from Fantagraphics Books is now on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. This volume starts out with an introduction by Life in Hell/Simpsons creator Matt Groening that reveals what an innate Peanuts fan he really is. I talked with Matt after the ASIFA-Hollywood screening of The Incredibles last December and we talked about nothing but Peanuts for several minutes until his wife tugged on his elbow and said, “Honey, it’s time to go.”
Here’s an excerpt from his introduction: “I got to meet Charles Schulz just once, in May of 1998. I was holed up on the Fox lot in Century City working on some Simpsons nonsense, when I received word that the great man himself was eating lunch in nearby Venice. I dropped everything and raced across town, stumbling into the restaurant where the affable Schulz held court before a group of fans and friends, including Drabble cartoonist Kevin Fagan and spattery Peanuts painter Tom Everhart. If Schulz was bugged by Akbar and Jeff’s striped shirts, he didn’t let on.” If that hasn’t sold you on the book the fact that “Pig-Pen” is on the cover should.