Schulz's Pre-'Peanuts' Work

Posted Thursday, February 26, 2004 12:00 am

By: Dave Astor A book showcasing Charles M. Schulz's pre-"Peanuts" comic -- "Li'l Folks" -- is being published by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif.

"Li'l Beginnings" includes all 135 of the weekly panels Schulz created for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, his hometown paper, between June 1947 and January 1950 -- the year "Peanuts" began. The 292-page book -- reportedly the first to collect all the "Li'l Folks" comics in one place -- also includes cartoons Schulz did for the Saturday Evening Post during the late 1940s, a foreword by Jean Schulz (the cartoonist's widow), annotations and commentary by Derrick Bang, and more.

Bang is the author of "50 Years of Happiness: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz" and the entertainment editor of The Davis (Calif.) Enterprise.

"Li'l Folks" features some elements that would later appear in the United Media-syndicated "Peanuts," including a dog resembling Snoopy and a boy named Charlie Brown.

The museum (http://www.SchulzMuseum.org) is selling the book starting in March.

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Schulz's Pre-'Peanuts' Work

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