Classic PEANUTS Return To Ride THE COSMIC TREADMILL - at FORCES OF GEEK

Charles Shultz’ comic creation The Peanuts Movie hit the big screen earlier this month and Titan Comics has been releasing volumes all year to commemorate the occasion.

Snoopy and the kids looked a lot different in the early strips, (Charlie Brown himself sometimes missing his signature zig-zag shirt) but the timeless humor of the daily and Sunday Peanuts comics can still resonate with children of all ages today.

Titan Comics offered us a look at these modern day reprints of classic black and white Peanuts strips from the early days before Snoopy took on The Red Baron.

Titan has the rights to reproduce favorites from my childhood, the Rinehart & Company (Holt, Rinehart & Winston) collected black and white paperbacks accumulated from yard sales or perhaps even my parent’s well spent youth.

It had been years since I remembered even reading these books, and as an adult a new appreciation and nostalgia sets in.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

EARTH PRIME TIME: DEAR MR. WATTERSON WITH DIRECTOR JOEL ALLEN SCHROEDER

Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes strip is 28 years old this week, and the impact and influence of Watterson’s cartoon about a boy and his stuffed tiger continue to touch the hearts and spark the imaginative bone in kids of all ages. No comic strip since then has not been touched or inspired by Calvin and Hobbes in some way. Fans of the strip span the globe, and one director Kickstarted a documentary about the impact of Calvin and Hobbes on these fans. Joel Allen Schroeder joins Earth Prime Time today to discuss Dear Mr. Watterson: An Exploration of Calvin and Hobbes.
The movie is touring the country and is available on demand starting November 15.

DIGBOSTON: Thanks for joining us, Joel. Care to tell us why you decided to make this movie?
Joel Allen Schroeder: Yeah, I was a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes. I was probably introduced to the strip at 7, 8, 9 years old and years later, in my late 20s I decided the strip still meant a lot to me and I had a crazy idea to make a documentary about it. It fascinated me that something could mean so much to me as an 8 year old and that it could really truly mean a lot to me as an adult. There are not a lot of things like that.

That’s amazing. And, as you go through in the movie, it did appeal to lots of different people all over the world. People our age, and older too. What is it about Calvin and Hobbes—the baseline that appeals to everybody?
I think Watterson’s artwork is something that really draws people in. It is so well drawn that in particular, the Sunday strips will draw people in. And then as you start to know Calvin and Hobbes as characters, there is so much humanity and depth there.

Calvin’s imagination makes this world. The strip is not just the walls of his home. It extends outside, to space, the jungles, to the distant past.

There is just so much there. At the bottom of it, there are wonderful characters that are easy to identify with.

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]

ADS:

PEANUTS & CHARLIE BROWN GO KABOOM! at FORCES OF GEEK!

A new ongoing comic introduces the next generation to a strip synonymous with growing up with growing pains.

With the success of Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, Kaboom! Studios releases the first original Peanuts stories since Charles Schulz’s death in 2000.

Peanuts #2 from Kaboom!

The monthly series reprints Sparky’s Sunday strips in full color, but also invites new creative teams to the mound.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK!]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week! November 2, 2011

COMICS

Invincible (written by Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman) is a likable teenager much like Peter Parker with Superboy level powers. Truth is, Mark Grayson has seen so much destruction since discovering his powers and taking on the baddest of bads that it may be time for him to hang up the mask. Don’t miss Invincible #84. … Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 is co-written and drawn by Gabriel Hardman (Inception, Incredible Hulk). Boom! Studios stays well within the original movie canon pitting General Aleron face to face with Dr. Zaius! … The publisher’s KABOOM! kids line is fortunate enough to welcome Charlie Brown and pals back to monthly all-new original comics with Peanuts #0 for a cool buck! Sounds like a great excuse to visit your local comic book store with the kids this weekend. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!