A sweetly portrayed manga version of Charles Schulz's life. It skews more to a retelling than an educational biography, with a disclaimer up front that it is mostly going over events and not sourcing any dialogue or specific details from sources. With that caveat, it is a cute story on its own about a down on his luck cartoonist who ends up creating a worldwide sensational comic strip through his empathy and insight into human nature. I do think there is a certain sanitized framing of the story, as you can tell the writing wants to focus on the impact of Peanuts in the latter part of it. As a Japanese import, it doesn't contextualize or even address a lot of what was going on in America when Schulz was making Peanuts, such as creating Franklin during the Civil Rights era, or Snoopy going from a "normal" dog into a pop culture icon in his wacky author/flying ace/Joe Cool/etc. iterations. An enjoyable and well illustrated book, but I would not make it the sole source of information if people wanted a biography on Charles Schulz.

Thank you for the ARC. Loved this Manga look into the life of Charles Schultz and Peanuts. I enjoyed the story of Mr. Schultz and his family, even exploring how some of the Peanuts characters reflected people in his life. I would actually like to see something more indepth and focused on the creation of Peanuts. I feel like that would be a great companion guide to this graphic novel.

Manga Biographies: Charles M. Schultz is a great manga about the life and creativity of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz. From his urge to become a cartoonist at an early age to his first love and all of the influences that developed Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang, we get detailed descriptions and lovely illustrations to accompany it. It's a lovely biography of a great cartoonist.

A very digestible format for a biography. Sometimes nonfiction/biographies are a slow trudge for me, but this was very delightful to read.
It delivered laughter and tears. It was fun to learn how Peanuts developed and changed throughout the years and how dedicated Schulz was to it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Udon Entertainment for access to this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this peek into the Peanuts creator. I was engrossed in Sparky's story from start to finish. I'm glad that he kept going and created a comic that is beloved around the world.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**


Manga Biographies: Charles M. Schulz by Yuzuru Kuki was exactly as promised: a biography of the famous Peanuts artist’s life in a pleasantly drawn manga format. It follows Schuulz’s life from childhood all the way up until he passes away at the age of 77. I learned many interesting things about the comic artist, like how his nickname was Sparky and how many of his characters' names were inspired by real-life friends and coworkers. His passion for drawing really came through throughout this volume as well. I knew next to nothing about Schulz before, and the illustrated style kept it from becoming too dry or boring like in other biographies. Definitely worth the read if you’re at all interested.

Following the life of the famed Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, this biography takes on a unique format, laying the story out in manga style with simplistic art and storyline to allow young readers to learn more about the comic artist.
I’m going to be honest here and say that while reading this biography, I got a little bit emotional toward the end. I grew up watching the Peanuts movies and read a lot of the comics by borrowing them from the library so they were a big part of my childhood. The manga does paint a sort of idealistic image of Schulz but I think that’s fine since it seems to be aimed toward younger audiences. The art style is clean and seems to be sort of reminiscent of Schulz own style.
Overall, Manga Biographies: Charles M. Schulz is a wonderful biography perfect for fans of Peanuts and want to know more about the man behind the comic.
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Manga Biographies: Charles M. Schulz by Yuzuru Kuki [Udon Entertainment #NetGalley]

I am a huge Peanuts fan - in fact, I have every volume of The Complete Peanuts. So to be able to learn more about Charles M. Schulz, the creator of this beloved comic strip, was so much fun in manga form. I learned a lot more about the life through this book and fell even more in love with Peanuts, understanding more of its inspiration and origin. This is a fantastic biography to read about one of the best comic strip artists ever.

I loved learning about Charles M. Schulz, and seeing how Peanuts came to be. I always wondered where the name came from, and the history of the comics, and the way it was portrayed in the manga style was very digestible.

There's a lot more that could be written about Charles M Schulz, but every author has to choose a focus. This wonderful manga biography tells the story of how Schulz came to write comics, along with other details of his life. The tone was serious overall, which surprised me. The Peanuts comics are one of my favorite sources of great humor, and they are truly timeless. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

What a fun manga biography to exist! I hope there are more to come. This was a fun exploration of Schulz's life and a wonderful read for anyone who is a Peanuts fan!

The best biographical information I've read about Schulz has been the individual essays at the head of each Complete Peanuts collection (albeit I haven't read the massive Schulz and Peanuts tome) but this does as good a job as you could expect, and brings an international lens to the view of Schulz and his work. Kuki presents in a neat chronological order, the many elements in Schulz early that inspired Peanuts characters and scenarios, and the dramatic irony that underpins the work (the creation of the first Peanuts strip is presented against the backdrop of Schulz failed marriage proposal to the inspiration for the Little Red Haired Girl) that are somewhat bluntly stated in the text but not underlined or overworked.

However it misses many of the benchmarks of American culture and social conditions that are often considered powerful effects of Schulz work, like the creation of the Black character Franklin, his friendship with female tennis star and gender equality advocate Billie Jean King, and his humanist approach to his religion and religious depictions in his work. These are specifically American issues that may not have the same resonance outside of the US, so their lack of inclusion is unsurprising.

This is still a fun biography that would be great for kids, even if its a little anodyne.

This is a great step into manga for young readers, but if you are interested in the creation of the peanuts then this may be for you!

I grew up reading the peanut strips and watching the movies so I thought this would be fun to pick up. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned and the artwork is great. It kept me engaged and I would share it with my daughter as well.

This review of Manga Biographies: Charles M. Schulz by Yuzuru Kuki is courtesy of NetGalley
#MangaBiographiesCharlesMSchulz #NetGalley #Peanuts #Snoopy

Rating 5/5
Publication Date: Oct 1, 2024

I'm a huge Snoopy fan and when I saw a bigography of Charles M. Schulz in manga style I had to get a review copy. Initially, seeing the disclaimer about historical accuracy on the table of contents bugged me, but after reading I understood. The manga/comic style depictions helped give color to Schulz's life.

Although I'd known parts of Schulz's history and the origin of Peanuts and Snoopy, I still learned things I didn't know and got to see pictures I hadn't. The book wasn't completely manga/comics and also included a fact section and printings of photos from his life I hadn't seen. Definitely a read that a Peanuts fan would enjoy.

ARC Copy...Honestly thought that was warm, cute and very informative. Oh I feel this would well both in west and east where Snoopy is still popular after some many decades! Impressed that Schulz was dedicated to his craft and the manga does a good job of portraying that. Fun fact, the newspaper that young Schulz's doggy gets published in is "Ripley's", the famous weird source of facts and often mention by them as "wild, retrospect" thing. Curious why "Ripley's" by name was not mentioned in the manga unless legal reasons is the reason.

Thank you Udon Entertainment for a copy of this manga biography of Charles M. Schulz!

Charles M. Schulz is the creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, and many more wonderful characters who inhabit the world of Peanuts. Now, learn how a shy, young Schulz first became a cartoonist and how he spent nearly 50 years drawing the beloved newspaper comic strip which has captivated the hearts of readers worldwide.

Perfect for fans of Snoopy and Peanuts! I enjoyed reading about the development and creation of my beloved comic strips / cartoon. After finishing this, it made me want to revisit my Snoopy collection. :)

This beautifully illustrated manga follows the life of Charles M. Schulz from his early life to death. The story is very well told and the very efficient use of text combined with images guides the reader through the ups and downs of his life. It truly was just right.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this book. This is my first time reading Manga. I really enjoyed this biography of Charles M. Schulz. I think it is concise and great for young readers.

As a lifetime lover of the Peanuts, I've always admired Schulz but I have to admit that I didn't know as much about him as the beloved characters he created. This book definitely helped rectify that! I will say that I'm not a huge manga reader, so this was a bit difficult to get into the groove of — but once I did, it was well worth the time.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)

Born on 26 November 1922, Charles ‘Sparky’ Schulz grew up to become one of the world’s most famous cartoonists. A childhood love of comic strips led Charles to creating Peanuts, which ran for 17,897 strips.

Charles was so dedicated to his work that he finished the weekday strips six weeks before their deadline and the Sunday strips ten weeks before theirs. He took his first vacation at 75! Yes, he worked during the vacation. He couldn’t help himself.

I’ve known Snoopy my whole life. The first stuffed toy I was given when I was a baby was Snoopy. One of my only childhood books that came with me into adulthood is a much loved Peanuts paperback. I learned what the characters sounded like watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown when I was a kid. One of my favourite cross stitches is of Lucy and her ‘the doctor is in’ sign.

“Charlie Brown is a boy who never loses hope, no matter how disheartened he is.”

Whenever I see a book collecting Peanuts strips, I am compelled to read it. The characters feel like childhood friends at this point but this is the first time I’ve spent time with them in a manga. It’s also the first time I’ve been introduced to the man behind the characters and I’ve got to say, I’m a fan!

I absolutely loved finding connections between Charles’ life and his characters. Charles’ childhood dog, Spike, became the inspiration for Snoopy. The mother of his childhood friend, Shermy, played Beethoven on the piano. Charles was unlucky when he was a kid. When he taught at the art school he graduated from, Charles’ coworkers included Linus and Charlie Brown. His first love became the inspiration for the red haired girl.

I’m keen to read a biography to learn even more about him.

Fun fact: Snoopy’s birthday is 10 August.

I wasn’t expecting to get all misty eyed reading about the creator of some of my all time favourite kids (and Snoopy) but the end got to me.

Charles announced his retirement on 14 December 1999. The final Sunday strip was published on 13 February 2000. Charles died in his sleep a few hours before it hit the stands.

I had the thought that the creator and creation were so intertwined after so many decades that they couldn’t live without each other. It struck me as so sad and strangely beautiful at the same time.

“That’s what Charles M. Schulz spent his life creating … a comic strip that showed the ups and downs of life, love, and friendship.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and UDON Entertainment for the opportunity to read this manga.