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Snoopy, Master of Disguise: A Novel
No one has a greater imagination than Snoopy. Join everyone’s favorite beagle as he confounds and confuses the whole Peanuts gang!
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
36 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,179Ìýbooks1,586ÌýfollowersCharles Monroe Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957�1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.�
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957�1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.�
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 27, 2023
3.25-3.5 stars
I couldn’t sleep one night so I decided to look for a cute graphic novel to read. When I saw that my hometown library had a Snoopy graphic novel available to read, I downloaded it immediately. It was a nice read. You can’t go wrong with the Peanuts characters. It felt odd being able to read Snoopy’s thoughts in the beginning but I got used to it after reading a third of the book. I think I prefer not being able to though as he seemed colder to Charlie Brown than expected.
I didn’t really care about Snoopy’s Joe Cool character so those moments were kind of a dud for me. There were quite a few of them so that brought the rating down for me. Blackjack Snoopy and Snoopy trying out different careers and animals were the parts I enjoyed the most. Linus’s commentary and Woodstock being the sassy sidekick were also great moments.
I couldn’t sleep one night so I decided to look for a cute graphic novel to read. When I saw that my hometown library had a Snoopy graphic novel available to read, I downloaded it immediately. It was a nice read. You can’t go wrong with the Peanuts characters. It felt odd being able to read Snoopy’s thoughts in the beginning but I got used to it after reading a third of the book. I think I prefer not being able to though as he seemed colder to Charlie Brown than expected.
I didn’t really care about Snoopy’s Joe Cool character so those moments were kind of a dud for me. There were quite a few of them so that brought the rating down for me. Blackjack Snoopy and Snoopy trying out different careers and animals were the parts I enjoyed the most. Linus’s commentary and Woodstock being the sassy sidekick were also great moments.
May 22, 2015
I received this book free for review from the author or publisher in exchange for an honest review. Despite the privilege of receiving a free book, I’m absolutely candid about it below because I believe authors and readers will benefit most from honest reviews rather than vacuous 5-star reviews.
The nutshell view on this book is that it’s a collection of about 100 classic strips from 1966 through 1987 in chronological order with one 4-panel comic per page. Most of the strips feature Snoopy prominently as doctor, Joe Cool, Masked Marvel, etc. The Red Baron is strangely omitted, however.
On the positive side, it’s hardly possible to say anything negative about Peanuts and Snoopy in particular. Snoopy is as adorable as always. However, as collections go this one just fails to be at all evocative. The omission of Snoopy’s most famous pseudonym aside, the collection just doesn’t have any cohesiveness; it’s as if comics were picked out somewhat at random. In a few instances a series of 3-4 consecutive days appears but for the most part each comic is a standalone. As a person who has ready the entire strip from beginning to end, I felt this a rather pale shadow of the true spirit of Schulz’s work. Further, printing one comic per page in a horizontal format seems like it’s just trying to waste paper and print as little content as possible.
In summary, a pretty large disappointment. I was really looking forward to this one but it turns out to be a very poor value.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
The nutshell view on this book is that it’s a collection of about 100 classic strips from 1966 through 1987 in chronological order with one 4-panel comic per page. Most of the strips feature Snoopy prominently as doctor, Joe Cool, Masked Marvel, etc. The Red Baron is strangely omitted, however.
On the positive side, it’s hardly possible to say anything negative about Peanuts and Snoopy in particular. Snoopy is as adorable as always. However, as collections go this one just fails to be at all evocative. The omission of Snoopy’s most famous pseudonym aside, the collection just doesn’t have any cohesiveness; it’s as if comics were picked out somewhat at random. In a few instances a series of 3-4 consecutive days appears but for the most part each comic is a standalone. As a person who has ready the entire strip from beginning to end, I felt this a rather pale shadow of the true spirit of Schulz’s work. Further, printing one comic per page in a horizontal format seems like it’s just trying to waste paper and print as little content as possible.
In summary, a pretty large disappointment. I was really looking forward to this one but it turns out to be a very poor value.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
May 4, 2015
'Snoopy Features as Master of Disguise' by Charles M. Schulz is a pocket edition of Peanuts reprints featuring Snoopy. It's a fun little book that harkens back to pocket book editions of comics I read years ago.
Snoopy is a master of disguise. Whether he is pretending to be Joe Cool, a surveyor or a famous surgeon. He is a hired hand that can't seem to use a shovel correctly. He is an astronaut. He is a grocery clerk who likes to comment on magazine reading customers. He is a veteran out drinking root beers with his fellow veterans. He is the Masked Marvel locked in an arm-wrestling contest with Lucy. He is all of these and more, and almost all of them "world famous."
It's a good little collection. Missing is the Red Baron, which is certainly a disguise Snoopy is known for, but there are plenty of other great Snoopy moments. A weird addition is a series featuring a girl named Tapioca Pudding. Snoopy eventually plays into it, but he's not around for quite a few pages. It seemed like an odd choice, but perhaps only certain years got licensed for this collection. Still, Peanuts is a classic, and it's good to see it getting any sort of reprint.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Open Road Integrated Media, Peanuts, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
Snoopy is a master of disguise. Whether he is pretending to be Joe Cool, a surveyor or a famous surgeon. He is a hired hand that can't seem to use a shovel correctly. He is an astronaut. He is a grocery clerk who likes to comment on magazine reading customers. He is a veteran out drinking root beers with his fellow veterans. He is the Masked Marvel locked in an arm-wrestling contest with Lucy. He is all of these and more, and almost all of them "world famous."
It's a good little collection. Missing is the Red Baron, which is certainly a disguise Snoopy is known for, but there are plenty of other great Snoopy moments. A weird addition is a series featuring a girl named Tapioca Pudding. Snoopy eventually plays into it, but he's not around for quite a few pages. It seemed like an odd choice, but perhaps only certain years got licensed for this collection. Still, Peanuts is a classic, and it's good to see it getting any sort of reprint.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Open Road Integrated Media, Peanuts, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
September 25, 2022
Dog of a thousand faces
In this volume, Snoopy pretends to be a surgeon, an astronaut, a vulture, a snake, a secret agent, and a riverboat cardshark. What a Beagle of many talents!!!
In this volume, Snoopy pretends to be a surgeon, an astronaut, a vulture, a snake, a secret agent, and a riverboat cardshark. What a Beagle of many talents!!!
February 25, 2021
I was in the mood.
December 5, 2021
Adorable!
Book of strips featuring Snoopy in various disguises, WWI flying ace, first beagle on the moon, vulture, The Masked Marvel, even a census taker. All lighthearted and fun.
Book of strips featuring Snoopy in various disguises, WWI flying ace, first beagle on the moon, vulture, The Masked Marvel, even a census taker. All lighthearted and fun.
March 18, 2024
a bit repetitive for my taste
January 1, 2018
In this jaunt through Snoopy’s past we go through his repertoire of his disguises. We meet Joe Cool, Champion surfer Snoopy, Detective Snoopy, and many more. As with the other books in this series it contains around 120+ comics with one per page.
Has DRM, so -1.
Has DRM, so -1.
April 29, 2015
The idea of bringing back vintage classics that one enjoyed week after week in a newspaper as a book that can be brought off a shelf at any time and shared with children as well in the next generation is exciting. While I do not love Snoopy, he is a part of my youth and the idea of having several Peanuts Snoopy episodes in one book is a neat idea. I had access to preview a digitial copy of Snoopy, Master of Disguise in what I assume will be the digital format from Open Road Media. I read it through ADE which always changes things a bit, but it had three comic squares per page and allows for the humor without overpowering the page. I think in it's published format, this will be a very neat product for Snoopy fans.
June 25, 2015
I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions or the contents of my review.
There are problems with the formatting of the book. I can only see some of the comic stirps =( I did enjoy the ones I did get to read. I have always loved Snoopy so I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am rating it a 3 because of the formatting issues and because I didn't get to read the entire book. I would not recommend this particular book due to the difficulty in reading the formatting, however if the issues are fixed I would be more than happy to recommend it
There are problems with the formatting of the book. I can only see some of the comic stirps =( I did enjoy the ones I did get to read. I have always loved Snoopy so I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am rating it a 3 because of the formatting issues and because I didn't get to read the entire book. I would not recommend this particular book due to the difficulty in reading the formatting, however if the issues are fixed I would be more than happy to recommend it
May 14, 2015
I love Snoopy, and this was a good collection of stories. I will say that I was disappointed that the one disguise that was not in this was the one he seems to be most famous for, the Red Baron. But still this is a cute collection that I can share with my children.
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.
June 20, 2015
Our favorite beagle is off on many adventure with the Peanuts gallery as busting out some very cute disguises. This book collect many classic cartoons for the enjoyment of the whole family. Snoopy plays a masked hero, a vulture, a doctor and many other characters all in the name of fun. You'll have a whole lot of fun reading this book.
Rating 4 out of 5
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Rating 4 out of 5
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