In spite of a slightly misleading title, BOOM! Studios’s “Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars” is charming without being cloying or pretentious. Please note this review contains spoilers.
Written by Jason CooperCover by Robert Pope and Hannah White
Illustrated by Vicki Scott and Robert Pope
Colored by Hannah White and Jewel Jackson
Lettered by Hannah White, Donna Almedrala, and Bryan StoneAn all-new original Peanuts story that sends Snoopy to outer space.
Snoopy, the world famous astronaut, heads to the stars in his most out-of-this-world adventure yet! What mysteries does the red planet hold? Will he find water? Will he find life? Will he find the time to get in a quick nine holes? Snoopy grabs his golf clubs and blasts off for Mars in this original graphic novel from the world of Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts!
A few weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of both the final “Peanuts” comic strip as well as the passing of its creator Charles M. Schulz, who died 24 hours before that strip went to press. And in those two decades, the antics of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and friends carried on in both traditional and new media ways, from graphic novels such as this one to a TV show on the Apple+ streaming service.
There’s something both timeless and ephemeral about the Peanuts characters. Older strips and TV specials embraced Christianity in ways that probably may not pass on television in 2020, but the lessons the characters teach – – the importance of tolerance, friendship, perseverance, and imagination – – certainly don’t change with the times. Snoopy as astronaut is most certainly not new; this is a partnership with NASA dating back 50 years to the first Apollo mission. So it makes sense in many ways to bring our favorite imaginative beagle into the new decade with a space exploration story set on the Red Planet, itself the subject of several recent NASA missions.
Except . . . it’s not totally a Snoopy in Space story.
Yes, Snoopy does go to Mars and has a few moments exploring our closest neighbor, finding aliens, unusual plants and having 60% more hunger pangs there than Earth. But it’s all a figment of his imagination, thanks to a concussion during a game of astronauts with Woodstock and friends, which somehow (unexplainably) puts him in Needles, California, home to his brother Spike. From there, it’s a race for Charlie Brown (though not for his life) to find and bring home his very much not-normal-like-everyone-else’s dog, and for Snoopy, a chance for some brotherly bonding.
Jason Cooper’s script errs on the side of timeless. There’s nary a smartphone in sight, instead, several references to Route 66 and classy train travel, which may go over younger kids’ heads. The only clue that this would be set in the late 2010s is a passing reference to astronaut Mark Kelly, and signs of a downtown Needles that, like many American small towns, has seen better days. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t dwell on time sensitive pop culture too much, opting for the hallmark fun and frivolity.
All the Peanuts fan favorites are here, from Schroder at his piano to Lucy at the psychiatric booth (which has not fallen prey to inflation or the pitfalls of American health care and still charges 5 cents per visit). The only new character to our story is Naomi, daughter of a veterinarian who found Snoopy in Needles and more than ready to make Charlie Brown forget about that little red-haired girl. It’s also nice to see that she’s a person of color. Peanuts broke ground with the introduction of African-American Franklin in 1968, so I’m grateful to see that tradition continue, and done in the same style of that introduction – – just there, no special attention called to the color of her skin, as it should always be.
Artwork doesn’t stray much, if at all, from the Schulz house style, which itself is and always has been quite simple. Our entire creative team have experience in the characters, and sticking with this tried and true helps make the book a relaxing read without being too quaint. There’s still a fun cinematic fluidity to it all: from large moments as the birds’ quick and manic construction of their own vehicle to get to Needles to the quieter scene of Snoopy and Spike walking through a desolate downtown. If this was a rejected storyboard for a Peanuts special, it’s made the transition to graphic form well (unlike other licensed properties from the past that came to graphic novel form lately), pacing itself perfectly for the medium.
The wacky fun gets kicked up a notch in the book’s back-up story, “Mission (Out Of) Control.” Showcasing the birds as space scientists, it’s a wordless “day in the life” story featuring science experiments gone awry. We wouldn’t have the legacy of the Minions without Woodstock and his feathered friends and their chaos, making this a fun link between past and present. Heavier linework and bolder colors add to the out of control joy of the story. Smartly, it’s also placed first before the main story, doing well to set the tone of what is to come.
“Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars” isn’t here to revolutionize the world. It’s not here to drop heavy social and cultural truths. It’s just here for good old fashioned (but not too much so) fun without a hint of malice. And when the news gets more and more depressing by the day if not hour, it’s escapism that you should embrace with open arms.
