Fantagraphics' first volume of The Complete Peanuts is selling very briskly at retail according to an informal survey of retailers taken by ICv2 in preparation for a new edition of The Retailers Guide to Graphic Novels.  Rory Root of Comic Relief in Berkeley, CA, told ICv2; 'I thought it would do well, but it has even surprised me.'

The first in the series of 25 volumes includes the dailies and Sunday Peanuts strips from 1950-1952 and retails for $28.95. 

The publication of the first volume in this mammoth project collecting one of the most popular comic strips of the twentieth century has received more than a little notice from the national press including USA Today, the New York Times and countless other papers.  The Times ran a lengthy piece last Thursday in the 'Book Section,' which included a classic Peanuts strip as well as a photo creator Charles Schulz's wife, Jean, who went against her overly modest husband's wishes and authorized the chronological reprinting of the complete comic strip.

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly includes The Complete Peanuts (and Brian Michael Bendis' Daredevil) in The Must List of 'Cops, classic comics and 8 other things we love this week.'  The superbly designed cover of the Peanuts collection dominates the page and EW describes the volume as: 'pure happiness, like a warm puppy.'