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The Complete Peanuts #11
The Complete Peanuts, 1971-1972
The Great Pumpkin of strip collections enters Schulz's most successful decade!
Peanuts surges into the 1970s with Schulz at the peak of his powers and influence: a few jokes about Bob Dylan, Women’s Liberation and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex” (!) aside, these two years are as timeless as Peanuts ever was.
Sally Brown―school phobia, malapropisms, unrequited love for Linus and all―elbows her way to center stage, at least among the humans, and is thus the logical choice for cover girl... and in her honor, the introduction is provided by none other than Broadway, television and film star Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, Pushing Daisies), who first rose to Tony-winning fame with her scene-stealing performance as Sally in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Two long Summer-camp sequences involve Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty, who has decided that Charlie Brown is madly in love with her, much to his clueless confusion. Snoopy shows up at camp as well, as does Peppermint Patty’s new permanent sidekick, the one and only Marcie. The eternally mutable Snoopy mostly shakes off his World War I Flying Ace identity and turns into Joe Cool, college hipster extraordinaire. And in three long sequences he writes a fan letter to his favorite author, Miss Helen Sweetstory, then goes on a journey to meet her, and finally enlists Charlie Brown’s help when her latest opus, The Six Bunny-Wunnies Freak Out, falls afoul of censors. Also, Woodstock attends worm school, falls in love with a worm (perhaps the most doomed unrequited Peanuts love story ever!), and is nearly eaten by the neighbors’ cat... Peppermint Patty is put on trial for another dress code violation and makes a very ill-advised choice in terms of lawyers... Snoopy turns Linus’s blanket into not one but two sportcoats... Lucy hits a home run...and the birth of one Rerun Van Pelt! 730 b/w comic strips
Peanuts surges into the 1970s with Schulz at the peak of his powers and influence: a few jokes about Bob Dylan, Women’s Liberation and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex” (!) aside, these two years are as timeless as Peanuts ever was.
Sally Brown―school phobia, malapropisms, unrequited love for Linus and all―elbows her way to center stage, at least among the humans, and is thus the logical choice for cover girl... and in her honor, the introduction is provided by none other than Broadway, television and film star Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, Pushing Daisies), who first rose to Tony-winning fame with her scene-stealing performance as Sally in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Two long Summer-camp sequences involve Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty, who has decided that Charlie Brown is madly in love with her, much to his clueless confusion. Snoopy shows up at camp as well, as does Peppermint Patty’s new permanent sidekick, the one and only Marcie. The eternally mutable Snoopy mostly shakes off his World War I Flying Ace identity and turns into Joe Cool, college hipster extraordinaire. And in three long sequences he writes a fan letter to his favorite author, Miss Helen Sweetstory, then goes on a journey to meet her, and finally enlists Charlie Brown’s help when her latest opus, The Six Bunny-Wunnies Freak Out, falls afoul of censors. Also, Woodstock attends worm school, falls in love with a worm (perhaps the most doomed unrequited Peanuts love story ever!), and is nearly eaten by the neighbors’ cat... Peppermint Patty is put on trial for another dress code violation and makes a very ill-advised choice in terms of lawyers... Snoopy turns Linus’s blanket into not one but two sportcoats... Lucy hits a home run...and the birth of one Rerun Van Pelt! 730 b/w comic strips
325 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2009
38 people are currently reading
589 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,037 books1,633 followersCharles 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 - 30 of 82 reviews
August 27, 2023
This collects the Peanuts strips from 1971 and 1972. It may be my favorite I've read in the series so far. Marcie is introduced. Peppermint Pattie gets lots of time, including an incident where she has to wear a dress to school that is never mentioned again, as well as threatening the little red haired girl at summer camp. Linus and Sally get a lot of time. Rerun is born. Charlie Brown is also there.
April 25, 2009
There is a very subtle tonal shift in the Peanuts strips once Charles Schulz hit the 70s. It's nothing drastic. Through the 50s and 60s, the series still seemed very fresh (no small feat for a, at the time, 20 year old property!). Through those 20 years, you could almost see the tangible evolution of the characters, as their personalities solidified and even their visual designs began to settle down into a permenant state.
What this volume (and the last volume, '69-'70) sees happen is a final shuffling around of the cast, and and a settling down into a status quo, of sorts. Gone are Shermy and Violet and Patty (the original one, not the Peppermint one) who, one supposed, just weren't dynamic enough to keep Schulz's interest. In their place we get Woodstock, Marcie, Peppermint Patty, and a far more surrealistically humanized Snoopy.
None of these changes are bad things, but the strips I read in this volume of Fantagraphics' amazing series are a distinct comic strip from the one in the first 8 or 9 volumes.
There aren't really any bad things here in volume 11, per say. I was afraid there would be, as I could almost see a few chinks in the Peanuts' brilliance in the last volume, where the rather boring little Woodstock got far too much panel-time, and Lucy and Schroeder seemed to have fallen into the background. But '69-'70 seems to have been a transition era, with 1971 seeing Schulz finding a good balance, and workable voices for some of the new characters. Woodstock went from being a 1-dimensional sidekick to a pathetic little guy in need to some love. There was a strip where Snoopy realizes he's Woodstock's mother-figure, and that moment seems like the exact point where Schulz figured out what to do with him. Likewise, Peppermint Patty got a little depth of character as we see her pine, in her own awkward way, over Charlie Brown, and lament about never finding anyone to love her because of her looks. I guess Woodstock and Peppermint Patty prove that the more pathetic Schulz wrote his characters, the more alive they feel.
One weird thing: Linus and Lucy's little brother, Rerun, is born in May 1972, and is promptly never shown for the remaining 6 months of this volume. Now, back when Schroeder and Linus and Sally were first introduced, they were also spoken of before we ever met them, but they weren't forgotten about for 6 months! Usually just a week or so. I think he finally shows up in 1973, but still.
One bad thing: The introduction is just lame. I've enjoyed the little essays by various celebrities, and the diversity of the contributors is a tribute to how far-reaching the influence of The Peanuts is. And you'd think you couldn't go wrong with Kristen Chenowith. But apparently you can go wrong, if Kristen Chenowith doesn't actually write the introduction, and you merely take the transcript of an interview with her and label that an introduction. Even that wouldn't have been so bad, but the interview was kind of bleh. Pretty much just Chenowith saying how neat she thought playing Sally was on Broadway, without any real insight to what kind of influence (if any) the comic strip as a whole had on her. Pretty disappointing.
But none of that takes away from the simple brilliance of Sparky Schulz who was still creating some amazing stuff 20 years after he'd first penciled good old Charlie Brown. And maybe more incredible of all, in 1972, he wasn't even half-way through his half-century long run!!
I can't wait for the next volume!
What this volume (and the last volume, '69-'70) sees happen is a final shuffling around of the cast, and and a settling down into a status quo, of sorts. Gone are Shermy and Violet and Patty (the original one, not the Peppermint one) who, one supposed, just weren't dynamic enough to keep Schulz's interest. In their place we get Woodstock, Marcie, Peppermint Patty, and a far more surrealistically humanized Snoopy.
None of these changes are bad things, but the strips I read in this volume of Fantagraphics' amazing series are a distinct comic strip from the one in the first 8 or 9 volumes.
There aren't really any bad things here in volume 11, per say. I was afraid there would be, as I could almost see a few chinks in the Peanuts' brilliance in the last volume, where the rather boring little Woodstock got far too much panel-time, and Lucy and Schroeder seemed to have fallen into the background. But '69-'70 seems to have been a transition era, with 1971 seeing Schulz finding a good balance, and workable voices for some of the new characters. Woodstock went from being a 1-dimensional sidekick to a pathetic little guy in need to some love. There was a strip where Snoopy realizes he's Woodstock's mother-figure, and that moment seems like the exact point where Schulz figured out what to do with him. Likewise, Peppermint Patty got a little depth of character as we see her pine, in her own awkward way, over Charlie Brown, and lament about never finding anyone to love her because of her looks. I guess Woodstock and Peppermint Patty prove that the more pathetic Schulz wrote his characters, the more alive they feel.
One weird thing: Linus and Lucy's little brother, Rerun, is born in May 1972, and is promptly never shown for the remaining 6 months of this volume. Now, back when Schroeder and Linus and Sally were first introduced, they were also spoken of before we ever met them, but they weren't forgotten about for 6 months! Usually just a week or so. I think he finally shows up in 1973, but still.
One bad thing: The introduction is just lame. I've enjoyed the little essays by various celebrities, and the diversity of the contributors is a tribute to how far-reaching the influence of The Peanuts is. And you'd think you couldn't go wrong with Kristen Chenowith. But apparently you can go wrong, if Kristen Chenowith doesn't actually write the introduction, and you merely take the transcript of an interview with her and label that an introduction. Even that wouldn't have been so bad, but the interview was kind of bleh. Pretty much just Chenowith saying how neat she thought playing Sally was on Broadway, without any real insight to what kind of influence (if any) the comic strip as a whole had on her. Pretty disappointing.
But none of that takes away from the simple brilliance of Sparky Schulz who was still creating some amazing stuff 20 years after he'd first penciled good old Charlie Brown. And maybe more incredible of all, in 1972, he wasn't even half-way through his half-century long run!!
I can't wait for the next volume!
November 23, 2022
The comic writing genius of Charles M Schulz continues into 70s. Funnily some strip's in 1971, featured the school district banning books. I wonder what Schulz would make of what is happening now.
July 9, 2021
Charlie Brown: "This has been a bad time for me... Maybe if I'm lucky, tomorrow will be a better day..."
Linus: "In some parts of the world, tomorrow is already today and today is yesterday... If tomorrow is already today, Charlie Brown, there's no way that tomorrow can be a better day!"
Charlie Brown: "You're a lot of fun to have around..."
Linus: "In some parts of the world, tomorrow is already today and today is yesterday... If tomorrow is already today, Charlie Brown, there's no way that tomorrow can be a better day!"
Charlie Brown: "You're a lot of fun to have around..."
July 14, 2021
This two year period sees Peppermint Patty's shadow given a name (Marcie), Charlie Brown at summer camp being told "Shut up and leave me alone!" the first year then sent home early the next year and Lucy being unhappy at having a new wee brother, Rerun (so far unseen). This plus so much more, including Woodstock's secretarial skills. Top notch stuff.
April 12, 2023
Third Printing = May 2015
October 20, 2023
This one includes my favourite sequence -- Snoopy's plan to read War & Peace, one word per day.
January 17, 2013
You can pretty much tell where you are in the Peanuts chronology by following what Snoopy is doing - so what's he doing in this period? Still doing the World War I ace occasionally, but he also introduces one of my favorite alter egos, Joe Cool - while I can relate to having a secret fantasy life, the idea of being a WWI aviator has no appeal for me, but who wouldn't want to be Joe Cool? Though as played by Snoopy, Joe is actually sort of a jerk.
But Snoopy spends less time on his fantasy life than he does serving as a combination friend/caretaker to the Woodstock, who really becomes a major character. Charlie Brown's sister Sally also gets some major play during this period, which is all to the good. Her complete overreaction to anything that's going on keeps things moving. And Peppermint Patty, with her secret (even to her) infatuation with "Chuck" first shows up here.
I dedicated my review of the last volume to the nearly invisible Violet, but at least she did occasionally show up in that volume, and makes a few more appearances in this one. And sometimes even gets a bit-player's line or two. So I'll dedicate this review to a pair of the truly disappeared, Shermy and Pig Pen, neither of whom show up at all in this volume, as confirmed by the index. More of a loss in the case of Pig Pen, if you ask me - Shermy never did stand out much, but Pig Pen had a definite personality, and at one time showed up pretty frequently. Maybe he was just too slovenly for the style conscious seventies. But there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for him.
But Snoopy spends less time on his fantasy life than he does serving as a combination friend/caretaker to the Woodstock, who really becomes a major character. Charlie Brown's sister Sally also gets some major play during this period, which is all to the good. Her complete overreaction to anything that's going on keeps things moving. And Peppermint Patty, with her secret (even to her) infatuation with "Chuck" first shows up here.
I dedicated my review of the last volume to the nearly invisible Violet, but at least she did occasionally show up in that volume, and makes a few more appearances in this one. And sometimes even gets a bit-player's line or two. So I'll dedicate this review to a pair of the truly disappeared, Shermy and Pig Pen, neither of whom show up at all in this volume, as confirmed by the index. More of a loss in the case of Pig Pen, if you ask me - Shermy never did stand out much, but Pig Pen had a definite personality, and at one time showed up pretty frequently. Maybe he was just too slovenly for the style conscious seventies. But there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for him.
July 27, 2016
My PEANUTS binge continues—two volumes in just as many days—and I gotta say: Vol. 11: 1971–1972 is by far my favorite in the collection so far.
This volume sees the introduction to Marcie, of "Sir" fame, and the birth of Rerun; it sees Sally amping up her continuous battle with the education system; and it sees the cementation of the friendship between Snoopy and Woodstock.
But what REALLY makes this volume stand out is the theme of love. The Little Red-haired Girl has moved away, but Peppermint Patty is slowly realizing that she likes Charlie Brown (or, as we said as kids, "LIKE-likes"). She has come to terms with the fact that she is different than the girls that society deems "pretty," but now that she knows Chuck likes the Little Red-haired Girl old wounds have opened back up. In my absolute favorite arc, Peppermint Patty sees the Little Red-haired Girl at summer camp, and when she goes to confront her ... she breaks down in tears. And when she needs to confess her emotions to some one, Linus is there to show her what counts.
I loved this volume. A good start to the '70s, Mr. Schulz!
This volume sees the introduction to Marcie, of "Sir" fame, and the birth of Rerun; it sees Sally amping up her continuous battle with the education system; and it sees the cementation of the friendship between Snoopy and Woodstock.
But what REALLY makes this volume stand out is the theme of love. The Little Red-haired Girl has moved away, but Peppermint Patty is slowly realizing that she likes Charlie Brown (or, as we said as kids, "LIKE-likes"). She has come to terms with the fact that she is different than the girls that society deems "pretty," but now that she knows Chuck likes the Little Red-haired Girl old wounds have opened back up. In my absolute favorite arc, Peppermint Patty sees the Little Red-haired Girl at summer camp, and when she goes to confront her ... she breaks down in tears. And when she needs to confess her emotions to some one, Linus is there to show her what counts.
I loved this volume. A good start to the '70s, Mr. Schulz!
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July 15, 2025You know, Peppermint Patty is really starting to grow on me. I think for a long time the strongest impression I had of her was from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving where she's SO pushy and entitled and inconsiderate, but in the comics she isn't really like that. She can still be kind of brash sometimes, but I feel like her heart is generally in the right place.
I found so relatable the part where she convinces herself that Charlie Brown likes her and then can't sleep because she's so stressed about how she's going to let him down gently (even though she ends up getting offended when he thinks her "Dear Chuck" letter is from the little red-haired girl, lol). I think it's sweet how she and Charlie Brown are always hanging out under that tree having philosophical discussions. And the DRAMA of that little camp saga?? Oh gosh. I was so invested in the saga, and I genuinely felt for Peppermint Patty by the end. I just want to give the poor girl a hug. Sweetie, you /are/ a rare gem.
(Also: this collection has Snoopy falling in love with Miss Helen Sweetstory, author of the bunny-wunnies books, which was a great little saga too, and Lucy asking "She's the author of 'The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Layover in Anderson, Indiana,' isn't she?" is one of the FUNNIEST things to me)
I found so relatable the part where she convinces herself that Charlie Brown likes her and then can't sleep because she's so stressed about how she's going to let him down gently (even though she ends up getting offended when he thinks her "Dear Chuck" letter is from the little red-haired girl, lol). I think it's sweet how she and Charlie Brown are always hanging out under that tree having philosophical discussions. And the DRAMA of that little camp saga?? Oh gosh. I was so invested in the saga, and I genuinely felt for Peppermint Patty by the end. I just want to give the poor girl a hug. Sweetie, you /are/ a rare gem.
(Also: this collection has Snoopy falling in love with Miss Helen Sweetstory, author of the bunny-wunnies books, which was a great little saga too, and Lucy asking "She's the author of 'The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Layover in Anderson, Indiana,' isn't she?" is one of the FUNNIEST things to me)
January 6, 2019
It's really hard to review these volumes without acknowledging the genius of Peanuts and Charles Schulz in total, so instead, I'll share my favorite strip from this volume and dissect it a little bit:
This is classic Schulz...what would be a cynical conversation between two adults is disarmed somewhat by the fact that it is coming from the mouths of babes, and two beloved and legendary comic strip characters no less. But at it's core, Schulz is calling bullshit on what eventually would become the megachurch movement. I'm sure Schulz would have some material going after pieces of shit like Joel Osteen.
This is classic Schulz...what would be a cynical conversation between two adults is disarmed somewhat by the fact that it is coming from the mouths of babes, and two beloved and legendary comic strip characters no less. But at it's core, Schulz is calling bullshit on what eventually would become the megachurch movement. I'm sure Schulz would have some material going after pieces of shit like Joel Osteen.
September 2, 2025
Teknisesti nämä tuntuivat tosi hiotuilta, olisiko jopa uran tähtivuosia. Tietenkin tässäkin oli paljon vitsin kierrättämistä ja tarinajatkumoissa seliteltiin edellisen päivän tapahtumia, ei siis niin optimaalinen tällaisena kokoelmana luettuna. Mutta eipä ne suuremmin häiriöksi ollut, oikeastaan tässä kokoelmassa tarinalliset jatkumot tuntui jopa erityisen onnistuneilta. Vaikeahan näitä eri vuosikertoja on keskenään verrata mutta kyllä tässä tuntui kynä ja teksti olevan vahvassa kunnossa, riemastuttava kokoelma!
April 15, 2017
Peppermint Patty versus the Dress Code. Lucy hits a home run. Snoopy and Woodstock get into a fight about "War and Peace" (sort of). Marcie gets a name. Lucy wanted a sister, but instead she got a Rerun. Sally writes lots of misguided essays. The neighbor's cat got Woodstock!
And the single saddest storyline I have yet read in Peanuts: Patty versus the little red-haired girl.
And the single saddest storyline I have yet read in Peanuts: Patty versus the little red-haired girl.
May 25, 2019
We got introduced to both Marcie and Rerun in this one. I'm very happy to learn that Rerun isn't his actual name, just a nickname the kids decided on, because Lucy called him a rerun of Linus.
There was one standout comic of Lucy giving herself psychiatric advice over the problem of Schroeder not liking her back. She confirmed to herself that there was nothing wrong with her and did a little self affirmation. Overall pretty cute.
There was one standout comic of Lucy giving herself psychiatric advice over the problem of Schroeder not liking her back. She confirmed to herself that there was nothing wrong with her and did a little self affirmation. Overall pretty cute.
December 30, 2019
An evocatively drawn mix of wit, whimsy and preternatural wisdom. Poor old wishy-washy Charlie Brown remains the unifying figure but there are a good number of delightfully droll (and character-defining) strips involving Peppermint Patty, Sally Brown, and in particular Lucy van Pelt.
May 23, 2025
A few topical jokes as Peanuts adjusts to the 70s. Lots of Woodstock; baseball as always. My favorite sequence is the one where Peppermint Patty challenges the injustice of the dress code that denies girls the right to wear pants. She loses, but she fights the good fight.
February 21, 2020
Some divorce stuff in here, but nicest part was the handful of Sunday strips in which PeppermintPatty and Chuck discourse on the serial pain that is life.
October 21, 2023
Another cracking collection. Sally really comes to the fore in these years but no mention of the Great Pumpkin in 72. I wonder if he returns.
June 16, 2025
I've got to be honest, I've already forgotten what specific new thing happens or if a new character gets introduced in this one (okay no wait that's not true I just remembered Lucy and Linus's new brother but he hasn't been that interesting yet): I'd say that the comics have reached the plateau where every storyline is commonplace and timeless, which means they're good and on par with the quality of the previous ones but at the same time it makes the volume very forgettable.
March 20, 2009
Amazingly, still operating at peak powers, twenty years into the strip. The decline into cuteness that I thought would begin to show its dooming face hasn’t yet appeared. Sally Brown and Peppermint Patty star in this volume, though Linus, Snoopy, Lucy, and of course Charlie Brown have wonderful moments. Sally struggles to cope with school, her reports are hysterical, as does Peppermint Patty, who sits behind Franklin. The school forces her to wear shoes and a dress; her lawyer (Snoopy) can’t prevent the judgment to conform. Peppermint Patty has a number of fine panels where she and Charlie Brown lie back to back against a tree and ruminate on life and love. The Little-Red-Haired Girl makes a cameo appearance at summer camp leading to one of the strip’s most poignant, real, and still funny, sequences. Peppermint Patty has a crush on Chuck but her attempts to discuss love with Charlie Brown only lead him to talk about his true love. On her way with Marcie to visit the boys camp (Chuck), Marcie lets her know that there’s another girl in camp, one with red hair, who knows Chuck. That leads to a showdown that I won’t spoil but it is wonderful. In this volume, Bob Dylan turns 30, and Rerun is born (it goes unnoticed that he shares a birthday with the Bobster). Snoopy gets mauled trying to rescue a yellow sock he thinks is Woodstock from a 300 pound cat. Maybe it was 500 pounds, maybe a 1000. Or maybe it was a kitten. All wonderful, delightful stuff.
April 5, 2009
Snoopy becomes Joe Cool, Peppermint Patty meets Marcy at camp, Charlie Brown battles book banning, and Rerun Van Pelt is born. This is a particularly weak collection of Peanuts because of a couple of obnoxious ideas that they developed. Snoopy was probably at the height of his popularity, and Joe Cool pushed him over the top. I find Joe Cool to be rather boring and it seems like it would have been dated, even for the 1970s. Rerun is particularly irritating (he doesn't actually appear in this collection). Schulz created Rerun as a little brother for Lucy & Linus but rarely seemed to use him (he'd randomly show up and just look like Linus in overalls).
April 13, 2009
As I work through these volumes, I keep waiting to get to a point where "Peanuts" starts to feel trite, like it's lost its brilliance and is just coasting on its own success. And it keeps not happening - I'm amazed at the consistent quality of this strip.
July 16, 2011
Schulz is a genius. I love spending time with his comics en masse. While not all art is a direct reflection of its creator, you can't help but feel like you get to know him a bit when you read year upon year of his work. I'm a Peanuts fan re-made. LOVE IT.
December 17, 2013
It was a true joy to read these comics. They were intelligent and made me laugh out loud frequently throughout the book. I think this book is about life and nobody should miss the opportunity to read such a work of art!
April 17, 2009
The introduction was terrible but this book was great.
Introduces Re-Run Van Pelt.
The strip on my birthday was okay.
There's a lot with Peppermint Patty having a crush on Chuck.
Introduces Re-Run Van Pelt.
The strip on my birthday was okay.
There's a lot with Peppermint Patty having a crush on Chuck.
September 24, 2009
everyone should take a little time now and then to read their favorite cartoon...we all need some laughs and the rememberance of our childhood favorites!
J
J
April 29, 2010
I noticed that by the 70's, Schultz seems to have mellowed some. There's not nearly as many strips with anger, humiliation, depression etc. as there were in the 60's.
November 20, 2015
Great.
This is the most amazing peanuts volume I've ever read. It runs like a bird flying in the wind. The best.
This is the most amazing peanuts volume I've ever read. It runs like a bird flying in the wind. The best.
January 29, 2015
I am enjoying these so much. The first mention of Rerun!
June 14, 2021
This volume of The Complete Peanuts really hits the sweet spot of Peanuts.
Shedding some of the older generic cast, like Shermy and Violet and Patty (not the Peppermint one), lets the unique characters shine. Two new characters, Woodstock and Marcie, stand out as more interesting replacements for the previous cast members. Snoopy drops his World War I Flying Ace persona in favor of Joe Cool; while Joe Cool isn't necessarily more interesting, his stories aren't as drawn out.
The rise of Peppermint Patty adds a whole new layer to the cast. Her unrequited love for the clueless Charlie Brown is always hysterical. But it's the more poignant moments that really make Patty special. Her commentary about superficial beauty and love is quite touching. Her relationship with Marcie is just barely introduced during the two summer camp sequences.
One aspect I enjoy most from Peanuts is the longer story lines. This volume has those in spades. The two summer camp stories are outstanding. There are several Peppermint Patty stories, including a dress code violation sequence. There even seemed to be more week long plots than in the past. I can appreciate daily gag strips, but comics like Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes are so special because of their ability to tackle longer stories.
I'm not sure I ever laughed out loud at anything in this volume, but I enjoyed it more overall than many other previous volumes.
Shedding some of the older generic cast, like Shermy and Violet and Patty (not the Peppermint one), lets the unique characters shine. Two new characters, Woodstock and Marcie, stand out as more interesting replacements for the previous cast members. Snoopy drops his World War I Flying Ace persona in favor of Joe Cool; while Joe Cool isn't necessarily more interesting, his stories aren't as drawn out.
The rise of Peppermint Patty adds a whole new layer to the cast. Her unrequited love for the clueless Charlie Brown is always hysterical. But it's the more poignant moments that really make Patty special. Her commentary about superficial beauty and love is quite touching. Her relationship with Marcie is just barely introduced during the two summer camp sequences.
One aspect I enjoy most from Peanuts is the longer story lines. This volume has those in spades. The two summer camp stories are outstanding. There are several Peppermint Patty stories, including a dress code violation sequence. There even seemed to be more week long plots than in the past. I can appreciate daily gag strips, but comics like Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes are so special because of their ability to tackle longer stories.
I'm not sure I ever laughed out loud at anything in this volume, but I enjoyed it more overall than many other previous volumes.
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