What do you think?
Rate this book
The Complete Peanuts #7
The Complete Peanuts, 1963-1964
In this volume of the bestselling Complete Peanuts series, Charles Schulz introduces one (in fact, three) of the quirkiest characters to the Peanuts universe, the numerically-monikered 95472 siblings. They didn't stay around very long but offered some choice bits of satirical nonsense while they did. As it happens, this volume is particularly rich in never-before-reprinted strips: over 150 (more than one fifth of the book!) have never seen the light of day since their original appearance over 40 years ago, so this will be a trove of undiscovered treasures even for avid Peanuts collectors. Introduced by Bill Melendez, animator of all the Peanuts TV specials starting all the way back with A Charlie Brown Christmas!
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2007
54 people are currently reading
807 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,037 books1,631 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.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
May 6, 2023
After reading two books about Peanuts fairly recently, I decided it was time to read another collection of actual Peanuts comics. This one, from 1963-1964, was damn good.
Like a lot of people my age, Peanuts was always in the newspaper when I was younger and the strip seemed pretty unremarkable since we grew up with Peanuts holiday specials on TV and those Met Life commercials.
This is not like the strip in its waning years. The strip was still missing some of the iconic characters like Peppermint Pattie, Marcie, and Woodstock but was in fine form. Charlie Brown gets little leaguers elbow. Linus has his hopes regarding the Great Pumpkin crushed twice. Lucy practiced psychiatric care without a license and continuously sexually harassed Schroeder. Snoopy's doghouse is revealed to be a TARDIS, containing a billiard room and murals.
This is a really fun Peanuts collection from before the time they started shitting out merchandise. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Like a lot of people my age, Peanuts was always in the newspaper when I was younger and the strip seemed pretty unremarkable since we grew up with Peanuts holiday specials on TV and those Met Life commercials.
This is not like the strip in its waning years. The strip was still missing some of the iconic characters like Peppermint Pattie, Marcie, and Woodstock but was in fine form. Charlie Brown gets little leaguers elbow. Linus has his hopes regarding the Great Pumpkin crushed twice. Lucy practiced psychiatric care without a license and continuously sexually harassed Schroeder. Snoopy's doghouse is revealed to be a TARDIS, containing a billiard room and murals.
This is a really fun Peanuts collection from before the time they started shitting out merchandise. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
September 26, 2021
If Peanuts has yet to reach its highest peak by 1963 and '64, that peak can't be far away. The core characters are fully formed, and Charles Monroe Schulz's wisdom and humor operate on as high a level as ever seen in the newspaper comics industry. 1963 gets going with a thoughtful strip on January 1 (page one), Lucy complaining that the new year seems no better than the old one. It's a funny line, but don't we often act the same way? We greet new opportunities with a negative attitude, looking to prove they won't actually allow us to change our lives, but the mechanism for change must come from within. If you expect positive change without your active cooperation, you won't get anywhere. January 3 (page two), Lucy complains that time passes too quickly, leaving us no chance to plan for and execute our lives properly. "We need bigger years!" she shouts. But the years we have are the only ones we'll ever get. The important thing is to fill them with meaningful work and interactions, not waste time mourning the fact that life doesn't last longer. January 10 (page five) sees the return of Linus's "blanket-hating" grandmother, who sees it as her duty when she visits to confiscate Linus's security blanket so he learns to get along without it. Linus's rejoinder at the end of this particular strip is a well-placed jab at busybodies of every variety. January 17 and 18 (page eight) are a smart conclusion to the storyline featuring Linus's grandmother. Linus compares his blanket to a comforting vice his grandmother turns to in her own life, and by the end of the next strip it's clear his message was received. Sometimes an adult needs to be shown that their own childish attachments never went away, just took another form; this encourages humility when interacting with kids. Linus exits this round the winner.
January 20 (page nine), Charlie Brown struggles through a lonesome lunch period, wishing he had the courage to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl. Maybe it wouldn't go well, but maybe it would; by conceding to fear he ensures continuing loneliness for himself. Much of the dark cloud that sits over Charlie Brown is a consequence of his own inaction. February 14 (page twenty) is a well-known scene reproduced in the 1975 Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown television special. February 25 (page twenty-five), Lucy expresses irritation when her mother pesters her to finish a chore, which turns out to be writing a Christmas thank-you note. It seems silly for Lucy to dig her heels in, but that's the way of the human heart. We need to be taught repeatedly the importance of gratitude, especially when we're young, or we never form the habit. Left to our own devices, most of us wouldn't be grateful people. On February 27 Linus describes his personal philosophy about running away from problems. We laugh at how he puts it, but this is how most of us behave. Deep down we believe we can and should run away from what scares or makes us uncomfortable, no matter how serious the problem. Lucy pleads with Charlie Brown on March 8 (page twenty-nine) not to take an innocent kite out into the wind and wreck it as he is wont to do, and her hysterical emotion has its desired effect. More often than we care to admit, nonsensical demands made on us are enough to alter our behavior. Such confrontations can leech away all the fun and push us to scrap our plans, which is a shame.
It's back to kiting on Mar 10 (page thirty), a Sunday strip that traffics in the absurd bad luck Charlie Brown has with kites. He isn't the only one that gets pulled into the disaster this time, and the results are laugh-out-loud funny. The following Sunday (March 17, page thirty-three) is a scene right out of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Violet expresses remorse after Charlie Brown received no Valentine cards, and Schroeder steps in and attempts to defend his honor. But when you're Charlie Brown, you'll give anything for a morsel of affection, even if it's motivated by pity. In the middle of a storyline about Linus not qualifying for the honor roll at school, on March 22 (page thirty-five) Linus vents his frustration. Potential can be burdensome for one as gifted as Linus; proud teachers, parents, or siblings would do well to be sensitive to that. Baseball season is in swing by March 27 (page thirty-seven), where we get a good gag about "winter fat" that sets up Snoopy for the punchline. I love the April 12 (page forty-four) strip: Lucy is due up at bat for the team, but she can't find her "socker"...that is, her baseball bat. If only all baseball teams could boast the color and style that Lucy brings to hers. I suspect I'll occasionally call bats "sockers" for the rest of my life. May 2 and 3 (page fifty-three) are simple, profound strips, Linus trying to convince Snoopy to play fetch with a stick. It's a natural game for dogs to play, Linus argues. Snoopy's thought bubble offers a response worth contemplating. "I want people to have more to say about me after I'm gone than, 'He was a nice guy...he chased sticks!'" The trappings of normal life can feel dull or invigorating, empty or satisfying, but in the end will we leave a legacy to be proud of, or did we chase sticks? It's a question to confront now, while most of one's years remain ahead. Sally Brown plays quietly in a sandbox on June 10 (page seventy), wanting to please her mother by engaging in safe activity within her sight. The problem is, the sandbox is boring, and Sally is squandering a day in which she could be taking risks and living to the full. Parents worry about their kids, but they do them no favors by placing safety as life's primary value. Better to come home with scraped knees and the occasional virus than waste time sifting sand in a box.
After not standing up for his sister Sally when a bully pushed her down, Charlie Brown admits his feelings of shame on June 13 (page seventy-one). Linus sympathizes, saying he's sure Charlie Brown wishes he had a do-over, but Charlie Brown is too honest with himself to go along with that. He would react the same way again, and he knows it. Being a timid-hearted fellow isn't fun. June 22 (page seventy-four) is classic baseball humor, Charlie Brown and Schroeder commenting on the "capacity crowd" at their game that day. The last panel is excellent. Lucy's forceful personality can get on one's nerves sometimes, but now and then all the resentment directed at her takes its toll, as we see Sunday, June 30 (page seventy-eight). But Linus has exactly the right thing to say, and it makes for one of the true heartwarming strips in this book. He is one of a kind, that Linus. An extended storyline in which Snoopy falls ill and goes to the animal hospital is punctuated by Charlie Brown's reaction to his return (July 8, page eighty-two). It's an emotional moment after weeks of Snoopy being away from home in the medical ward. Linus's ophthalmologist becomes part of the story July 15 (page eighty-five) as the neighborhood awaits a solar eclipse at the end of the week. Linus recites numerous cautionary statements from his eye doctor about viewing the eclipse, to which Charlie Brown responds, "How would your ophthalmologist feel if I closed my curtains and stayed in bed all day?" His exasperation is understandable; safety is important, but can't be the main goal of a life well lived. July 22 sees Lucy's rare use of positive reinforcement to manipulate Linus. It works, and he heads off to mail her letter for her. His statement in the final panel, about older sisters having strange persuasion power over their siblings, definitely resonates. July 27 (page eighty-nine), Snoopy ponders the rift between a life spent pursuing creature comforts and one of deeper meaning, but his thoughts don't linger for long; he has a meal to finish. How true it is that in-depth reflection is often interrupted by the demands our appetites make on us.
Sunday, July 28 (page ninety) is a classic Lucy-Schroeder dialogue at his piano, Lucy asserting that Beethoven "wasn't so great" because he isn't featured on bubble gum cards. The scene is reproduced almost verbatim in the 1965 television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. On Sunday, September 22 (page one hundred fourteen) Charlie Brown goes to Lucy the "psychiatrist" and tells her he feels that life is passing him by. Lucy has a surprising insight that would serve the reader well. If you feel that life is slipping through your grasp, the best thing to do is go out and start living. You can grapple with philosophy all day, but divorced from tangible action it won't lead to prosperity or fulfillment. September 23 (page one hundred fifteen) is a refreshing conversation between Charlie Brown and Linus. Linus's observation that a young son is like a "built-in friend" for his father is one of the winsome moments in any Peanuts strip. October 20 (page one hundred twenty-six) has intriguing political overtones. The fact that Sally feels the need to pull Charlie Brown into an empty room before whispering to him that her class prayed in school that day is a sobering commentary on authoritarian secularism. October 28 (page one hundred thirty) is a familiar dialogue from the 1966 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown television special, as is the October 31 (page one hundred thirty-one) strip. November 14 (page one hundred thirty-seven) sees Charlie Brown once again trying to rally his courage to approach the Little Red-Haired Girl, but when she comes to him, will he face the big moment or hide from it? Most of us tend to take the latter option, but how can we expect things to get better if we do? After Christmas and well into the new year of 1964, Charlie Brown and Linus have a discussion on March 23 (page one hundred ninety-three). Charlie Brown wonders out loud why the teacher said "Good morning" to him today. His speculations drift into paranoia; perhaps it's best not to obsess over basic social interactions. We drive ourselves crazy that way.
The March 29 (page one hundred ninety-five) Sunday shows Charlie Brown's dedication to his baseball team in pithy, humorous fashion. You gotta love that ending. We come to Mother's Day on May 10 (page two hundred thirteen), where Lucy tells Linus that mothers love to receive a phone call from their children on this special day. Linus doesn't want to disappoint, and the results are predictably hilarious. May 24 (page two hundred nineteen), another famous scene of Lucy and her Psychiatric Help booth, is reproduced in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Snoopy resists his own darker canine urges on June 2 (page two hundred twenty-three). Whenever he goes too long without biting someone, his teeth tingle, but indulging the urge would get him in trouble for sure. What should you do when society considers your natural urges worthy of punishment? Will you risk getting the boom lowered on you, or abstain from violating social norms and cope with the resulting discomfort? June 7 (page two hundred twenty-five) brings another visit from Linus's blanket-hating grandmother. She's back to her old ways of wanting to take Linus's blanket, but he has a clever trick ready this time. Linus, you are the best; don't ever change. I love the in-game baseball conversation on June 11 (page two hundred twenty-seven) between Lucy (the pitcher) and Schroeder (catcher). She suggests she throw a spitball or beanball, ideas Schroeder rejects as contrary to the spirit of fair play. Lucy's final lament is pure gold: "All my best pitches are immoral!" What should we do when others label our passions and creative output as objectionable? It's tough, and I empathize with you, Lucy. We see several funny baseball strips in August, highlighted by August 18 (page two hundred fifty-six). The dialogue here between Charlie Brown and Lucy could hardly be more basic, but it's terrific. Rarely is the age of the kids specifically stated, so it's worth noting that on September 23 (page two hundred seventy-one) we're told that Linus is six years old. Sunday, October 4 (page two hundred seventy-six) is a famous scene of Lucy talking Charlie into kicking the football while she holds it. He knows better than to trust her, but how can he argue with a "signed document"? As you're aware if you've watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, he still has ample reason to believe Lucy will pull the ball away at the last second so he falls flat on his back.
At Lucy's behest Linus launches a campaign for school president, a storyline surely inspired by the upcoming 1964 U.S. presidential election between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater. October 7 (page two hundred seventy-seven), Schroeder officially nominates Linus in a speech to the student body, though not without a laugh-out-loud detour to address his favorite subject: Beethoven. When Peanuts uses running gags, they're disguised so well they feel fresh. November 29 (page three hundred) is a Sunday strip that calls for contemplation, as Linus builds a snowman that looks like Lucy after they have a heated quarrel. Does he intend to kick the snowman, as Lucy predicts? Maybe in the 1950s he would have, but by 1964 Linus expresses himself more eloquently. His subtle method of using the snowman to show disapproval toward Lucy leaves us lots to think about. Watching a snowman slowly melt to nothing requires less effort than kicking it to pieces, and the same general principal applies with people. The passage of time reduces us all to puddles in the end, and at that point why would we invest our energy in being angry at a fellow mortal? This is the most emotionally complex strip of this book.
Charlie Brown hasn't given up on the Little Red-Haired Girl, and December 15 (page three hundred seven) he's again pining for her. The distress makes it difficult to eat his sandwich at lunch; what pleasure can peanut butter offer when something much more delightful lies just out of reach? Linus's involvement in the pageant during A Charlie Brown Christmas derives much of its source material from the December 21 through 24 strips (pages three hundred ten and three hundred eleven), a familiar storyline to Peanuts fans. December 29 (page three hundred thirteen), Charlie Brown worries about a book report he was supposed to write on Gulliver's Travels over Christmas vacation. He bemoans his tendency to procrastinate, all while putting the book aside and settling in a chair to watch television. His problem seems comically obvious to us, but aren't we inclined to the same behavior? We philosophize regarding our weaknesses, condemning them even as we don't change a thing. The human heart and mind are good at diagnosis, but awful at following through with the hard work needed to course correct. Will Charlie Brown have an easier time at life in 1965?
Peanuts is a joy, whether you take the strips one a day as originally published or read multiple years at once in a single book. We may wish we were like Linus, but Charlie Brown or Lucy often are more realistic avatars for us. Despite their flaws, however, we love them and hope for their happiness as they enter a new year. Charles Schulz understands the tedium and thrills of life, and you'll find both in Peanuts. Volume 7 is one of the better books thus far in the Fantagraphics collection, and I anticipate more of the same in volume 8. No comic strip was ever satisfying in quite the same way as Peanuts.
January 20 (page nine), Charlie Brown struggles through a lonesome lunch period, wishing he had the courage to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl. Maybe it wouldn't go well, but maybe it would; by conceding to fear he ensures continuing loneliness for himself. Much of the dark cloud that sits over Charlie Brown is a consequence of his own inaction. February 14 (page twenty) is a well-known scene reproduced in the 1975 Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown television special. February 25 (page twenty-five), Lucy expresses irritation when her mother pesters her to finish a chore, which turns out to be writing a Christmas thank-you note. It seems silly for Lucy to dig her heels in, but that's the way of the human heart. We need to be taught repeatedly the importance of gratitude, especially when we're young, or we never form the habit. Left to our own devices, most of us wouldn't be grateful people. On February 27 Linus describes his personal philosophy about running away from problems. We laugh at how he puts it, but this is how most of us behave. Deep down we believe we can and should run away from what scares or makes us uncomfortable, no matter how serious the problem. Lucy pleads with Charlie Brown on March 8 (page twenty-nine) not to take an innocent kite out into the wind and wreck it as he is wont to do, and her hysterical emotion has its desired effect. More often than we care to admit, nonsensical demands made on us are enough to alter our behavior. Such confrontations can leech away all the fun and push us to scrap our plans, which is a shame.
It's back to kiting on Mar 10 (page thirty), a Sunday strip that traffics in the absurd bad luck Charlie Brown has with kites. He isn't the only one that gets pulled into the disaster this time, and the results are laugh-out-loud funny. The following Sunday (March 17, page thirty-three) is a scene right out of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Violet expresses remorse after Charlie Brown received no Valentine cards, and Schroeder steps in and attempts to defend his honor. But when you're Charlie Brown, you'll give anything for a morsel of affection, even if it's motivated by pity. In the middle of a storyline about Linus not qualifying for the honor roll at school, on March 22 (page thirty-five) Linus vents his frustration. Potential can be burdensome for one as gifted as Linus; proud teachers, parents, or siblings would do well to be sensitive to that. Baseball season is in swing by March 27 (page thirty-seven), where we get a good gag about "winter fat" that sets up Snoopy for the punchline. I love the April 12 (page forty-four) strip: Lucy is due up at bat for the team, but she can't find her "socker"...that is, her baseball bat. If only all baseball teams could boast the color and style that Lucy brings to hers. I suspect I'll occasionally call bats "sockers" for the rest of my life. May 2 and 3 (page fifty-three) are simple, profound strips, Linus trying to convince Snoopy to play fetch with a stick. It's a natural game for dogs to play, Linus argues. Snoopy's thought bubble offers a response worth contemplating. "I want people to have more to say about me after I'm gone than, 'He was a nice guy...he chased sticks!'" The trappings of normal life can feel dull or invigorating, empty or satisfying, but in the end will we leave a legacy to be proud of, or did we chase sticks? It's a question to confront now, while most of one's years remain ahead. Sally Brown plays quietly in a sandbox on June 10 (page seventy), wanting to please her mother by engaging in safe activity within her sight. The problem is, the sandbox is boring, and Sally is squandering a day in which she could be taking risks and living to the full. Parents worry about their kids, but they do them no favors by placing safety as life's primary value. Better to come home with scraped knees and the occasional virus than waste time sifting sand in a box.
After not standing up for his sister Sally when a bully pushed her down, Charlie Brown admits his feelings of shame on June 13 (page seventy-one). Linus sympathizes, saying he's sure Charlie Brown wishes he had a do-over, but Charlie Brown is too honest with himself to go along with that. He would react the same way again, and he knows it. Being a timid-hearted fellow isn't fun. June 22 (page seventy-four) is classic baseball humor, Charlie Brown and Schroeder commenting on the "capacity crowd" at their game that day. The last panel is excellent. Lucy's forceful personality can get on one's nerves sometimes, but now and then all the resentment directed at her takes its toll, as we see Sunday, June 30 (page seventy-eight). But Linus has exactly the right thing to say, and it makes for one of the true heartwarming strips in this book. He is one of a kind, that Linus. An extended storyline in which Snoopy falls ill and goes to the animal hospital is punctuated by Charlie Brown's reaction to his return (July 8, page eighty-two). It's an emotional moment after weeks of Snoopy being away from home in the medical ward. Linus's ophthalmologist becomes part of the story July 15 (page eighty-five) as the neighborhood awaits a solar eclipse at the end of the week. Linus recites numerous cautionary statements from his eye doctor about viewing the eclipse, to which Charlie Brown responds, "How would your ophthalmologist feel if I closed my curtains and stayed in bed all day?" His exasperation is understandable; safety is important, but can't be the main goal of a life well lived. July 22 sees Lucy's rare use of positive reinforcement to manipulate Linus. It works, and he heads off to mail her letter for her. His statement in the final panel, about older sisters having strange persuasion power over their siblings, definitely resonates. July 27 (page eighty-nine), Snoopy ponders the rift between a life spent pursuing creature comforts and one of deeper meaning, but his thoughts don't linger for long; he has a meal to finish. How true it is that in-depth reflection is often interrupted by the demands our appetites make on us.
Sunday, July 28 (page ninety) is a classic Lucy-Schroeder dialogue at his piano, Lucy asserting that Beethoven "wasn't so great" because he isn't featured on bubble gum cards. The scene is reproduced almost verbatim in the 1965 television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. On Sunday, September 22 (page one hundred fourteen) Charlie Brown goes to Lucy the "psychiatrist" and tells her he feels that life is passing him by. Lucy has a surprising insight that would serve the reader well. If you feel that life is slipping through your grasp, the best thing to do is go out and start living. You can grapple with philosophy all day, but divorced from tangible action it won't lead to prosperity or fulfillment. September 23 (page one hundred fifteen) is a refreshing conversation between Charlie Brown and Linus. Linus's observation that a young son is like a "built-in friend" for his father is one of the winsome moments in any Peanuts strip. October 20 (page one hundred twenty-six) has intriguing political overtones. The fact that Sally feels the need to pull Charlie Brown into an empty room before whispering to him that her class prayed in school that day is a sobering commentary on authoritarian secularism. October 28 (page one hundred thirty) is a familiar dialogue from the 1966 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown television special, as is the October 31 (page one hundred thirty-one) strip. November 14 (page one hundred thirty-seven) sees Charlie Brown once again trying to rally his courage to approach the Little Red-Haired Girl, but when she comes to him, will he face the big moment or hide from it? Most of us tend to take the latter option, but how can we expect things to get better if we do? After Christmas and well into the new year of 1964, Charlie Brown and Linus have a discussion on March 23 (page one hundred ninety-three). Charlie Brown wonders out loud why the teacher said "Good morning" to him today. His speculations drift into paranoia; perhaps it's best not to obsess over basic social interactions. We drive ourselves crazy that way.
The March 29 (page one hundred ninety-five) Sunday shows Charlie Brown's dedication to his baseball team in pithy, humorous fashion. You gotta love that ending. We come to Mother's Day on May 10 (page two hundred thirteen), where Lucy tells Linus that mothers love to receive a phone call from their children on this special day. Linus doesn't want to disappoint, and the results are predictably hilarious. May 24 (page two hundred nineteen), another famous scene of Lucy and her Psychiatric Help booth, is reproduced in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Snoopy resists his own darker canine urges on June 2 (page two hundred twenty-three). Whenever he goes too long without biting someone, his teeth tingle, but indulging the urge would get him in trouble for sure. What should you do when society considers your natural urges worthy of punishment? Will you risk getting the boom lowered on you, or abstain from violating social norms and cope with the resulting discomfort? June 7 (page two hundred twenty-five) brings another visit from Linus's blanket-hating grandmother. She's back to her old ways of wanting to take Linus's blanket, but he has a clever trick ready this time. Linus, you are the best; don't ever change. I love the in-game baseball conversation on June 11 (page two hundred twenty-seven) between Lucy (the pitcher) and Schroeder (catcher). She suggests she throw a spitball or beanball, ideas Schroeder rejects as contrary to the spirit of fair play. Lucy's final lament is pure gold: "All my best pitches are immoral!" What should we do when others label our passions and creative output as objectionable? It's tough, and I empathize with you, Lucy. We see several funny baseball strips in August, highlighted by August 18 (page two hundred fifty-six). The dialogue here between Charlie Brown and Lucy could hardly be more basic, but it's terrific. Rarely is the age of the kids specifically stated, so it's worth noting that on September 23 (page two hundred seventy-one) we're told that Linus is six years old. Sunday, October 4 (page two hundred seventy-six) is a famous scene of Lucy talking Charlie into kicking the football while she holds it. He knows better than to trust her, but how can he argue with a "signed document"? As you're aware if you've watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, he still has ample reason to believe Lucy will pull the ball away at the last second so he falls flat on his back.
At Lucy's behest Linus launches a campaign for school president, a storyline surely inspired by the upcoming 1964 U.S. presidential election between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater. October 7 (page two hundred seventy-seven), Schroeder officially nominates Linus in a speech to the student body, though not without a laugh-out-loud detour to address his favorite subject: Beethoven. When Peanuts uses running gags, they're disguised so well they feel fresh. November 29 (page three hundred) is a Sunday strip that calls for contemplation, as Linus builds a snowman that looks like Lucy after they have a heated quarrel. Does he intend to kick the snowman, as Lucy predicts? Maybe in the 1950s he would have, but by 1964 Linus expresses himself more eloquently. His subtle method of using the snowman to show disapproval toward Lucy leaves us lots to think about. Watching a snowman slowly melt to nothing requires less effort than kicking it to pieces, and the same general principal applies with people. The passage of time reduces us all to puddles in the end, and at that point why would we invest our energy in being angry at a fellow mortal? This is the most emotionally complex strip of this book.
Charlie Brown hasn't given up on the Little Red-Haired Girl, and December 15 (page three hundred seven) he's again pining for her. The distress makes it difficult to eat his sandwich at lunch; what pleasure can peanut butter offer when something much more delightful lies just out of reach? Linus's involvement in the pageant during A Charlie Brown Christmas derives much of its source material from the December 21 through 24 strips (pages three hundred ten and three hundred eleven), a familiar storyline to Peanuts fans. December 29 (page three hundred thirteen), Charlie Brown worries about a book report he was supposed to write on Gulliver's Travels over Christmas vacation. He bemoans his tendency to procrastinate, all while putting the book aside and settling in a chair to watch television. His problem seems comically obvious to us, but aren't we inclined to the same behavior? We philosophize regarding our weaknesses, condemning them even as we don't change a thing. The human heart and mind are good at diagnosis, but awful at following through with the hard work needed to course correct. Will Charlie Brown have an easier time at life in 1965?
Peanuts is a joy, whether you take the strips one a day as originally published or read multiple years at once in a single book. We may wish we were like Linus, but Charlie Brown or Lucy often are more realistic avatars for us. Despite their flaws, however, we love them and hope for their happiness as they enter a new year. Charles Schulz understands the tedium and thrills of life, and you'll find both in Peanuts. Volume 7 is one of the better books thus far in the Fantagraphics collection, and I anticipate more of the same in volume 8. No comic strip was ever satisfying in quite the same way as Peanuts.
October 7, 2020
Another winning collection of the Peanuts comics which include Linus running for class president, Snoopy messing around with some birds and more bad news baseball. A (100%/Outstanding)
May 4, 2025
i wonder if we’ll ever get to meet the red haired girl charlie brown is pining over… i kinda want to look it up but at the same time i dont want to ruin the surprise
thoroughly enjoyed the renovation of snoopy's neverending doghouse
thoroughly enjoyed the renovation of snoopy's neverending doghouse
January 30, 2025
I love the Peanuts gang! And it's always fun to find comics that were used in the movies.🥰
October 7, 2024
Deep into vintage Peanuts territory. Whole lot of baseball, which appeals to me, the gang works to renovate Snoopy's (internally enormous) doghouse, Lucy volunteers Linus for the Christmas pageant; Linus lets the little red headed girl know of Charlie Brown's crush...thoroughly enjoyable as I continue to my journey through the collected works. Some of the earlier characters--Pigpen, Violet, Shermy, moving into the background.
December 29, 2015
This is the one I wanted to read. I read the first two collections, when Schulz, the comics genius, was developing his craft, the 1950-51 and the 52-53 volumes. The somewhat (much?) curmudgeonly Schulz hated the title an editor had forced on him for this comics series, Peanuts, which he said "lacked dignity," something that he thought he brought to his craft every day, and he hated the limitations thematically and artistically that were forced on him by space and fifties ideology, choices made for him by the culture and my editors. He was no Crumb, no underground comics guy, he wanted a place in the daily funnies, and he got it, he had a huge audience, but he also felt it cramped him. In the beginning the comics were grumpier, edgier than a decade later, when, in middle school, I was reading them like a Daily (Religious) Devotional. Oh, and we read those religious tracts every day at the table, too, in my Dutch Calvinist house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but maybe for me Charlie Brown and Snoopy comics were a kind of secular devotional, a better reflection of the world I lived in, my Dickinson St. neighborhood, with a range of kids that played all day together all summer after a winter of sledding. Charlie Brown's neighborhood was in some sense like mine, and I was its Charlie Brown, sort of picked on, a nerd, sweet and vulnerable who needed "all the friends I can get" (one of the punchlines from the year's comics, that was printed on a yellow sweatshirt my mom bought me in 1965, when I was 12 years old!). For me it was less the also much read C.S Lewis's Narnia Chronicles (though I did read them and loved them then), nor was it Milne's Winnie The Pooh stories, which I didn't read until later in earnest. Also a dysfunctional bunch of "kids," Pooh's world is, but for me it was Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy, those sweet and only slightly dysfunctional neighborhood friends.
So, as I said, this is the one I wanted to read, the 1963-64 volume, to on the one hand, to see how Schulz was developing as an artist--I would never have thought of comics as art then, but art they were and are, of course, a powerful and quick world sketched and consumed daily and quickly, with a smile, over Cheerios and oj. And here his craft is 12 years in very assured, a clearer, stronger line, sharper, more confident, and the tone visually and thematically is a little softer, as Schulz emerges as less curmudgeony in the public eye, and more as America's Beloved Comic writer. oOh, there were others I would have read in the daily strips (and the gloriously full color Sunday funnies, especially!): Walt Kelly's Pogo, Nancy, Prince Valiant, The Family Circus, Ben Casey, Blondie, Ketcham's Dennis the Menace, Dr Kildare, many others, but wasn't it really Charlie Brown that was the most loved, the top, the best? It was for me, really, especially in 1963-64, 6th grade for me, Oakdale Public School. So if it was on the one hand that I read this volume to see the development of an artist and the emergence of a cultural phenomenon, it was just as important for me to revisit my youth, my nerdy, big eared and freckled junior high years. So I would have read these at 12 and 13, so I was eager to see myself and my times in these, and they worked for me, and I remembered so many of them, so insightful and funny and yes, warmer and sweeter than the early stuff, but just so good.
The one complaint I would have about this book is the Hal Hartley introduction. Why him, and in the intro he seems to feel the same way, that he was not a particular fan. eh. Compared to the intros and essays with the first two volumes, this was disappointing. But the book is great for Schulz, obviously.
So, as I said, this is the one I wanted to read, the 1963-64 volume, to on the one hand, to see how Schulz was developing as an artist--I would never have thought of comics as art then, but art they were and are, of course, a powerful and quick world sketched and consumed daily and quickly, with a smile, over Cheerios and oj. And here his craft is 12 years in very assured, a clearer, stronger line, sharper, more confident, and the tone visually and thematically is a little softer, as Schulz emerges as less curmudgeony in the public eye, and more as America's Beloved Comic writer. oOh, there were others I would have read in the daily strips (and the gloriously full color Sunday funnies, especially!): Walt Kelly's Pogo, Nancy, Prince Valiant, The Family Circus, Ben Casey, Blondie, Ketcham's Dennis the Menace, Dr Kildare, many others, but wasn't it really Charlie Brown that was the most loved, the top, the best? It was for me, really, especially in 1963-64, 6th grade for me, Oakdale Public School. So if it was on the one hand that I read this volume to see the development of an artist and the emergence of a cultural phenomenon, it was just as important for me to revisit my youth, my nerdy, big eared and freckled junior high years. So I would have read these at 12 and 13, so I was eager to see myself and my times in these, and they worked for me, and I remembered so many of them, so insightful and funny and yes, warmer and sweeter than the early stuff, but just so good.
The one complaint I would have about this book is the Hal Hartley introduction. Why him, and in the intro he seems to feel the same way, that he was not a particular fan. eh. Compared to the intros and essays with the first two volumes, this was disappointing. But the book is great for Schulz, obviously.
December 30, 2018
Linus runs for school president but drops an October surprise on his campaign manager. He also has to deal with his blanket-hating grandma. We find out for the first time that Snoopy is a beagle, and that in his dog house is a pool table, TV, clock radio, historical mural, library, and a Van Gogh.
The best parts to me were Snoopy and Frieda and the rabbits, and some really good Humane Society jokes.
The best parts to me were Snoopy and Frieda and the rabbits, and some really good Humane Society jokes.
January 18, 2016
The main cast: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy & Linus van Pelt, Schroeder, Sally Brown.
The supporting cast: Frieda (but no Faron), Patty, Violet, Shermy, Pig-Pen (just barely, with one spoken role in '63 and a brief appearance in '64 in one of two clever comics where Schulz involves all his PEANUTS characters in a single strip), and new-comer 555 95472 ("Call me 5!") and his sisters 3 & 4--a clever response to the introduction of "ZIP codes" in 1963.
The mid-1960s show Charles M. Schulz at his very finest! This is the classic world of PEANUTS that we all fell in love with. Linus loses the class presidential election because of his belief in the Great Pumpkin; Snoopy's friendship with the neighborhood bird community blossoms; Charlie Brown struggles with "Little Leaguer's elbow" and "eraserophagia"; Lucy, in perhaps a bit of vindication for Charlie Brown, cannot kick a football herself; and, perhaps my favorite, quite a few comics are spent poking fun at the idea of Snoopy having a whole mansion inside of the doghouse, even though he prefers to sleep on the uncomfortable rooftop.
I look forward to the next volume, which includes the introduction of Peppermint Patty! That monumental moment, and the fact that this volume contains hundreds of "lost comics" in the PEANUTS canon, makes the box set of these two volumes an incredibly rare collectors' item (much to my chagrin...)
Happiness is a good book!
The supporting cast: Frieda (but no Faron), Patty, Violet, Shermy, Pig-Pen (just barely, with one spoken role in '63 and a brief appearance in '64 in one of two clever comics where Schulz involves all his PEANUTS characters in a single strip), and new-comer 555 95472 ("Call me 5!") and his sisters 3 & 4--a clever response to the introduction of "ZIP codes" in 1963.
The mid-1960s show Charles M. Schulz at his very finest! This is the classic world of PEANUTS that we all fell in love with. Linus loses the class presidential election because of his belief in the Great Pumpkin; Snoopy's friendship with the neighborhood bird community blossoms; Charlie Brown struggles with "Little Leaguer's elbow" and "eraserophagia"; Lucy, in perhaps a bit of vindication for Charlie Brown, cannot kick a football herself; and, perhaps my favorite, quite a few comics are spent poking fun at the idea of Snoopy having a whole mansion inside of the doghouse, even though he prefers to sleep on the uncomfortable rooftop.
I look forward to the next volume, which includes the introduction of Peppermint Patty! That monumental moment, and the fact that this volume contains hundreds of "lost comics" in the PEANUTS canon, makes the box set of these two volumes an incredibly rare collectors' item (much to my chagrin...)
Happiness is a good book!
April 6, 2025
New characters in this collection. We meet 5, the boy whose name is a number. His sisters 3 and 4 also make an appearance.
My favorite plots are about Lucy, of course, she is my favorite. I loved when she put all of Charlie Brown's faults on slides. Of course, her pulling the football away is classic.
Linus had a great chance to become student president with Charlie Brown as Vice President, but his love for the great pumpkin ruined it.
All in all, I loved this collection. I am still waiting for the arrival of my other favorite character, Marcie.
My favorite plots are about Lucy, of course, she is my favorite. I loved when she put all of Charlie Brown's faults on slides. Of course, her pulling the football away is classic.
Linus had a great chance to become student president with Charlie Brown as Vice President, but his love for the great pumpkin ruined it.
All in all, I loved this collection. I am still waiting for the arrival of my other favorite character, Marcie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2017
Thoroughly charming. The change from the early 1950s "Peanuts" is complete, and the second act of Schulz's comic is nearing its end; things would become somehow both more repetitive and also more interesting in the late '60s, but here it's completely classic.
June 4, 2018
This Peanuts collection, 1963-1964, stands out. The strip suffered from overexposure beginning about ten years later. It was probably on nearly every bulletin board in every grade school in the country. In that time, it was mainly the very sentimentalized excerpts featuring a sweet saccharine world, and it is still close to that today. Too bad, as it leaves out the sharper and wittier world of the characters. The 1964 Sunday proclaims, "Happiness is winning an argument with your sister," so when Lucy argues that Linus will get great satisfaction from kicking apart a snow-Lucy he had made, he says "On the contrary! That would be crude. I'm just going to stand here and watch it slowly melt away!" In other places, Lucy makes her patented temper humorous and even wise when she claims,"There's nothing like a little physical pain to take your mind off your emotional problems." Sunday strips then were more widely read, so when Charley Brown lamented twice in one Sunday, "There's a dreariness in the air that depresses me," many people laughed but nodded their heads. But perhaps Sally displays the most existential angst when after crying out loud on a Sunday, she explains, "I was jumping rope....Everything was all right...when...Suddenly it all felt so futile!" On a side note, I find that reading just a couple pages a day works best with strip reprints. They were intended by their creators to be read a little at a time. In any case, this volume of Fantagraphics' great series is a special, truthful one.
December 28, 2018
This collection is right in the heart of classic Peanuts. The characters and themes that sustained the strip are starting to come together.
It may be that this is just the era of the strip that feels most familiar to me. Some of the comics are familiar from the Scholastic reprint books we used to get as kids.
I’m especially looking forward to the next couple of volumes as I think they will be my “childhood” memories.
It may be that this is just the era of the strip that feels most familiar to me. Some of the comics are familiar from the Scholastic reprint books we used to get as kids.
I’m especially looking forward to the next couple of volumes as I think they will be my “childhood” memories.
May 29, 2021
I had forgotten about 5 but did recognise him and the mention of his sisters, 3 and 4, rung a bell, however I don't recall ever actually seeing the sisters before. They were short lived characters who fitted in to the world of Charlie Brown. In this 63 to 64 era, Snoopy becomes even more lovable and more sarcastic. Fond memories flooding back as I read this complete series in chronological order.
June 5, 2021
Linus: "When I get big, I'd like to be a prophet."
Charlie Brown: "That's a fine ambition... The world can always use a few good prophets... The only trouble is that most of them turn out to be false prophets."
Linus: "Maybe I could be a sincere false prophet."
Charlie Brown: "That's a fine ambition... The world can always use a few good prophets... The only trouble is that most of them turn out to be false prophets."
Linus: "Maybe I could be a sincere false prophet."
April 12, 2022
A simply wonderful read!
Peanuts never disappoints, always entertaining.
Peanuts never disappoints, always entertaining.
March 13, 2019
Old friends appear. The little red-haired girl, mentioned once in the last volume, here has a long sequence that turns her into the famous princesse lointaine. 5 appears, a bit-- the gag is a little quickly exhausted. Charlie Brown has trouble with his arm and so with pitching (but the status quo returns). Lucy tries to get someone to call her "cutie." Linus has varied adventures because of the blanket.
August 21, 2016
Growing up, Peanuts was not one of my favorite cartoons in the newspaper. It was just always there.
As I got older and learned more about comics (and read a lot more), I came to respect it more and more. Both for what it did and what it never tried to do.
This is where the Peanuts strips start to get their classic feel. The Great Pumpkin, Beethoven's birthday, Charlie Brown and the football, all the little birds abusing Snoopy's hospitality (although we haven't hit the canonical Woodstock bird form yet). And the things that didn't come to be part of the canon (like blanket-hating Grandma Van Pelt or the kid named 5) fit seamlessly into the alternate tranquil neurotic child-centric world of Peanuts.
As I got older and learned more about comics (and read a lot more), I came to respect it more and more. Both for what it did and what it never tried to do.
This is where the Peanuts strips start to get their classic feel. The Great Pumpkin, Beethoven's birthday, Charlie Brown and the football, all the little birds abusing Snoopy's hospitality (although we haven't hit the canonical Woodstock bird form yet). And the things that didn't come to be part of the canon (like blanket-hating Grandma Van Pelt or the kid named 5) fit seamlessly into the alternate tranquil neurotic child-centric world of Peanuts.
January 26, 2015
Wonderful! Love watching the strip evolve. Truly classic stuff here, a bit of Americana that I believe everyone should be (at least) familiar with.
The Complete Peanuts series drives home what a masterpiece Charles M. Schulz created.
The Complete Peanuts series drives home what a masterpiece Charles M. Schulz created.
September 10, 2016
The perfect companion for work-day lunches...
October 17, 2021
I took my time, going through these two years of classic strips, primarily because this slice of time (1963-64) was just about when I began reading the paperback collections that my parents had purchased. In reading every single strip, as collected in this volume, I got to see some gems that weren't in the abridged bits, and it was like discovering something new in the attics of memory.
It's at this point in the history of the comic that Schulz began letting himself be a bit more daring in being silly. In many different commentaries, he observed that Snoopy was never meant to be a "real dog"; after all, we see his thoughts about so many things that we almost expect him to speak at any moment. It's about this time that we begin seeing him kick the football better than Lucy (who tries kicking it herself before she getting Charlie Brown to break his back every year), and in the school play of the first noel, Snoopy becomes shepherd Linus' "flock" and offers up a "baaa" on cue. Not too far in the future, we'll see him become a whirlydog, along with other delightful bits of the impossible. We're just beginning to see that happy madness begin to blossom.
There's an old joke that "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." It may be a joke for me to say that, as far as Schulz goes, nostalgia is in fine fettle, and it's still a delight. I've been collecting these volumes slowly, reading them slowly, and I'm now more than ready to get the next volume. Indulge yourself!
It's at this point in the history of the comic that Schulz began letting himself be a bit more daring in being silly. In many different commentaries, he observed that Snoopy was never meant to be a "real dog"; after all, we see his thoughts about so many things that we almost expect him to speak at any moment. It's about this time that we begin seeing him kick the football better than Lucy (who tries kicking it herself before she getting Charlie Brown to break his back every year), and in the school play of the first noel, Snoopy becomes shepherd Linus' "flock" and offers up a "baaa" on cue. Not too far in the future, we'll see him become a whirlydog, along with other delightful bits of the impossible. We're just beginning to see that happy madness begin to blossom.
There's an old joke that "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." It may be a joke for me to say that, as far as Schulz goes, nostalgia is in fine fettle, and it's still a delight. I've been collecting these volumes slowly, reading them slowly, and I'm now more than ready to get the next volume. Indulge yourself!
January 19, 2019
1963 and 1964 were clearly two of the best years for The Peanuts. In these years Charlie Brown's mishaps were still more important than Snoopy's adventures, and the volume is chock-full of his and Linus's frustrating adventures. Charlie Brown's "highlights" are the lonely lunch hour panels of November 11 and early December 1963, and Lucy putting all his faults on slides (January 1964). Linus's problems start right away on January 10, 1963 when Linus's blanket-hating grandmother comes to visit. Other great episodes involving Linus are him wanting to be a rancher (January/February 1963), watching the eclipse (July 1963), Lucy making him sing Jingle Bells at a PTA meeting (December 1963), and the best story of the whole volume (and one of the best overall): Linus running for school president (October 1964). Snoopy's biggest adventure is getting hospitalized (June 1963). Of course, apart from these episodes there are many fantastic single panels. Overall, the quality of panels is very high, with Schulz still excelling in facial expressions and depictions of movement. Only at the end of 1964 Schulz's inspiration seems to waver, with the panels of November 21 & 25 and December 10 & 25 being particularly weak. Nevertheless, this volume ends great, with a continuing story of Charlie Brown postponing reading of 'Gulliver's Travels', on which he has to write a report...
April 21, 2021
Alright. I usually give a proper opinion, but it kinda just felt meh to me. Just another book in the story, I guess. I liked it. I'm pretty sure--forgive me if I'm wrong-- Snoopy falls in love in this book. Yeah. He's ice skating at midnight when he meets her, and when she says her dad won't let them get married, Snoopy's heart breaks. Later on he meets her again and almost--literally--drowns.
Turns out, she had moved on so yeeeeaaaaaaahhhh. He also tries to reunite his family..... But they all speak different languages. Poor Snoopy.
'Pig Pen' got in this one, only by a few strips though. Charlotte Braun has pretty much disappeared. Frieda's cat also didn't make it in. Auuuuuuggggghhhh. Charlie Brown's crush on the "Little Red-Head Girl" persists, and he continues to do nothing about it. ARG. Baseball goes terrible, as always, and as expected. See what I mean, "meh"?
Turns out, she had moved on so yeeeeaaaaaaahhhh. He also tries to reunite his family..... But they all speak different languages. Poor Snoopy.
'Pig Pen' got in this one, only by a few strips though. Charlotte Braun has pretty much disappeared. Frieda's cat also didn't make it in. Auuuuuuggggghhhh. Charlie Brown's crush on the "Little Red-Head Girl" persists, and he continues to do nothing about it. ARG. Baseball goes terrible, as always, and as expected. See what I mean, "meh"?
June 23, 2022
Lo mas destacable de este tomo: unos personajes nuevos 3, 4 y 5, tres hermanos, que salen poco en las historias. La memorable candidatura de Linus para el Consejo Escolar, con la colaboración como asesora de su campaña de Lucy, así, el éxito está asegurado si las elecciones no son cerca de cierto día de noviembre. También destacable la presentación audiovisual de Lucy sobre los defectos de Carlitos. Los pájaros amigos de Snoopy celebran alguna timba en la caseta, y conoceremos que Linus pinta en el techo un mural sobre la historia de la civilización, que Snoopy posee un Van Gogh, una mesa de billar y alguna maceta de tipo enredadera. A petición de Frieda, Snoopy va a cazar conejos, como solo él sabe hacer. Obra maestra este tomo.
January 18, 2022
Roster: Charlie Brown, Sally, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Patty, Violet, Pigpen, Shermy, and Frieda
New Characters: 5 and his two sisters 3 and 4
Schulz's masterpiece has rounded fully into form at this point. Highlights include Charlie Brown's bout of "little leaguer's elbow," his lonely lunches pining for the little red-haired girl, Linus's battle against his blanket-hating grandmother and his run for school president (derailed by his belief in the Great Pumpkin), and Lucy's science fair project on Linus and his blanket.
New Characters: 5 and his two sisters 3 and 4
Schulz's masterpiece has rounded fully into form at this point. Highlights include Charlie Brown's bout of "little leaguer's elbow," his lonely lunches pining for the little red-haired girl, Linus's battle against his blanket-hating grandmother and his run for school president (derailed by his belief in the Great Pumpkin), and Lucy's science fair project on Linus and his blanket.
November 28, 2023
Perhaps when the series was at its peak. The characters are developed, between the wishy-washy ways of Charlie Brown, everyone's favorite loser, to Snoopy evolving into the beagle with a wild imagination, and it is funny and engaging. I am not quite on the whole "sellout" thing that others would be after the late 1960s when Schultz found more commercial opportunities for his strip. Still, there is stronger quality in this time frame vs. some of his later endeavors. The early-mid 1960s are probably the strongest of the series and they are well worth the read.
May 28, 2022
Having now caught up to where I began reading in the early 60s, there’s a definite hop in style and content from the 50s. Early characters have all but totally disappeared (I liked Shermy, Violet, and Patty) and some new ones have appeared on the scene (the extremely forgettable 3, 4, and 5). A number of gags are also recognizable from the television specials. By and large, though, this is Schulz at the top of his game.
Read
November 7, 2025It is always fun to read the earlier Peanuts strips and see where certain segments of the specials come from. For example, I rewatched The Great Pumpkin last week for Halloween and this volume has several strips that are adapted for that special such as Lucy’s “signed document” for kicking the football and Snoopy helping blow leaves into a pile. Of course, it also contains the famous Linus presidential campaign plotline from You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown!
February 10, 2018
Another volume of Peanuts and by this time, even though the full cast still isn't present, it's perfect. Highlights include Linus running for class president and a group of (pre Woodstock) politically motivated birds.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews