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The Complete Peanuts #9
The Complete Peanuts, 1967-1968
As we rush toward the end of Peanuts' second decade, Snoopy looms large, Peppermint Patty ascends toward future stardom, Lucy antagonizes everyone and Charlie Brown is... Charlie Brown. Snoopy finds himself almost completely engrossed in his persona as the World War I Flying Ace ― to the point where he goes to camp with Charlie Brown and maintains his persona throughout the entire two-week period (much to Peppermint Patty's bafflement).
Still, Snoopy looms large, so this volume (a particularly Snoopy-heavy one) sees him arm-wrestling Lucy as the "Masked Marvel" and then taking off for Petaluma for the national arm-wrestling championship; impersonating a vulture and a "Cheshire Beagle"; enjoying golf and hockey; attempting a jaunt to France for an ice-skating championship; running for office on the "Paw" ticket; being traded to Peppermint Patty's baseball team, then un-traded and installed as team manager by a guilt-ridden Charlie Brown; as well as dealing with the return of his original owner, Lila. If you're surprised by that last one, imagine how Charlie Brown feels...
Lila makes only a brief appearance (as does José Peterson, a short-lived ― and short ― star member of Charlie Brown's baseball team), but this volume sees the appearance of what would be Schulz's most controversial major character: Franklin. (Yes, in 1968 the introduction of a black character caused a stir.) Peppermint Patty, working toward her ascendancy as one of the major Peanuts players in the 1970s and 1980s, also has several major turns, including a storyline in which she’s the tent monitor for three little girls (who call her "Sir" ― a joke Schulz would pick up later with Peppermint Patty's friend Marcie).
Stories involving other characters include a sequence in which Linus's flippant comment to his Gramma that he'll kick his blanket habit when she kicks her smoking habit backfires; Lucy bullies Linus, pesters Schroeder, and organizes a "crab-in"; plus Charlie Brown copes with Valentine's Day depression, the Little Red-Haired Girl, the increasingly malevolent kite-eating tree, and baseball losses. In other words: Vintage Peanuts! All this, plus an introduction by beloved transgressive filmmaker John Waters and award-winning design by Seth. 730 black-and-white comic strips
Still, Snoopy looms large, so this volume (a particularly Snoopy-heavy one) sees him arm-wrestling Lucy as the "Masked Marvel" and then taking off for Petaluma for the national arm-wrestling championship; impersonating a vulture and a "Cheshire Beagle"; enjoying golf and hockey; attempting a jaunt to France for an ice-skating championship; running for office on the "Paw" ticket; being traded to Peppermint Patty's baseball team, then un-traded and installed as team manager by a guilt-ridden Charlie Brown; as well as dealing with the return of his original owner, Lila. If you're surprised by that last one, imagine how Charlie Brown feels...
Lila makes only a brief appearance (as does José Peterson, a short-lived ― and short ― star member of Charlie Brown's baseball team), but this volume sees the appearance of what would be Schulz's most controversial major character: Franklin. (Yes, in 1968 the introduction of a black character caused a stir.) Peppermint Patty, working toward her ascendancy as one of the major Peanuts players in the 1970s and 1980s, also has several major turns, including a storyline in which she’s the tent monitor for three little girls (who call her "Sir" ― a joke Schulz would pick up later with Peppermint Patty's friend Marcie).
Stories involving other characters include a sequence in which Linus's flippant comment to his Gramma that he'll kick his blanket habit when she kicks her smoking habit backfires; Lucy bullies Linus, pesters Schroeder, and organizes a "crab-in"; plus Charlie Brown copes with Valentine's Day depression, the Little Red-Haired Girl, the increasingly malevolent kite-eating tree, and baseball losses. In other words: Vintage Peanuts! All this, plus an introduction by beloved transgressive filmmaker John Waters and award-winning design by Seth. 730 black-and-white comic strips
325 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
45 people are currently reading
652 people want to read
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,037 books1,627 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
July 26, 2023
This collects the Peanuts strips from 1967 and 1968. The strip is definitely in its prime although Marcie hasn't shown up yet. Highlights include Peppermint Patty having some prominent roles, Snoopy acting like a piranha, Snoopy getting into arm wrestling, Charlie Brown trading Snoopy to Peppermint Patty's baseball team for five players to be named later, and Linus being himself.
December 30, 2020
Continuing my tradition of ending the year with a book from the Complete Peanuts collection, and just like always it’s great.
This volume, covering 1967-1968, contains one of my all-time favorite strips - https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1967...
In this volume we have hippies, the introduction of Franklin (and his hilarious introduction to Charlie Brown’s friends), Peppermint Patty is called “sir” for the first time in the same storyline where we see a proto-Marcie, a rare case of an adult speaking, and the Vietnam War manages to creep it’s way in.
One of the great parts of reading two years of this at once is that you get to see some of Schultz’s brilliant and gradual unspooling of stories. The story of “Lila” starts off in bits and pieces here and there but gradually builds to an incredible reveal.
The star of these for me is always Snoopy, and this time around he’s a WWI ace, a hockey player, a mountain lion, a vulture (always my favorite), a secret agent, a creature from the sea, a baseball manager, a pro golfer, the Easter Bunny, a wrist wrestler, a mad punter, and the best of all - a great appearance as the Masked Marvel arm wrestling challenger to Lucy.
This volume, covering 1967-1968, contains one of my all-time favorite strips - https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1967...
In this volume we have hippies, the introduction of Franklin (and his hilarious introduction to Charlie Brown’s friends), Peppermint Patty is called “sir” for the first time in the same storyline where we see a proto-Marcie, a rare case of an adult speaking, and the Vietnam War manages to creep it’s way in.
One of the great parts of reading two years of this at once is that you get to see some of Schultz’s brilliant and gradual unspooling of stories. The story of “Lila” starts off in bits and pieces here and there but gradually builds to an incredible reveal.
The star of these for me is always Snoopy, and this time around he’s a WWI ace, a hockey player, a mountain lion, a vulture (always my favorite), a secret agent, a creature from the sea, a baseball manager, a pro golfer, the Easter Bunny, a wrist wrestler, a mad punter, and the best of all - a great appearance as the Masked Marvel arm wrestling challenger to Lucy.
March 18, 2025
The late 1960s are considered the golden age of Peanuts; did this book live up to the hype? January 19, 1967 (page nine) we get a Linus gag featuring his calligraphic lettering when playing tic-tac-toe against Lucy. He sure won't be the one to mess up the board! January 22 (page ten) is a Sunday strip about Sally adamantly not touching Snoopy after she washes for supper. Her hysterical reaction to Snoopy's mischievous teasing is hilarious, but people do get worked up about trivial matters. January 31 (page fourteen) is a classic Lucy-Schroeder bit about his fixation on all things Beethoven, and February 23 (page twenty-four) is a nice spot of humor about the human impulse to resist imposition on our leisure time. February 27 (page twenty-six), Charlie Brown asks Linus how to deal with being universally disliked. Charlie Brown's aversion to Linus's call for honest introspection is a reaction we all tend to have. I love Charlie Brown's simile on March 15 (page thirty-two) after his baseball team loses. His comparison of defeat to dropping your ice cream cone on the sidewalk is fitting. When Lucy strikes out in a baseball game March 26 (page thirty-seven), Charlie Brown's frantic struggle to not clear his throat and make her think he's going to criticize her is a perfect Peanuts- joke.
Linus and Charlie Brown converse on April 15 (page forty-five), Linus asking if it's best to solve problems immediately or delay. Charlie Brown's response is an earnest glimpse at the wishful nature of humans. Snoopy as the "Cheshire Beagle" acts as centerpiece for a week's worth of jokes, with April 21 (page forty-eight) being the funniest. I love Schroeder's sardonicism at Lucy's expense on May 1 (page fifty-three), about how "drab this world would be without the sound of children's voices”. In my edition of this book, the May 1 strip is repeated in error where May 3 should be. A series of jokes about using a "NYAAH!" taunting sound has begun by May 4 (page fifty-four), and that day's final panel is vintage, hilarious Charlie Brown. May 5 is deceptively insightful about the damage innocuous teasing can do in a relationship if it inflicts a wound that festers, and May 15 (page fifty-nine) is another smart Charlie Brown simile, comparing receiving a chain letter to finding gum on the bottom of your shoe. It's much the same as being infected by a computer virus.
A storyline launched May 22 and 23 (page sixty-two) sees Linus patting Woodstock-like birds on the head. His patting makes them happy, but others look at him funny because most boys don't find satisfaction patting birds on the head. Lucy is outraged that Linus has turned her into a laughingstock, but May 27 (page sixty-three), she approaches the birds herself for a pat. They scatter before she gets close enough, calcifying her resentment. Not everyone has Linus's radiant, welcome touch; in his own words on May 23, "I think I've found my calling!". May 31 (page sixty-five) may be the finest strip of this story, Linus arguing that if he and the birds are happy because he pats them on the head, people have no cause to object. The whole story arc may be the best in the first twenty years of Peanuts. June 6 (page sixty-eight) sees Linus and Sally musing over what it might be like to have a do-over in life; do we ever really learn enough that a do-over would succeed? July 4 (page eighty) is a great visual gag, Linus's hair blown back by Lucy's shouting, and July 11 (page eighty-three) forwards the concept with a superb final line from Linus about his sister's yelling. Linus threatens Snoopy on August 17 (page ninety-nine) if the beagle won't unhand his blanket, and Snoopy's reflection on his own decision to back down is intriguing. How many of us lead lives "full of unsuffered consequences" because we avoid things that probably would never occur? We get a great meta Sunday strip September 17 (page one hundred twelve), the cast of characters on Charlie Brown's baseball team turning a mound conference into a debate on the nature of human suffering.
Shades of the 1972 animated special Snoopy, Come Home are evident in the "No dogs allowed" September 21 (page one hundred fourteen) strip. Charlie Brown and Frieda trade words on a beautiful afternoon October 7 (page one hundred twenty), but Charlie Brown concludes that the best way to preserve such a day is to hide in bed so no bad memories mar it. October 15 (page one hundred twenty-four) is an insightful Sunday. After feeding Snoopy, Charlie Brown comments that he ran out of dog food so he had to give cat food instead. Snoopy is sickened, imagining what gross things the crude food is doing to his insides...but Charlie Brown reveals he'd only been joking. It's funny how we coerce ourselves into false sensations that fit our narrative priors. 1968 begins on a note of frankness as Lucy asks Charlie Brown on January 3 (page one hundred fifty-eight) how it feels to know he'll never be heroic. He protests that he may well be a hero someday...but deep down haven't most of us resigned to a life that's less than we aspired to? A joke from the 1975 animated Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown shows up February 13 (page one hundred seventy-six), and February 27 (page one hundred eighty-two) Charlie Brown makes pertinent observations about chronic anxiety. Sometimes I feel "My stomach hates me" too, Charlie Brown.
April 14 (page two hundred two) makes no direct mention of Snoopy as the "Easter Beagle" but has him dancing around hiding eggs like in the animated special. April 28 (page two hundred eight) is a Sunday that sees Snoopy fretting because he saw a bug in his supper dish earlier. Charlie Brown brings his meal, but surely he removed the bug carcass...right? Snoopy goes crazy worrying, but we know Charlie Brown won't leave him in limbo. I love this particular day’s good heart. April 29 (page two hundred nine), Snoopy leaves for the World's Wrist Wrestling Championship in Petaluma, and Charlie Brown's reflection on his departure feels so true. "(Goodbyes) always make my throat hurt...I need more hellos." I hear that, Charlie Brown. July 23 (page two hundred forty-five), Charlie Brown gets knocked upside down on the pitcher's mound by a batted ball, and Lucy casually hangs his cap over his shoes that are pointed skyward. No one reacts to Charlie Brown being upside down as the game progresses, which often happens in life: something knocks us topsy turvy and others expect us to carry on as usual. A historic day for Peanuts arrives July 31 (page two hundred forty-eight) with the first appearance by eventual series regular Franklin, and August 11 (page two hundred fifty-three) gifts us a classic Lucy the psychiatrist Sunday strip. She presses Charlie Brown to encapsulate a philosophy he can guide his life by, and his off-the-cuff answer—"Life is like an ice cream cone...you have to learn to lick it!"—is now one of my favorite Peanuts quotes.
Ah, yes...August 15 (page two hundred fifty-five), Charlie Brown has a chance to pitch a stellar baseball game and earn the admiration of the Little Red-Haired Girl. His neuroses turn him into a mess of jitters, incapable of starting the game. How often do deep-seated insecurities betray us in nasty ways? August 24 (page two hundred fifty-eight) is our first actual glimpse of Lila, the girl who Snoopy has been carrying on about for most of this book. Their interaction here is the basis for Snoopy, Come Home. Linus eloquently describes his sentiments for his blanket on September 11 (page two hundred sixty-six), offering insight into why we treasure things beyond objective value. We're treated to one of the funniest strips in the collection December 11 (page three hundred five), Sally delightfully flubbing a line in the A Visit from St. Nicholas poem. December 31 (page three hundred fourteen) is a comment on how the years slip out of our grasp one at a time without any real improvement to how we live. What is it like to be "stupid old Charlie Brown"? Most of us know the answer all too well.
Following a stumble in the 1965-1966 volume, The Complete Peanuts bounces back in ’67 and '68 with some of the slyest, funniest, wisest, most resonant material Charles Schulz ever created. The storyline about Linus and his little bird friends stands out for its nuanced exploration of the need to be assertive when you find the thing that gives your life meaning. Some of us Linuses win the confrontation and others lose, but we must take advantage of our one chance to get behind life's controls and play. The ’67 and '68 Peanuts collection is on par with or better than any of the first eight volumes, children's literature that can be appreciated by anyone. It's hard to believe Schulz could do any better in 1969.
Linus and Charlie Brown converse on April 15 (page forty-five), Linus asking if it's best to solve problems immediately or delay. Charlie Brown's response is an earnest glimpse at the wishful nature of humans. Snoopy as the "Cheshire Beagle" acts as centerpiece for a week's worth of jokes, with April 21 (page forty-eight) being the funniest. I love Schroeder's sardonicism at Lucy's expense on May 1 (page fifty-three), about how "drab this world would be without the sound of children's voices”. In my edition of this book, the May 1 strip is repeated in error where May 3 should be. A series of jokes about using a "NYAAH!" taunting sound has begun by May 4 (page fifty-four), and that day's final panel is vintage, hilarious Charlie Brown. May 5 is deceptively insightful about the damage innocuous teasing can do in a relationship if it inflicts a wound that festers, and May 15 (page fifty-nine) is another smart Charlie Brown simile, comparing receiving a chain letter to finding gum on the bottom of your shoe. It's much the same as being infected by a computer virus.
A storyline launched May 22 and 23 (page sixty-two) sees Linus patting Woodstock-like birds on the head. His patting makes them happy, but others look at him funny because most boys don't find satisfaction patting birds on the head. Lucy is outraged that Linus has turned her into a laughingstock, but May 27 (page sixty-three), she approaches the birds herself for a pat. They scatter before she gets close enough, calcifying her resentment. Not everyone has Linus's radiant, welcome touch; in his own words on May 23, "I think I've found my calling!". May 31 (page sixty-five) may be the finest strip of this story, Linus arguing that if he and the birds are happy because he pats them on the head, people have no cause to object. The whole story arc may be the best in the first twenty years of Peanuts. June 6 (page sixty-eight) sees Linus and Sally musing over what it might be like to have a do-over in life; do we ever really learn enough that a do-over would succeed? July 4 (page eighty) is a great visual gag, Linus's hair blown back by Lucy's shouting, and July 11 (page eighty-three) forwards the concept with a superb final line from Linus about his sister's yelling. Linus threatens Snoopy on August 17 (page ninety-nine) if the beagle won't unhand his blanket, and Snoopy's reflection on his own decision to back down is intriguing. How many of us lead lives "full of unsuffered consequences" because we avoid things that probably would never occur? We get a great meta Sunday strip September 17 (page one hundred twelve), the cast of characters on Charlie Brown's baseball team turning a mound conference into a debate on the nature of human suffering.
Shades of the 1972 animated special Snoopy, Come Home are evident in the "No dogs allowed" September 21 (page one hundred fourteen) strip. Charlie Brown and Frieda trade words on a beautiful afternoon October 7 (page one hundred twenty), but Charlie Brown concludes that the best way to preserve such a day is to hide in bed so no bad memories mar it. October 15 (page one hundred twenty-four) is an insightful Sunday. After feeding Snoopy, Charlie Brown comments that he ran out of dog food so he had to give cat food instead. Snoopy is sickened, imagining what gross things the crude food is doing to his insides...but Charlie Brown reveals he'd only been joking. It's funny how we coerce ourselves into false sensations that fit our narrative priors. 1968 begins on a note of frankness as Lucy asks Charlie Brown on January 3 (page one hundred fifty-eight) how it feels to know he'll never be heroic. He protests that he may well be a hero someday...but deep down haven't most of us resigned to a life that's less than we aspired to? A joke from the 1975 animated Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown shows up February 13 (page one hundred seventy-six), and February 27 (page one hundred eighty-two) Charlie Brown makes pertinent observations about chronic anxiety. Sometimes I feel "My stomach hates me" too, Charlie Brown.
April 14 (page two hundred two) makes no direct mention of Snoopy as the "Easter Beagle" but has him dancing around hiding eggs like in the animated special. April 28 (page two hundred eight) is a Sunday that sees Snoopy fretting because he saw a bug in his supper dish earlier. Charlie Brown brings his meal, but surely he removed the bug carcass...right? Snoopy goes crazy worrying, but we know Charlie Brown won't leave him in limbo. I love this particular day’s good heart. April 29 (page two hundred nine), Snoopy leaves for the World's Wrist Wrestling Championship in Petaluma, and Charlie Brown's reflection on his departure feels so true. "(Goodbyes) always make my throat hurt...I need more hellos." I hear that, Charlie Brown. July 23 (page two hundred forty-five), Charlie Brown gets knocked upside down on the pitcher's mound by a batted ball, and Lucy casually hangs his cap over his shoes that are pointed skyward. No one reacts to Charlie Brown being upside down as the game progresses, which often happens in life: something knocks us topsy turvy and others expect us to carry on as usual. A historic day for Peanuts arrives July 31 (page two hundred forty-eight) with the first appearance by eventual series regular Franklin, and August 11 (page two hundred fifty-three) gifts us a classic Lucy the psychiatrist Sunday strip. She presses Charlie Brown to encapsulate a philosophy he can guide his life by, and his off-the-cuff answer—"Life is like an ice cream cone...you have to learn to lick it!"—is now one of my favorite Peanuts quotes.
Ah, yes...August 15 (page two hundred fifty-five), Charlie Brown has a chance to pitch a stellar baseball game and earn the admiration of the Little Red-Haired Girl. His neuroses turn him into a mess of jitters, incapable of starting the game. How often do deep-seated insecurities betray us in nasty ways? August 24 (page two hundred fifty-eight) is our first actual glimpse of Lila, the girl who Snoopy has been carrying on about for most of this book. Their interaction here is the basis for Snoopy, Come Home. Linus eloquently describes his sentiments for his blanket on September 11 (page two hundred sixty-six), offering insight into why we treasure things beyond objective value. We're treated to one of the funniest strips in the collection December 11 (page three hundred five), Sally delightfully flubbing a line in the A Visit from St. Nicholas poem. December 31 (page three hundred fourteen) is a comment on how the years slip out of our grasp one at a time without any real improvement to how we live. What is it like to be "stupid old Charlie Brown"? Most of us know the answer all too well.
Following a stumble in the 1965-1966 volume, The Complete Peanuts bounces back in ’67 and '68 with some of the slyest, funniest, wisest, most resonant material Charles Schulz ever created. The storyline about Linus and his little bird friends stands out for its nuanced exploration of the need to be assertive when you find the thing that gives your life meaning. Some of us Linuses win the confrontation and others lose, but we must take advantage of our one chance to get behind life's controls and play. The ’67 and '68 Peanuts collection is on par with or better than any of the first eight volumes, children's literature that can be appreciated by anyone. It's hard to believe Schulz could do any better in 1969.
June 17, 2021
Charlie Brown: "I'm depressed, Linus... I need an encouraging word to cheer me up."
Linus: "Happiness lies in our destiny like a cloudless sky before the storms of tomorrow destroy the dreams of yesterday and last week!"
Charlie Brown: "I think that blanket is doing something to you..."
Linus: "Happiness lies in our destiny like a cloudless sky before the storms of tomorrow destroy the dreams of yesterday and last week!"
Charlie Brown: "I think that blanket is doing something to you..."
April 14, 2022
It’s the Peanuts comics with two years worth of great strips full of giggles, awes and smiles. A (100%/Outstanding)
July 24, 2017
Another two years done!
Overdosed on Snoopy and the Red Baron strips but otherwise excellent.
Overdosed on Snoopy and the Red Baron strips but otherwise excellent.
June 15, 2022
The best part of a newspaper, and sometimes the only part of the paper worth reading is the comics.
Peanuts will live forever. Good ol' Charlie Brown.
Peanuts will live forever. Good ol' Charlie Brown.
May 13, 2012
I have a firm love of the Peanuts comic strips. Perhaps I appreciate the humour, the writing, the drawings or the characters? Or perhaps Peanuts is one of those rare forms of literature which takes on a life of its own in its readers. That becomes organic as the worlds of Sherlock Holmes; The Lord of the Rings; The Chronicles of Narnia; the modern day Marvel and DC superheroes; Doctor Who and Star Wars have.
The artistry and writing of Schulz is astonishing. He delivers often sarcastic and deadpan humour with great wit. And it is a humour that is not limited to word use, often defined by the presence of a visual gag. But perhaps what is more important is that the humour, in all its forms, is active and living. The humour despite being decades old is still powerful today.
The characters are iconic. Who could forget Charlie Brown, the boy who tries his hardest to be liked and yet fails at all the things he does. What about Linus, as the boy with the blanket. There's Lucy the crabby girl who runs a psychiatry or doctor booth and bosses all the characters around. How about Peppermint Patty, Pig Pen, Rerun, Sally Brown, Schroeder or Woodstock? And we cannot forget one of the most lovable characters in Snoopy, whose relationship with Charlie Brown is intriguing and enigmatic.
There have been many other great comic strips that I have appreciated. From Garfield to Calvin and Hobbes for instance. However Peanuts of all of them is perhaps one of the great and most important as the musings of its characters inform us about the world we live in from a child's perspective. I think that part of the genius of Schulz' work is his ability to capture how children think and pen it all down. In many ways Peanuts is a satire in the type of Oscar Wilde or Anton Chekhov through the more modernised art form of the comic strip panel.
Peanuts may not always be polished but it always has something to say. And while not every joke may be memorable the ideas are. As an aside apparently the name comes from the idea of the peanut gallery - the group of people who criticise someone in a drama or theatre by pointing out something that is often insignificant. Which is precisely what Peanuts does in a fun way.
The artistry and writing of Schulz is astonishing. He delivers often sarcastic and deadpan humour with great wit. And it is a humour that is not limited to word use, often defined by the presence of a visual gag. But perhaps what is more important is that the humour, in all its forms, is active and living. The humour despite being decades old is still powerful today.
The characters are iconic. Who could forget Charlie Brown, the boy who tries his hardest to be liked and yet fails at all the things he does. What about Linus, as the boy with the blanket. There's Lucy the crabby girl who runs a psychiatry or doctor booth and bosses all the characters around. How about Peppermint Patty, Pig Pen, Rerun, Sally Brown, Schroeder or Woodstock? And we cannot forget one of the most lovable characters in Snoopy, whose relationship with Charlie Brown is intriguing and enigmatic.
There have been many other great comic strips that I have appreciated. From Garfield to Calvin and Hobbes for instance. However Peanuts of all of them is perhaps one of the great and most important as the musings of its characters inform us about the world we live in from a child's perspective. I think that part of the genius of Schulz' work is his ability to capture how children think and pen it all down. In many ways Peanuts is a satire in the type of Oscar Wilde or Anton Chekhov through the more modernised art form of the comic strip panel.
Peanuts may not always be polished but it always has something to say. And while not every joke may be memorable the ideas are. As an aside apparently the name comes from the idea of the peanut gallery - the group of people who criticise someone in a drama or theatre by pointing out something that is often insignificant. Which is precisely what Peanuts does in a fun way.
March 23, 2019
Peanuts rolls on. The kite-eating tree finally appears, after all his adventures with kites. Baseball games with some interaction with Peppermint Patty -- she joins the team with a new character Jose, briefly -- and with the usual slew of loss. Linus tells his blanket-hating grandma that she has to give up smoking for him to give up his blanket, with the expected consequence. Camp -- actually that was more Peppermint Patty as tent monitor and her three charges. Snoopy as a flying ace, and a sequence with him skating and planning on the Olympics (until he tries to go and discovers there's an ocean in the way) and some as a vulture. He interacts with a single bird a lot -- still nameless, though. Linus's measles shot has him panicking. And more.
December 31, 2020
How do you rate perfection?
I grew up with paperback Peanuts collections and the late sixties are when most of my favourite strips appeared.
Amazing. Words can't express.
I grew up with paperback Peanuts collections and the late sixties are when most of my favourite strips appeared.
Amazing. Words can't express.
January 17, 2025
Franklin makes his appearance as Peanuts' first Black character, whose dad is in Vietnam. Charlie Brown trades Snoopy to Peppermint Patty's team. Snoopy spends a lot of time in his Sopwith Camel. A quick nod to the Sixties via "Feelin' Groovy." Excellent peak Peanuts.
May 4, 2025
snoopy’s imagination has been vivid since his early appearances, and his impressions and caricatures are part of his charm, but this volume solidifies his world war 1 ace pilot fighter identity (which also incidentally had me listen to it’s a long way to tipperary, which subsequently got stuck in my head for a couple days
December 17, 2012
At eighteen years into the Peanuts run, we've reached the halfway point of the full thirty four years, and having gone through the early years with him, you can really appreciate that Schulz is a completely different cartoonist than when he started out. Not that his drawing style has gotten any better, but his handling of his material has gone far beyond the repetitious style of his early years - in fact, at this point he's gotten really inventive, and sometimes, even somewhat surprising.
Snoopy by now has become, if not the most dominant character, at least as dominant as anyone else, and is definitely the vehicle for a lot of that inventiveness. You can pretty much follow the development of the strip over the years by the various roles that Snoopy is taking on, at least in his imagination. During this particular span, he's still doing a lot of the World War I pilot, but he's also an Olympic class figure skater, a private detective, and the arm-wrestling Masked Marvel, along with just with being Snoopy, a role with lots of drama in itself.
I'll dedicate this review to Schroeder. Of the five major characters (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and Schroeder), Schroeder would have to qualify as the most limited - all the others have expanded over the years except him, but Schroeder as a character is pretty much limited to the same schtick that he started out with - Beethoven fanatic, Charlie Brown's catcher on the baseball team, and Lucy's unrequited love. And he never steps out of those roles - nonetheless, he still gets major space in the strip, I guess by sticking with what he knows best. So here's to Schroeder, Peanuts and the sixties - the decade that everything, both in Peanuts and the world at large, changed. Except Schroeder.
Snoopy by now has become, if not the most dominant character, at least as dominant as anyone else, and is definitely the vehicle for a lot of that inventiveness. You can pretty much follow the development of the strip over the years by the various roles that Snoopy is taking on, at least in his imagination. During this particular span, he's still doing a lot of the World War I pilot, but he's also an Olympic class figure skater, a private detective, and the arm-wrestling Masked Marvel, along with just with being Snoopy, a role with lots of drama in itself.
I'll dedicate this review to Schroeder. Of the five major characters (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and Schroeder), Schroeder would have to qualify as the most limited - all the others have expanded over the years except him, but Schroeder as a character is pretty much limited to the same schtick that he started out with - Beethoven fanatic, Charlie Brown's catcher on the baseball team, and Lucy's unrequited love. And he never steps out of those roles - nonetheless, he still gets major space in the strip, I guess by sticking with what he knows best. So here's to Schroeder, Peanuts and the sixties - the decade that everything, both in Peanuts and the world at large, changed. Except Schroeder.
September 22, 2015
A great collection. I hope to work my way through the canon and may even, one day, include among my reviews one of those gross semi-saccharine, semi-lemonade, autobiographical essays that somehow connects my life to, or at list filters it through the prism of, Peanuts. A highlight (a revelation) throughout the collection is the surprisingly rich vocabulary (the word balloons often threaten to squeeze their heads out of frame) these li'l folks use to express their ennui within (Schulz was originally going to title the strip Tortured Souls), and (oft hyper-surreal) experience of, the world. Didn't appreciate it as a kid, but it must've had as much a hand in early reading comprehension as, say, Sesame Street did with the basics, the nuts and bolts, the monsters and martians. But for now, I'll just point out two of my faves...
Weirdest strip (John Waters thinks so, so there you go):
Linus walks up to Lucy at her psychiatric booth and says, "Here, you got a letter." Lucy takes it and says, "Thank you...I was expecting this..." Linus asks, "What is it?" Lucy says, "My monthly check from the CIA."
Most "yep, that's true" strip:
Charlie and Lucy run towards a sheet of ice and begin to slide across it. Lucy asks, "Charlie Brown, how does it feel to know that you will never be a hero?" Charlie says, "What makes you think I'll never be a hero? I may surprise you! I may save a life or report a fire or do almost anything!" The pair come to a stop on the ice. Lucy turns to Charlie and says, "Let me put it this way...How does it feel way down deep in your heart of hearts to know that you will never be a hero?" Charlie, hands in pockets, grimaces and says, "Terrible" as Lucy stands there with a triumphant smile.
Weirdest strip (John Waters thinks so, so there you go):
Linus walks up to Lucy at her psychiatric booth and says, "Here, you got a letter." Lucy takes it and says, "Thank you...I was expecting this..." Linus asks, "What is it?" Lucy says, "My monthly check from the CIA."
Most "yep, that's true" strip:
Charlie and Lucy run towards a sheet of ice and begin to slide across it. Lucy asks, "Charlie Brown, how does it feel to know that you will never be a hero?" Charlie says, "What makes you think I'll never be a hero? I may surprise you! I may save a life or report a fire or do almost anything!" The pair come to a stop on the ice. Lucy turns to Charlie and says, "Let me put it this way...How does it feel way down deep in your heart of hearts to know that you will never be a hero?" Charlie, hands in pockets, grimaces and says, "Terrible" as Lucy stands there with a triumphant smile.
February 5, 2017
More classic Peanuts. First appearance of Franklin. Snoopy plays a little hockey and does a little ice dancing, but does a LOT of World War I. And Lola! Ah, Lola. The kite-eating tree. The little red-haired girl. Baseball, Lucy pulls the football away, The Great Pumpkin.
June 24, 2025
A great collection. My favorite is the last one. Charlie Brown is talking to Linus and says well I did it again, I blew another year. Charlie Brown is the kid in all of us. We want to so badly to be the hero but we feel like the goat.
May 26, 2017
The word of the year was gauche for sure.
February 17, 2025
Absolute classic Peanuts with Peppermint Patty starting to come into her own, Franklin appearing and some really excellent Snoopy moments.
His and Lucy’s relationship is especially interesting with her rejecting every time he instigates but she’s happy to give him her love beads that Schroeder rejects! Perfect escapist entertainment
His and Lucy’s relationship is especially interesting with her rejecting every time he instigates but she’s happy to give him her love beads that Schroeder rejects! Perfect escapist entertainment
December 31, 2019
1968 was a really good year. (They all are, but still.)
January 12, 2022
"I wonder if I could get transferred to another planet" & "My anxieties have anxieties".
July 8, 2022
This is a very Snoopy heavy volume of Peanuts. Hope you like the World War I Flying Ace (I don't particularly care for that persona). There is also a super brief visit to Snoopy's original owner, Lila. It felt like that was a reference back to something, given how short the story line is here, but Charlie Brown is flabbergasted when Linus tells him.
The bigger items of note are the new characters.
Franklin makes his first appearances during these years. Nowadays a black character in a comic strip isn't all that noteworthy, but back in 1968 it was certainly more controversial. It adds some much needed diversity to the otherwise white cast.
Jose Peterson is another minority character briefly introduced here. He plays as a ringer on Peppermint Patty's baseball team. Not much is revealed about him, though. But, again, it shows Schulz willing to add some color to his strip.
Finally, there's a prototype of Marcie in the story line involving Peppermint Patty acting as tent monitor at summer camp. One of the three girls has the same hair style and glasses Marcie would eventually have, although you can see this girl's eyes (which causes an oddly uncanny look given how familiar Marcie's lack of eyes is).
The introduction by John Waters is one of the better introductions. He even includes page references when he points out particular strips. Waters is insightful and entertaining, as usual.
I don't think this is a particularly strong Peanuts collection, but there were still enough strips that made me laugh out loud to warrant the read. And the new characters show signs of social progress during the 1960s.
The bigger items of note are the new characters.
Franklin makes his first appearances during these years. Nowadays a black character in a comic strip isn't all that noteworthy, but back in 1968 it was certainly more controversial. It adds some much needed diversity to the otherwise white cast.
Jose Peterson is another minority character briefly introduced here. He plays as a ringer on Peppermint Patty's baseball team. Not much is revealed about him, though. But, again, it shows Schulz willing to add some color to his strip.
Finally, there's a prototype of Marcie in the story line involving Peppermint Patty acting as tent monitor at summer camp. One of the three girls has the same hair style and glasses Marcie would eventually have, although you can see this girl's eyes (which causes an oddly uncanny look given how familiar Marcie's lack of eyes is).
The introduction by John Waters is one of the better introductions. He even includes page references when he points out particular strips. Waters is insightful and entertaining, as usual.
I don't think this is a particularly strong Peanuts collection, but there were still enough strips that made me laugh out loud to warrant the read. And the new characters show signs of social progress during the 1960s.
February 4, 2025
I loved that, even though reading in the distant future, it was obvious to me that the Christmas Eve->Day staging, of Snoopy in France WWII grousing "Will this stupid war never end? ... ... I'm tired of this war!", was aimed at the prolonged disaster in Vietnam that had been for at least a decade by then. I know very little war specifics- but friction with Vietnam involvement is stamped on the late sixties in my minds‘º’eye from storytellers who also used their "published" voices to emphasize what needed done.
Snoopy is as bad a dog as usual, whacking Charlie (who's only "that round head kid" to him) over the head unapologetically with a hockey stick two days in a row as a highlight of his habitual unfriendliness, which inspired me to hypothetically conduct a study on the public perception of him. I thought through targeting anyone who said that they read the strip, in some huge sample set, to have them choose what words they associate with him -or something like that- then finish with "did you watch him animated?". I assume that nearly all who also watched Snoopy, essentially everyone who I've spent my life with, think of him drastically differently than those who actually read this as adults. I've read from the beginning in 1950 through 1986, besides the 1983->4 book, and think of him as only pleasant-without-motive to those smaller than him like the birds.
Snoopy is as bad a dog as usual, whacking Charlie (who's only "that round head kid" to him) over the head unapologetically with a hockey stick two days in a row as a highlight of his habitual unfriendliness, which inspired me to hypothetically conduct a study on the public perception of him. I thought through targeting anyone who said that they read the strip, in some huge sample set, to have them choose what words they associate with him -or something like that- then finish with "did you watch him animated?". I assume that nearly all who also watched Snoopy, essentially everyone who I've spent my life with, think of him drastically differently than those who actually read this as adults. I've read from the beginning in 1950 through 1986, besides the 1983->4 book, and think of him as only pleasant-without-motive to those smaller than him like the birds.
January 17, 2021
A era de ouro de Peanuts
Quando uma tirinha tem mais de 50 anos de publicação, é difícil definir qual é seu ápice. Cada leitor, no entanto, pode definir qual é o momento em que os momentos mais icônicos acontecem.
Para quem acompanha o desenvolvimento de Schulz desde o primeiro volume de Peanuts Completo, é evidente a evolução tanto das personagens quanto da própria arte.
Eu consideraria este um dos precursores da era de ouro do Peanuts, pois o Barão Vermelho, a constante batalha no campo de baseball, as consultas honestas de Lucy, a árvore devoradora de pipas, são algumas das cenas mais marcantes de "Minduim" para a massa.
Mesmo que este volume tenha focado primordialmente em Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy e Linus (senti falta dos demajs personagens secundários), continuo com a nota de 5 estrelas porque o tom cômico e reflexivo de Peanuts reverbera por cada página.
Nota: 5/5 beagles.
Quando uma tirinha tem mais de 50 anos de publicação, é difícil definir qual é seu ápice. Cada leitor, no entanto, pode definir qual é o momento em que os momentos mais icônicos acontecem.
Para quem acompanha o desenvolvimento de Schulz desde o primeiro volume de Peanuts Completo, é evidente a evolução tanto das personagens quanto da própria arte.
Eu consideraria este um dos precursores da era de ouro do Peanuts, pois o Barão Vermelho, a constante batalha no campo de baseball, as consultas honestas de Lucy, a árvore devoradora de pipas, são algumas das cenas mais marcantes de "Minduim" para a massa.
Mesmo que este volume tenha focado primordialmente em Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy e Linus (senti falta dos demajs personagens secundários), continuo com a nota de 5 estrelas porque o tom cômico e reflexivo de Peanuts reverbera por cada página.
Nota: 5/5 beagles.
April 7, 2018
As always, Schulz makes a fun read. The strip is largely the same as its been for the past few years, but that's not a bad thing — he's in peak form and this is solidly charming and funny. Schulz is never static, though; the biggest change is that Snoopy plays a much larger role, with his WW I flying ace persona (introduced in the previous collection) dominating a lot of strips (I have friends who really wish Schulz had spun off Snoopy and focused on the kids). He's also spending more time with a bird who's clearly Woodstock, even if he's not named yet.
Peppermint Patty is back from the previous book too (and one girl she meets comes off as a dry run for Marcie). And we get one new kid, Franklin, whose black, which was controversial at the time.
Peppermint Patty is back from the previous book too (and one girl she meets comes off as a dry run for Marcie). And we get one new kid, Franklin, whose black, which was controversial at the time.
August 10, 2022
En este volumen se encuentran excelentes momentos de la historia de los Peanuts, yo destacaría el torneo de pulsos con el mítico enfrentamiento final entre Lucy y Maravilla Enmascarada (Snoopy), la aparición de Frankin ,el primer personaje negro en la serie, y la visita que hace al barrio de Carlitos, y su reacción, la secuencia de Linus dando golpecitos en la cabeza a los pájaros que tanto irrita a Lucy, una secuencia dedicada a Pecas Patty. A mi me pareció memorable también la secuencia en la que Snoopy parte a los juegos de invierno de Grenoble para participar en patinaje artístico, hasta que se encuentra con el Océano, claro. Obra Maestra con mayúsculas.
June 17, 2020
Another wonderful volume of cartoons. I'm collecting the set and enjoying them all as I go. Some are familiar from small paperbacks I loved in the eighties, others are totally new. This time snoopy really becomes the flying ace and there are some hippie references, but it doesn't matter. The characters are timeless and magical.
June 13, 2021
Waiting for Jack Nicklaus on Christmas Eve, bowls of goop, Snoopy tripping over blighters, Snoopy coming across an unexpected obstacle on his journey to Grenoble in France to represent the USA in ice skating, the introduction of characters of darker skin (which did not go down well with the hard of thinking) and so much more. Love Peanuts.
October 31, 2021
Snoopy gets more into his air force persona, however still attempts to try out different identities lol.
He never fails to annoy lucy hehe..
Also, we find out Snoopy was first owned by a lil girl named LILA!!! :○
OH and we see FRANKLIN come into the fold, they meet at the beach and build sandcastles together.
LOVE IT!
He never fails to annoy lucy hehe..
Also, we find out Snoopy was first owned by a lil girl named LILA!!! :○
OH and we see FRANKLIN come into the fold, they meet at the beach and build sandcastles together.
LOVE IT!
February 27, 2022
Wonderful as always. Many episodes of the World War I ace pilot. The birds are now in their final form, looking like Woodstock does as a fixed character, though the character has not appeared so far. Important in the series as it’s the first time Franklin, the African American Peanut, is introduced, and at the beach no less!
August 25, 2023
Lots of fun as always. World War 1 Flying Ace makes a lot of appearances. In fact Snoopy seems to be more front and centre in this volume. Of course, there are all the usual characters doing what they do best. It also introduces the character of Franklin near the end of the book. Looking forward to reading the next one.
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