The Complete Peanuts 1965-1966

I gave this collection 5 stars because the strip was still at its peak; but, ominously, this is where Peanuts starts to go down hill. The introduction of the Peppermint Patty character is the turning point, where the peak of Peanuts ends and the long decline from greatness begins.Not that there was anything wrong with the Peppermint Patty character to begin with. The character was amusing as an occasional intruder into the Peanuts World; but, eventually, Peppermint Patty and the other characters introduced over the coming years came to take over the strip. This new concept of the strip was not as good as the original, and it got worse as years went by. This corruption of the "pure" original concept of Peanuts, combined with the shocking deterioration of Schulz's drawing ability in later years, clearly marks the end of Peanuts as the greatest of comic strips. Greatness is not the permanent condition of anybody or anything, and no peak lasts forever. Schulz had as long a peak period as any other comic strip artist (George Herriman being a possible exception), and I highly reccomend this volume because it was in that peak period, though towards the end of it.Peanuts was a great strip from the beginning, and it was on a continuous upward arc from there. By the early 60s, the cast of characters was as complete as it had to be, the addition of Charlie Brown's nasty little sister Sally being the last necessary addition. Schulz possibly started running out of ideas for this cast and felt, to keep fresh, he had to bring in new faces. Unfortunately, the new faces weren't as good, or funny, as the originals. Peppermint Patty was the first of these newer characters. Peanuts was still pretty darned good for ten or so years after this, up to the mid-to-late 70s, but here is where Schulz started abandoning the original Peanuts characters and the newer cast was distinctly less inspired than was the original.The newer characters reflected a creeping mellowness in his outlook, which is common for an artist growing older. (Some, like Mark Twain, get nastier and bitterer as they grow older, but, as in the case of Twain, this doesn't necessarily make them better either.) The newer characters were too "nice". Peanuts, for all the (mistaken) talk of its "heartwarming" humor, was not sweetness and light on the comics page. It was a tale of rotten little kids being rotten to each other. This was the source of its greatness. That was the originality and innovation behind the strip. Once it became "mellow" and "nice", it lost its originality and cutting edge.However, though this volume represents the downward turn, it is still great stuff. Rereading it all these years later, I found it better than I remembered. When I was younger, I didn't really care for the Red Baron & Snoopy strips, thinking them too far away from the true gist of the strip. Now I found them very funny. Schulz started to play heavily on the "Bleah" vs. "Nyahh" arguments between Lucy, Violet and Snoopy, which were peaks in silly (but accurate and on-the-mark) humor. The "grit your teeth" baseball sequence, and Sally and her troubles with the "New Math" were other very inspired highlights.Though there were bad signs of the decline to come towards the end of this volume, that decline hadn't set in yet. Peanuts had at least 2 more peak years to come, then 5 or 6 more very good years. Buy this, because it is one of the best volumes in the set, but mourn also, because here is where it starts to go down, down, down.

The newest collection of Peanuts I read has classic moments. This is the first mention of Snoopys World War 1 flying ace. He has begun his never-ending battle with the Red Baron. There was also a great romance between Snoopy and a female beagle he met while ice skating.The rest of the gang are wonderful, as always, especially Lucy. In this collection, she and Linus move away when their father is transferred to another city. Both Sally and Schroeder react to their absence.Sally had to handle wearing an eye patch because of a weak eye.In August of 1966, Peppermint Patty makes her debut.Of course, the great tragedy is that Snoppy's dog house burns down.I am continuing on my journey through the Peanuts collections.

With this volume of The Complete Peanuts we see Charles M. Schulz's world in full flower. The main characters are in their prime, particularly Snoopy, who at long last climbs into his Sopwith Camel and takes off after the Red Baron. We also see the introduction of Peppermint Patty, an inspired addition to the neighborhood. She's wise and clueless at the same time, rendering her a fit companion for "Chuck", "Lucille" and "the Funny Looking Kid with the Big Nose." In this volume we also see the first appearances of some favorite neuroses, especially queen snakes and kite eating trees. As always, some of the best strips include references to current events in the news and entertainment during 1965 and 1966, such as Schroeder's groaning "don't tell me "I've grown accustomed to THAT face!" after realizing he misses Lucy during her family's brief move away from town. (Funny to think that Schroeder took time to see "My Fair Lady" in between practicing Beethoven on his toy piano.) But its also nice that we see little or no hint of the truly disturbing assassinations, wars, riots, and other traumas which raged during those two years: Schulz realized his readers needed a little escapism every now and then.This volume is a particular favorite of mine since it includes the strips that I first remember reading on my own at the age of 8 and 9 in the daily paper. Having the date of each strip clearly established helps me recreate my own early years and also leads to some intriguing discoveries, including that Sally Brown and I had amblyopia at precisely the same time! (She got away with wearing an eye patch, but I had to have surgery!)This volume also includes all of the original Snoopy vs Red Baron strips that eventually were dramatized in "Its The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!", first shown in October 1966. Schulz must have drawn them at about the same time the dramatization was being created, meaning that the collaboration which makes both the strips and the TV specials immortal was even closer than I realized. I hope to see the 1967-1968 volume soon!

Charles Schulz is very much in stride during 1965-1966. Characters are still developed intelligently. Their dialogues and discussions often pertain to mature things. Some of the dark places Charlie Brown goes because of the cruelty of his peers are on full display. The Sunday Strip where he finally earns a trophy (from bowling a high score), and Lucy points out that his name had been misspelled on the plaque, leading her to taunt him and totally diminish his joy from earning an award, is just black. Snoopy was still a fun and light-hearted supplementary character. True Peanuts diehards almost unanimously agree that his increased role and presence in the strip during the 1980's really led to the strips downfall. We are still years away from that happening in this volume. His role-playing is always entertaining, especially when he plays the WW1 Flying Ace, talking to the French girl who doesn't "speak the English."This is Charles Schulz near his highest of heights. This is wildly entertaining, and has content that both children and mature adults will enjoy. High marks!

Forgotten just how good Peanuts was. Had a few books as a kid and loved it. Now I’m grown up (well, old) I can afford to buy ALL the books and that’s what I’m doing. Amazing to see how the characters started out and how they developed within a few years into their unique and well-known personalities. The format of the books is very good - 2 years per volume, great design and reproduction.

How could any PEANUTS fan not want to own these excellent volumes?In my teens I collected the PEANUTS paperbacks which presented reprints out of order and mixing up very early with later versions of the same characters. (I still have all of these!) But for the real collector, to have every strip in sequence from the earliest to the last is an absolute treasure. I fully intend to collect the set and keep them in the family for future generations to enjoy!

I read a week each morning from this series, and I always get a laugh or an insight into life.

My 14 year old loves these books. It is part of a series that presents the whole of peanuts. They have interesting introductions and are beautifully bound and presented.

Great books for the Peanuts fans!