In The Complete Peanuts 1959-1960: As the first decade of Peanuts closes, it seems only fittingto bid farewell to that halcyon decade with a cover starring Patty, oneof the original three Peanuts. Major new additions to classic Peanutslore come fast and furious here. Snoopy begins to take up residenceatop his doghouse, and his repertoire of impressions increasesexponentially. Lucy sets up her booth and offers her first five-centpsychiatric counsel. (Her advice to a forlorn Charlie Brown: "Get overit.") For the very first time, Linus spends all night in the pumpkinpatch on his lonely vigil for the Great Pumpkin (although he lamentsthat he was a victim of "false doctrine," he's back 12 months later).Linus also gets into repeated, and visually explosive, scuffles with ablanket-stealing Snoopy, suffers the first depredations of hisblanket-hating grandmother, and falls in love with his new teacher MissOthmar. Even more importantly, several years after the last addition tothe cast ("Pig-Pen"), Charlie Brown's sister Sally makes her appearance- first as an (off-panel) brand new baby for Charlie to gush over, thenas a toddler and eventually a real, talking, thinking cast member. (Bythe end of this volume, she'll already start developing her crush onLinus.) All this, and one of the most famous Peanuts stripsever: "Happiness is a warm puppy." Almost one hundred of the 731 stripscollected in this volume (including many Sundays) have never beencollected in any book since their original release, with one hundredmore having been collected only once in relatively obscure and nowimpossible-to-find books; in other words, close to one quarter of thestrips have never been seen by anyone but the most avid Peanuts completists. The introduction is by comedienne extraordinaire Whoopi Goldberg, who reveals which Peanutscharacter she has tattooed on her body (and where) - as well as tellingof her meeting with "Sparky" Schulz, and her fascinating theory onSnoopy's brother Spike. As always, this volume is gorgeously designedby award-winning cartoonist Seth. The Complete Peanutscontinues to receive national and international media attention for itssophisticated treatment of one of the 20th Century's defining Americanclassics.
In The Complete Peanuts 1961-1962: Launching into the 1960s, Schulz adds another new cast member. Two, infact: The obnoxious Frieda, of "naturally curly hair" fame, and herinert, seemingly boneless cat Faron. The rapidly maturing Sally, whowas after all just born in the previous volume, is ready to startkindergarten and not at all happy about it. Linus' life is particularlyturbulent in this volume, as he is forced to wear glasses, sees theunexpected return of his favorite teacher, Miss Othmar, and coaxesSally into the cult of the Great Pumpkin (with regrettable results).Snoopy, meanwhile, becomes a compulsive water sprinkler head stander,unhappily befriends a snowman or two, and endures a family crisisinvolving a little family of birds. Plus baseball blowouts (including arare team victory), Beethoven birthdays, and plenty of dubiouspsychiatric help for a nickel. This book collects 730 daily and Sundaycomic strips, the vast majority of which are not currently available inany in-print Peanuts collection, and many of which have neverbeen reprinted since their initial appearance in papers over 50 yearsago. With a new introduction by legendary jazz pianist/vocalist DianaKrall and gorgeous design by award-winning cartoonist Seth.
