Customer Reviews

The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 (v. 10)

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This new edition will prove to be another classic 2 year period. Much of this volume wound up in You've Had It, Charlie Brown, You're Out Of Sight, Charlie Brown and You've Come A Long Way, Charlie Brown. Snoopy will continue his charade as the World War I Flying Ace (as pictured on the cover). Charlie Brown's beloved little red haired girl moves away (he still has to feed his dog amidst a broken heart and Linus gives him a little boot for not getting to know her when he had the chance!). Lucy ponders the meaning of life. Snoopy is the 1st dog to go to the moon and is left at the Van Pelts while Charlie and Sally Brown are on vacation. Charlie Brown has the chance to meet Joe Shlabotnik at a baseball banquet dinner and brings Linus and Snoopy (Snoopy flirts with Peggy Fleming). Linus reads the entire geneology of Jesus at a Christmas paegant (Lucy sarcastically suggests he read the entire book of Genesis while he's at it). Peppermint Patty tries selling a pumpkin after Halloween at no avail, so she tries to make a pie. Frieda pressures Snoopy to go rabbit chasing with the threat of reporting him to the head beagle if he doesn't comply. She's also Lucy's competition in hanging around Schroeder's piano (and of course, the musical maestro isn't crazy about either one of them, so he has 2 heads to remove from his piano instead of one!). I guess he hadn't forgotten the kite-eating tree incident! Peppermint Patty is forced to hang up her sandals at school because of the new dress code (Snoopy tries kissing away the tears and Franklin concludes "Any rule that would make a girl cry would have to be a bad rule!"). However, Peppermint Patty finds a worthy escort with Snoopy at a school dance and when someone insults the kid with the big nose, Peppermint Patty clobbers the guy! Sally complains about having to write a report on George Washington and hopes something about him pops up on television (this was years before the public heard about the internet). She also writes a report on Abraham Lincoln ("He was the 16th king and married Lot's wife"- now don't ask me where she did her research!). Snoopy gets elected Head Beagle the year after his threat from Frieda (his office doesn't last long) and nominated Rookie of the Year (and has lots of autographs to sign from admiring bird fans). In 1970, one bird makes his formal debut after being christened "Woodstock" (named, of course, after the rock festival held one year before). Both he and Snoopy are afraid to go to sleep after Peppermint Patty tells them vampire stories. So get this volume soon or Frieda might report you to the head beagle!

I enjoyed this volume of The Complete Peanuts almost as much as I have the other volumes in this series. I knew that this particular volume would be somewhat bittersweet, as it was during 1969 and 1970 that I originally started to notice the strip was beginning to lose some of the sharpness of its glory years in the early to mid 1960s. In those years the Peanuts kids were diminutive philosophers creating the motifs that still resonate down the years as what Peanuts is all about: the security blanket, the Red Baron, the little red-haired girl, the toy piano, and so on.

All of these motifs are still present in the 1969-1970 volume, but they are beginning to be squeezed out by Schulz's increasing fascination with Snoopy's fantasy life and his new bird friend Woodstock. Now I love Snoopy and I find Woodstock appealing, don't get me wrong, but too many of the strips came to focus almost exclusively on them, to the detriment of some of the kid characters. Pig Pen has entirely disappeared, and Shermy, Patty, Frieda, and Violet only stroll by now and again. Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Peppermint Patty are now the only major characters besides Snoopy and Woodstock.

Everything changes, and Peanuts evolved almost continuously from its start in 1950. The difference I see here is that the changes apparent in this volume signal a move away from the strip's high point. Others will see this differently, of course, but for me personally this volume seems to start Peanuts' decline.

Fantagraphics Books has ambitious plans to reprint the entire run of Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. This volume reprints the strips from 1969 and 1970. Some of the memorable moments include: Lucy throws Schroeder's piano into the kite eating tree, Snoopy lands on the moon (in his imagination), the little red-haired girl moves away, Snoopy gets elected Head Beagle and Woodstock gets a name. Peanuts was a comic strip masterpiece and this book has two years worth of proof of that. I might mention as an aside that although Snoopy is pictured as the World War I Flying Ace on the cover, there are only a handful of strips in which he portrays that character.

Another momentous event occurs in this, the tenth volume of what seems like an infinite series. 232 pages in, the various birds that have hung around Snoopy's place since the mid 1960s finally achieve distillation down to a recognizable unit. On June 22nd, 1970, Snoopy addresses the reader: "I finally found out what that stupid bird's name is... you'll never believe it.. Woodstock!" In the tradition of Mutt and Jeff, Batman and Robin, and even Laurel and Hardy, Snoopy and Woodstock became, from that moment on, almost inseparable companions. In this volume Snoopy plays straight man... dog... to Woodstock's fumblings. Most of their interaction at this point follows the same pattern: Woodstock runs into a tree, Snoopy comments, Woodstock takes a raucous birdbath, Snoopy comments, etc. After twenty years of Peanuts, its most famous duo has finally coagulated. A standout volume, indeed.

By this point the Peanuts gang had so settled into their routines, histrionics, and personalities that further comment isn't required. The absences remain more pronounced than the appearances. For instance, Pigpen does not appear once (though his filthy aura graces the spine). Shermy appears twice. When Frieda appears, she almost always goads Snoopy into chasing rabbits and not much more. Franklin's around, but he never plays a leading role. Peppermint Patty's monolithic personality crowds out these lesser characters. And Marcie doesn't even appear until the next volume. The Peanuts stage and cast won't change much for a few decades.

This volume closes out the 1960s. Some consider this decade the strip's absolute peak with the onset of the 1970s signaling the a decline that culminates in the 1990s. Whether true or not, no evidence of decline appears in this volume. Apart from The World War I Flying Ace, Snoopy takes on other personas, including the rather bizarre "World Famous Grocery clerk," first Beagle on the moon ("You can tell I'm returning because I'm facing the other way" (March 8, 10 - 15, 1969), hockey player, aspiring novelist, and a prototype "Joe Cool" complete with shades (June 13, July 24, 1970).

Other highlights include: Lucy throws Schroeder's piano into a kite eating tree (January 20 - 25, 27 - 30, 1969); Lucy looks for the answers to life (March 17 - 21; Linus tells her "5"); a timeout for a bug crossing the infield (May 12, 1969); the little red haired girl moves away (July 14 - 19, 21 - 24, 1969); Snoopy gets "rejection slip shock" (September 12, 1969); Snoopy gets reported to the "Head Beagle" (October 9 - 11, 13 - 18, 20 - 21, 1969); Linus recites "begat" Bible verses (December 21, 1969); Snoopy becomes "Head Beagle" (February 16 - 21, 26 - 28, March 2 - 7, 9 - 13, 1970); a riot breaks out at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (June 29 - July 4, 6 - 8), "Woodstock is glad that he tastes terrible with cranberry sauce" (November 26, 1970).

"The Complete Peanuts" is now ten volumes strong. Fantagraphics, the publishers of the series, have recently completed the amazing feat of reprinting the complete Krazy Kat Sunday pages. Any company that can accomplish that Herculaen task will very likely finish the entire 50 year run of Peanuts. The single complaint remains the lack of color on the Sunday pages. Still, having even twenty years of complete Peanuts strips more than makes up for the colorless Sundays. Be sure to clear off a few bookshelves to fit the next thirty years in.

I've read every Volume since they started this series. Inside ther's the same small, great strips I've smiled about the volumes before. The wonder is that although Mr. Schulz wrote for such a long time, he nearly never repeated his jokes and after 38 Years they didn't sound old fashioned.
Clearly you have to be fan if you buy the whole series. But this book is (as every other) great fun and worth every page.

The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 is the latest in a compendium that seeks to present Charles Schulz's classic Peanuts comic strip as never before - complete and unabridged! Featuring an introduction by Mo Willems, the latest volume gives Woodstock a name for the first time, shows Snoopy's ultimately disastrous stint as the Head Beagle, chronicles Charlie Brown's heartbreak when the little red-haired girl moves away, offers a fascinating extended glimpse into the text of Snoopy's "It was a dark and stormy night" novel, and much more. One sequence particularly reflective of the stormy 1960s shows poor Snoopy caught in the middle of a riot with tear gas at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm! A "must-have" for collectors of Charles Schulz's work, highly recommended.

Many memorable stories here:Snoopy on the moon, Lucy feeds Schroeder's piano to the kite-eating tree, the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm scenario of a protest against that stupidest war, Vietnam Bloody War. Alas, from now on the Peanuts Gang shall be progressively more neglected in favour of Snoopy's fancy impersonations and his little bird's friend, Woodstock. Frieda gone, Shermy gone, and scarcely a story that doesn't involve Snoopy and/or Woodstock. But this is still a good book, with many goldies and oldies.

I don't know what it is about that name, but it always cracks me up, especially since he's Charlie Brown's appropriate hero figure! The guy marks the wrong day, city and event on his calendar so Charlie Brown never meets him at the banquet! This is another great addition to the library - and with the chronological order maintained, it's even better! I sent a copy to my sister since she was born on March 18th, 1969 so she could see the strip that came out on that day! We were always big Peanuts fans, more so the strip than the specials, although we love those too! The only thing that could have made these collections better is printing the Sunday strips in color - maybe they'll do that one day!

The late sixties and seventies are my favorite time period for Charlie Brown as Snoopy really comes into his own . As a world War I ace he tries and tries get the Red Baron . A gentle commentary of the times .This book is a form of history of the times they were written . A great way to relax at the end of the day . A great bath room book . A very talented cartoonist and writer all of this series is worth owning But if you are looking for just one set of Peanuts this is it.

2 more great years of Peanuts. I'm glad I got it but I can't wait for the Complete Peanuts 1971-1972 when that comes out in the spring but for now this is just as good. In this book Sally becomes an official main character in 1970 even though she is still shown very little and Peppermint Patty is still in the recurring role but appears much more.

Schroeder begins to appear less and becomes a recurring character in 1970 Shermy appears for the final time and we see very little of Patty and Violet and they just become guest stars in 1970. Freida still appears but very little. Woodstock makes his first appearance and becomes a main character.

Pigpen does not appear at all. Snoopy really kisses a lot mostly Lucy. With all that said these comics are great and I could read them all the time. These comics are so cute and funny and if you don't buy this book well that's the way it goes.