The Complete Peanuts 1965-1966: Volume 8

Description

In The Complete Peanuts 1965-66 we are now in the mid-1960s - one of Schulz's peak periods of creativity (and one-third of the way through the strip's life!). Snoopy has become the strip's dominant personality, and this volume marks two milestones for the character: the first of many 'dogfights' with the nefarious Red Baron, and the launch of his writing career ('It was a dark and stormy night.'). Two new characters - the first from outside the comic strip's regular little neighborhood - make their bows. Roy (who befriends Charlie Brown and then Linus at summer camp) won't have a lasting impact, but upon his return from camp he regales a friend of his with tales of the strange kids he met, and she has to check them out for herself. Her name? Peppermint Patty. The Complete Peanuts 1965-66 features a new introduction by Hal Hartley, writer/director of acclaimed independent films Trust, Henry Fool, Kimono, Simple Men, The Unbelievable Truth, and Fay Grim.

Charles M. Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1922 and grew up in Saint Paul. He gained a reputation worldwide as a cartoonist for his work on Peanuts. He died in 2000.

* One of the finest cultural artifacts made in the 20th century. Russell T. Davies * Peanuts was, and is, and will continue to be the finest comic in the world. Bravo. Ray Bradbury * The world of Peanuts is a microcosm, a little human comedy for the innocent reader and for the sophisticated. Umberto Eco * As powerful a comic art-piece as anything out today ... will delight Peanuts aficionados. Observer * All sorts of important writers have marveled at the glorious simplicity of [Schulz's] draftsmanship and his unerring jokecraft, all underpinned by a quiet melancholy and stoicism ... by some miracle, the entire Peanuts oeuvre is gradually being republished in this country, by Canongate ... in lavishly appointed hardback ... Unlike almost everything you read as a child, they are actually better than you remember them. Spectator * Peanuts worked - and still works - becasue it is a cartoon that speaks to our anxiety and melancholy. Because all of us, at some point or other in our lives, have had the bar pulled away at the last minute, have had our kites tangled in trees. Schulz used to say all the characters were him. Truth is, we all are Charlie Brown. Or if we're not now, we remember how it felt to be him, to be depressed, to be miserable, to be ignored. To be a child. Sunday Herald * All human life is here: childhood sadness, youthful romance, sarcastic dogs. Most impressive is the amount of expression Charles M Schulz was able to get into his characters' faces - notably the lips. That slight wobble in Charlie Brown's smile is utterly charming. The Daily Telegraph