The Complete Peanuts 1965-1966: Vol. 8 Paperback Edition
In this newspaper strip collection, Snoopy has his first “dogfight” with the Red Baron, and Peppermint Patty makes her debut.
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!). Black & white illustrations with some color.
Reviews (71)
This Was When Schulz Was Near His Peak
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!
My mother loved it
I gave this as a gift to my mother who is an avid Peanuts fan. I will say that it seemed a bit smudged and dirty when I received it and I didn’t want to give it away at first. I took a chance on it and decided to just clean it the best I could and it worked, but I would have still liked to receive a clean copy. For this reason, it receives 4 stars.
Great for Any Peanuts Fan
If you are a fan of Peanuts, then you'll love this collection of the early strips. Featuring such storylines as Snoopy's failed romance with his beagle skating partner, Lucy's troubled relationship with Linus's blanket (who hates her, not without reason), Charlie Brown's multiple existential crises, and Linus's trip to camp, this is a really fun book to have around. The book is a nice hardcover with dust jacket and the size makes it easy to hold and convenient for keeping near your favorite living room chair. I've really enjoyed taking reading several strips each night as a pleasant little break from my research.
Stuff I've Never Seen
Even my great love for the Peanuts comic strips cannot hide the fact that there are gaps in my experience. In this volume, I came across some of those gaps and I expect to come across more in the next few volumes. We are reaching the years before my birth that are not covered by my grandmother's Peanuts collections I read when I was growing up. In this volume there were exciting revelations for me. First, there was the fact that Snoopy was once on the verge of marriage but was rejected! Second, there was Snoopy's first adventures against the Red Baron! Third, there was the devastating fire in Snoopy's doghouse that destroyed his Van Gogh! Fourth, there was the first appearance of Peppermint Patty! All events that I had never come across before which added a special joy to reading this volume. I have been reading this wonderful series as each new volume comes out. Each one has been excellent. The six-month wait for the next two years of strips seems intolerable sometimes but I look forward to the day when all 25 volumes will be on my shelf.
"Here's the WWI Flying Ace appearing in Volume 8..."
Something monumental occurs in this eighth volume of one of history's longest running comic strips. On October 10th, 1965, Snoopy walks towards his dog house with antiquated pilot's goggles on his head. Laying a paw on its side he says "Here's the World War I Flying Ace posing beside his 'Sopwith Camel.'" So began one of Charles Schulz's most enduring icons. Theories abound as to why Schulz put his warm, fuzzy, and surreal dog in a figurative warplane to fight "The Red Baron." The real "Red Baron" was of course Manfred von Richthofen who was shot down in 1918, during WWI, pursuing Sopwith Camels in northern France. Given the historicity, some scholars have even examined the comics for clues. One claims that Snoopy's battles with the off-frame Red Baron correspond to U.S. troop escalations and withdrawals from Vietnam. Others say that Schulz, a WWII veteran, was trying to uphold the "honor" of war by making reference to a "less controversial" war (though WWI was anything but uncontroversial). Whatever the origin of the "Flying Ace," likely the debate will continue, the image of Snoopy doing battle atop his 2D doghouse has become a solid part of Americana, inspiring hit songs (The Royal Guardsman's 1967 "Snoopy vs the Red Baron"), video games (Atari, Playstation, and others), and a 2001 US postage stamp. Snoopy's "Flying Ace" remained synonymous with Peanuts for the remainder of its run. This incorporated terrestrial war into the strip's existing motifs of psychological war. The rest of the strip carried on as usual. Though some of its 1950s edge had blunted, and some see rampant commercialism taking over at this point, it remained a comic strip masterpiece. By 1966 some of its themes became as regular as the tides. Charlie Brown's baseball team continues its losing streak, the "Great Pumpkin" continues to disappoint Linus, Lucy continues to woo Schroeder to no avail, Beethoven's birthday receives apt attention every December 16th, and Lucy continues to yank the football from Charlie Brown, dashing his hopes for yet another year in an eternal recurrence of defeat. Of course the other major event of this volume occurs on August 22, 1966 when Peppermint Patty asks her friend, Roy, "Who you writin' to?" She, unlike Roy, would remain in the lineup until the strip's end. Although her ubiquitous shadow Marcie has not yet appeared with her constant barrage of "sirs." She even tries to help out "Chuck's" baseball team to no avail and confuses Snoopy for a bizarre kid (most memorably in the October 22nd, 1966 strip where Snoopy, with his WWI goggles, noisily slurps a cup of milk). Other highlights include: Linus' blanket attacks Lucy (March 11 - 26, 1965); Lucy cursing the darkness ("You stupid darkness!" September 9, 1965); Snoopy's success and failure with "It was a Dark and Stormy Night" (July 12 - July 17, 1965); Snoopy declares "I'm outrageously happy in my stupidity" (September 21, 1965); Linus teaches Sally the (old) "new math" (October 5 - 9, 1965); Snoopy ponders the meaninglessness of life and concludes "what am I doing right?" (January 10, 1966); Charlie Brown incorrectly spell "Maze" (February 9, 1966); Sally wears an eyepatch for amblyopia; Linus pats birds on the head again (March 20, 1966); Sally relives "Beau" Snoopy's thirst ("What fun is that?" April 16, 1966); The WWI Flying Ace gets taken to the vet (August 17 - 19, 1966); Snoopy's doghouse burns down and he loses everything, even his Van Gogh (September 19 - October 5, 1966); Linus sculpts more snowmen (December 26 - 30, 1966) One curious series of strips in 1965 (January 22nd - February 12, August 5 - August 13, December 21) depicts an amorous late night tryst between Snoopy and an unseen female Beagle. They meet while skating. Though Snoopy ultimately gets rejected, he sees her again on the beach ("A beagle in a bikini!") but the love affair goes nowhere (a golden retriever interferes). The author of the upcoming book,
More perfection.....
I don't know what else to say then what has already been stated by such wonderful reviewers. This, the 65-66, edition of the Complete Peanuts series is yet another taste of perfection. Yes, that statement is acknowledged to be the product of misty reflections of a simpler time. This is the period that I became a committed reader of the daily adventures and troubles of this famous group of children. I was in middle school and started reading them in part because of an English assignment. I wish I could recall the teacher's name but that, like so much, is lost to time. Snoopy's adventures fighting the Red Baron in his Sopwith Camel might have been corny at the time (at least I thought it was at the time), but I'm a devotee of those strips now. I have mentioned in reviews of earlier volumes the magic of re-reading these dailies in their proper order and remembering what I was doing just about then. I'm glad to see that other reviewers experience the same thing. I also continue to be amazed at Charles Schulz's ability to include the mention of some current events and his ability to ignore others. He allows us to ignore the really painful stuff but provides us markers by including others. I have found this series to be intensely personal. I hope you experience the same. Wonderful stuff.
A Masterpiece In Full Flower
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!
good old stuff. Reminds you of being young? maybe its just me.
got this today,arrived without undue delay, great book. make up your own memories. you know you want this book. personally speaking, i read these books when i was about 13 but they are still relavent . if you got this far i'm thinking that your going to buy it. i did. xoxo.. i'm collecting all the old books that i had as a child. Wonderful.
Shultz at his peak
Some of my most treasured memories in my younger years were reading Peanuts collections. In this book I enjoy reading again the first time the World War I flying ace who’s up. Worth reading and rereading.
Peanuts Lovers Need This!
Slowly collecting all in this fantastic collection! Amazon has great prices on this Peanuts lovers must-have!
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