Product Description: The series that launched a comic-strip renaissance continues.
"My name is 555 95472 but everyone calls me 5 for short...I have two sisters named 3 and 4." With those words, Charles Schulz introduced one (in fact, three) of the quirkiest characters to the Peanuts universe, the numerically-monikered 95472 siblings. They didn't stay around very long but offered some choice bits of satirical nonsense while they did.
As it happens, this volume is particularly rich in never-before-reprinted strips: Over 150 (more than one fifth of the book!) have never seen the light of day since their original appearance over 40 years ago, so this will be a trove of undiscovered treasures even for avid Peanuts collectors.
These "lost" strips include Linus making a near-successful run for class president that is ultimately derailed by his religious beliefs (two words: "great" and "pumpkin"), and Snoopy getting involved with a group of politically fanatical birds. One wonders: Was it the political edge in these stories that got them consigned to oblivion for so long? Also worthy of note is an extended, never-reprinted sequence in which Snoopy gets ill and heads to the veterinarian hospital...
Also in this volume: Lucy's attempts at improving her friends branches out from her increasingly well-visited nickel psychiatry booth to an educational slideshow of Charlie Brown's faults (it's so long there's an intermission!). Also, Snoopy's doghouse begins its conceptual expansion, as Schulz reveals that the dog owns a Van Gogh, and that the ceiling is so huge that Linus can paint a vast (and as it turns out unappreciated) "history of civilization" mural on it.
And baseball continues to be a mainstay: Charlie Brown suffers from pitcher's elbow and is replaced by Linus, who turns out to be a vast improvement; he also blows several more crucial matches through various screw-ups (one with the little red haired girl in attendance); and adding insult to injury, his favorite baseball player is demoted to the minor league.
The Complete Peanuts 1963-64 features a new introduction by animator Bill Melendez, producer of over 75 Peanuts animated specials and movies, including the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Peanuts is the most successful comic strip in the history of the medium. A United Media poll in 2002 found Peanuts to be the second most recognizable cartoon property in the world, recognized by 94 percent of the total U.S. consumer market and a close second only to Mickey Mouse (96 percent).
They Finally Got It Right A good addition to this series. The only let-down is that we're seeing more and more strips that have already been collected in other Peanuts books. It was bound to happen though, so I'm not knocking off a star for this.
There are two real gems to this book. One is the story where Linus (my absolute favorite Peanuts character) runs for class president. I'm betting Schultz had a lot of fun with this. He lampoons the entire election process. This includes the speeches and promises, the press coverage, the polling, and everything else.
The other gem is even more important to me. This is where the title of my review comes into play. They had the great Bill Melendez write the foreward for this book.
Mister Melendez was an animator who wound up directing every single Peanuts movie and special ever made. In addition to this, he also did the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock on most of them (the exceptions being those few specials where Snoopy actually talked). Considering his close association with Schultz and his creation, he really should have been the one to write the foreward back in book 1 when this series started. Instead, throughout this series, we'd get nothing but celebrity endorsement after celebrity endorsement.
I was actually afraid that they'd do this entire series without so much as mentioning the man. Thankfully, these fears came to naught with the release of this book. Like I said, "they finally got it right".
The foreward itself is only 3 pages, but the quality makes up for it. Melendez talks about the events that led up to him meeting Schultz, his first impressions of the man, and how they went from a car commecial to a Peabody Award-winning special ("A Charlie Brown Christmas"), and then to a long and enjoyable career making other animated Peanuts titles (some great; some not so great). This is a story that certainly merits more than 3 pages, but Melendez takes the space he's given and manages both to inform and to satisfy.
If you're a Peanuts fan (especially if you're a Linus fan), click on that buy button. Trust me, you won't regret it.
Let's cuddle up with in security blanket. This edition of The Complete Peanuts covers the years 1963 and 1964. Probably the most significant event during this time period was the introduction of "5", along with his sisters "3" and "4". 5 may not be well remembered, but he is still a pretty interesting character. These are classic comic strips from one of the masters of the medium. Great stuff, highly recommended.
Nice collection This book, along with the rest of the collection, is simply marvelous. The complete work of Schulz is nicely presented. It reads itself so fast that we can't keep up buying the next one!
More of the same, however excellent that same was Much of this was more of the same, the continued development of the characters. There is a set of new characters (Five, with Four and Three coming later) but they turn out to be little more than props, good for a week or two and afterwards for when Schulz needed a generic male for Charlie Brown (Shermy now only shows up for group strips). Three and Four look like little Peppermint Patties, and since Peppermint Patty ends up coming from a single-parent family (father only) one wonders if this is sort of backstory for that.
Foreshadowing some of the changes coming up on the next volume are a couple of developments. The baseball mound has become a scene itself, where the characters come up to chat on various things. As for this volume (1963-64), it's just a couple of characters coming up with things to talk about.
As for the red-headed girl, she has changed from a merely distant figure (distant implying "out of Charlie Brown's League) to a seemingly active source of shame and humiliation. Not that Charlie Brown needs her to humiliate him (as some of the baseball groups show, he could do that all by himself), but it definitely adds an accent point to what's going on around him with those he talks to.
One of the most interesting comics has Charlie Brown actually coming on top, although it's more his father than him. Violet spends a few panels bragging about her Father, which Charlie Brown doesn't so much parry but amplifies by explanation. However, CB stops Violet short and explains that his father makes an honorable living and always has a minute for him no matter what he's doing. The last panel has Violet walking with a slight downward tilt of her head and a seeming sadness in her eyes, as if she had finally been devastatingly bested.
In the end, this is worth getting, although I'd get the 1959-1960 and 1961-1962 before this one.
the complete peanuts 1961/62 I came to peanuts cartoons late in my life, but for the past five years I have bought every book available. Luckily for me as I have been a customer of amazon both in america and england and bringing out yearly books has been marvelous. Whenever I feel down I just read a few pages and I'm fine. The trouble is Im' going to be around 80 years old before this complete series is printed!!!! Is there anyway we can move this along? Doreen uk
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