The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974: Vol. 12 Hardcover Edition

by Charles M. Schulz

Book Overview

The twelfth volume of Peanuts features a number of tennis strips and several extended sequences involving Peppermint Patty's friend Marcie (including a riotous, rarely seen sequence in which Marcie's costume-making and hairstyling skills utterly spoil a skating competition for PP), so it seems only right that this volume's introduction should be served up by Schulz's longtime friend, tennis champion Billie Jean King.

This volume also picks...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1606992864
• ISBN13: 9781606992869
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.9" x 6.4"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Gotta Love Peanuts

I'm loving every one of these books! My only complaint is I wish they would publish them faster. It is very cool to be able to read an entire year's worth of Peantus strips in the order in which they appeared in the paper. I couldn't wait until my parent's would let me have the Funnies so I could read the Peanuts strip. This is a great way to introduce my kids to the comic strip and they're really enjoying them. On the practical side, the books are very sturdy and the quality is great. If you buy a boxed set, which includes two books, they come in a nice cardboard sleeve. Each book has a foreword written by someone famous who was close to Charles Schulz. This one is from Billie Jean King. It would be nice if the Sunday strips were in color, but I can live with that. Keep these books coming, please! There's a lot of years to go!

Another great collection -- but does the decline begin here?

This latest collection's cover (Woodstock's tiny head casting a far-too-large shadow) and introduction (by Billie Jean King, who, unlike a number of the folks whom Fantagraphics has dragooned into providing PEANUTS-related musings, actually knew and was good friends with Charles Schulz) are first-rate, and several of this volume's continuities are among the most ambitious and/or outlandish "Sparky" ever concocted, but one could reasonably argue that Schulz' creation reached a "tipping point" in the mid-70s. Whether it was due to the overuse of Snoopy and Woodstock, the introduction of several less-than-stellar long-running gag themes, or an increasing amount of reliance on what one might call "the PEANUTS of the absurd," one can detect a certain coarsening of the master's touch. For sure, the intelligentsia of the era had moved on to new favorites, particularly DOONESBURY, perhaps reacting to Schulz' refusal to touch upon the partisan rancor and ugliness of the Watergate era. Schulz, who'd made frequent references to Vietnam, hippie culture, space travel, feminism, and the like just a few short years before, completely eschews topical material here, apart from one stand-alone gag in which Sally worries that her school desk has been "bugged." Instead, he indulges in such transient personal passions as running Snoopy through a large number of gags involving tennis, the artist's latest pastime. PEANUTS was never truly about "relevance," but Schulz' decision to shrink the borders of his "universe" marked a definite shift in his thinking. Many later references to pop culture in the strip would be much more exploitative in nature, in the manner of a "hit-and-run" late-night comedian, and lack the cleverness and subtlety of Schulz' work of the mid-50s to the early 70s. The "rare gems" (you're welcome, Patty) in this collection are a trio of legitimately memorable, and even touching, continuities. The most famous of these is probably "Mr. Sack," in which Charlie Brown begins to envision every round object he discovers as a baseball. He even picks up a seamed rash on his head. Sent off to summer camp as a palliative, the embarrassed Charlie, wearing a sack over his head to hide his rash, quickly becomes the most popular kid in camp! "A prophet is without honor save in his own country," a bemused Charlie sighs regarding his improbable apotheosis. This story is most famous for its completely unexpected ending gag, which, though it resolves nothing insofar as Charlie's malady is concerned, drags in a familiar media figure to provide what, for Schulz, was "shock value." In a sense, however, this story may have ultimately sent Schulz down the wrong path. Charlie's problem is so weird that it might as well have happened to Snoopy, who's long since carved out his own little fantasy-laden "sub-universe" in the PEANUTS gang's neighborhood. There's the rub: what makes "sense" for Snoopy may not work quite as well for the "real" kids. It was soon after this that Sc

"It's woman against piano... and woman is winning!"

So said the jealous Lucy who's had to play 2nd (or more like 1,000,000th) fiddle to Beethoven in Schroeder's eyes. This is one of the stories to look forward to in this volume. I could've quoted Woodstock who dons the cover of this one but I didn't think "!!!!!" was too memorable a title for this review. This particular volume is known for its extended stories. One of the 1st features Charlie Brown getting a celebratory dinner for being such a great manager, complete with a visit from Charlie Brown's hero Joe Shlabotnik (alas, the event becomes a fiasco, thanks to Marcie's big mouth!). Since Billie Jean King appropriately wrote the foreward, it's only fair that Snoopy tries his hand with tennis (to be honest, I'm not sure whether or not the cartoon where Snoopy double-faults and throws a MacEnroe temper is in this volume or not). Another story featuring the blockhead features Charlie Brown's fascination with baseballs (to quote the band Yes, "lose one onto the heart of the sunrise," you'll figure it out) and goes to camp, this time to become a hero and earns the nickname "Sack." Peppermint Patty tries her hand at football, 1st with Chuck, 2nd with the kid with the big nose. Snoopy tries beating Hank Aaron's baseball record (I remember this cartoon as a kid, wondering what the heck all those tally marks were doing on his doghouse). Linus teaches Snoopy a well-deserved lesson on the evils of blanket-napping! Not much mention of the little red-haired girl but a girl named Lorretta shows up (1st she ignores him at a party then tries to get his attention, but not for reasons he expects). Peppermint Patty prepares herself for a skating competition and Marcie tries making her a costume (which looks like a cross between a straight jacket and a ghost suit!). Then Charlie Brown's dad gives her a haircut ("You didn't tell him I'm a GIRL, Chuck!"). This one features cartoons from You're The Guest Of Honor, Charlie Brown, Win A Few Lose A Few Charlie Brown (the last of the pocket-sized paperbacks from Holt) and Speak Softly And Carry A Beagle (the 1st of the Peanuts Parade books). Enjoy with a bowl of bonehead soup or a jelly-bread sandwich.

One Of The Best Collections, But WARNING!

Two of the all-time great Peanuts years were 1973-74. Many classics are there that we paperback Peanuts hoarders now can see in their original context. WARNING: Do NOT read page 147 if you have not seen Orson Welles's film "Citizen Kane." It spoils the ending--actually as a joke involving Lucy spoiling it for Linus, but still, I'm a little surprised at Schulz for it. Watch "Citizen Kane," then read page 147, then laugh your head off.

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this volume. My favorite stories are when Rerun gets involved in a betting scandal and Mr. Sack sequence. Classic! If you are a fan of Peanuts, get this volume. You won't be sorry.