The Complete Peanuts: 1973-1974 (Charles Schulz)

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 sunris... Read more

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.

Two more great years of Peanuts. We get to see Rerun but he is only in 25 comics. Lots and lots of Peppermint Patty and Marcie is in pretty half as much as Peppermint Patty but Marcie does join the cast. Peppermint Patty finds out that Snoopy is a beagle and she gets her first D-. Snoopy becomes a beagle scout. Lucy throws Schroeder's piano down the sewer. Lucy and Peppermint Patty go to get there ears pieced. We see very, very, very little of Violet, Patty, Freida, Roy, and 5. There are at least 10 comics that were never before reprinted including the one with Peppermint Patty and Marcie and PP saying that her father is making her go on bonehead lunch. Great book, bring on the next one.

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.

While it's wonderful to have the world's greatest comic strip neatly collected in its entirety in these trim little volumes (although I never understood why such disagreeable images of the characters appear on most of the covers--at least this new one features a smiling Woodstock, although the shadow behind him is faintly ominous), be forewarned that this 1973-74 volume contains the fewest--fewer than 10--strips never reprinted since their initial appearance in newspapers. The greatest joy of the "Complete" series has been finding the "lost" strips, rather like discovering "Peanuts" all over again, and this volume is the biggest disappointment in that regard. If you still have the "Peanuts Parade" books that came out in the late '70s and lasted through most of the '80s, you may want to hang on to them in case future "Complete Peanuts" volumes contain a similar dearth of previously unreprinted material. If you don't still have the "Parade" books or never got around to them, by all means... Read more