Status
Call number
Collection
Publication
Description
As the 1950s close down, Peanuts definitively enters its golden age. Linus, who had just learned to speak in the previous volume, becomes downright eloquent and even begins to fend off Lucy's bullying; even so, his security neurosis becomes more pronounced, including a harrowing two-week "Lost Weekend" sequence of blanketlessness. Charlie Brown cascades further down the hill to loser Dom, with spectacularly lost kites, humiliating baseball losses (including one where he becomes "the Goat" and is driven from the field in a chorus of BAAAAHs); at least his newly acquired "pencil pal" affords him some comfort. Pigpen, Shermy, Violet, and Patty are also around, as is an increasingly Beethoven-fixated Schroeder. But the rising star is undoubtedly Snoopy. He's at the center of the most graphically dynamic and action-packed episodes (the ones in which he attempts to grab Linus's blanket at a dead run). He even tentatively tries to sleep on the crest of his doghouse roof once or twice, with mixed results. And his imitations continue apace, including penguins, anteaters, sea monsters, vultures and (much to her chagrin) Lucy. No wonder the beagle is the cover star of this volume.… (more)
User reviews
I fully expect to be flogged for disliking Peanuts. This probably isn't the time to confess I'm also not fond of apple pie, and I kick puppies in my spare time.
Beyond this, all of the supporting characters prove their worth. Lucy and Linus, obviously, stand out, with the rest of the cast - Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Violet, Patty and Shermy - contributing well. Snoopy finally steps up to become more than a one-joke character, impersonating all kinds of animals, and developing trademark quirks and personality.
Schulz also further matures his style, using entire weeks to play out running gags or mini-storylines. These first 8 years of the "Peanuts" cycle have already had me chortling to myself many a night; I look forward to the remaining 42...