The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974: Volume 12 - Tapa dura

These timely re-issues illustrate not only the skill and subtle brilliance of his work but also the origins of the form beyond simple merriment * * Sunday Times * * All sorts of important writers have marveled at the glorious simplicity of [Schulz's] draftsmanship and his unerring jokecraft, all underpinned by a quiet melancholy and stoicism . . . by some miracle, the entire Peanuts oeuvre is gradually being republished in this country, by Canongate . . . in lavishly appointed hardback . . . Unlike almost everything you read as a child, they are actually better than you remember them * * Spectator * * The world of Peanuts is a microcosm, a little human comedy for the innocent reader and for the sophisticated * * Umberto Eco * * ...these timely re-issues illustrate not only the skill and subtle brilliance of his work but also the origins of the form beyond simple merriment. * * The List * * The Complete Peanuts has framed Charles Schulz's enduring masterpiece about as well any lifelong fan could've hoped * * "The Best Comics of the '00s: The Archives", The A.V. Club * * Beautifully designed . . . One of the high-water marks of post-war popular culture * * Daily Telegraph * *

The 12th 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 (and 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient) Billie Jean King. This volume also picks up on a few loose threads from the previous year, as the mysterious "Poochie" shows up in the flesh; Linus and Lucy's new kid brother "Rerun" makes his first appearance, is almost immediately drafted onto the baseball team (where, thanks to his tiny strike zone, he wins a game), and embarks on his first terrifying journey on the back of his mom's bike; and, in one of Peanuts' oddest recurring storylines, the schoolhouse Sally used to talk to starts talking, or at least thinking, back at her! The Complete Peanuts 1973-1974 also includes one of the all-time classic Peanuts sequences, in which Charlie Brown's baseball-oriented hallucinations finally manifest themselves in a baseball-shaped rash on his head. Forced to conceal the embarrassing discoloration with a bag worn over his head, Charlie Brown goes to camp as "Mister Sack" and discovers that, shorn of his identity, he's suddenly well liked and successful.