I’m back from Texas, where (in addition to a fun signing) I had time to read through the latest Complete Peanuts volume. There is a lot of interesting stuff there, of course. Such as:

• Which member of the cast is on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency?
• Which kid’s family no longer has a church?
• Snoopy draws!
• Snoopy namedrops General Pershing and fashion model Twiggy… in the same week.
• Charlie Brown stays in solid darkness for several days, simplifying Schulz’s drawing time.
• Schulz shows his vast range, when on August 6, 1967 he has seven consecutive panels of just Lucy silently sitting there, waiting, building effectively to a climax… and 16 days later, he has 85 words across four panels, culminating in one of nature’s most vexing questions, “Why are you two ponies?”
• Remember, this was all when a period when the US was embroiled in the Vietnam War; when Snoopy curses “this stupid war” and Charlie Brown writes his pencil pal about how their countries hate each other, the reader of the day was likely to take it as more than just a character moment. (And, of course, when one character reveals their father is over in ‘Nam, it becomes more than just unseen context.)
• The price of psychiatric help goes up 40%.
• Linus attempts suicide in an inefficient (and ultimately unsuccessful, you’ll be relieved to hear) manner.
• Schulz makes a Mission: Impossible reference.
• On separate occasions, two characters – Franklin and Lila – are introduced, then set aside for a few months, then reappear. In Lila’s case, it was just a throw-away mention at first, leaving you to wonder whether Schulz was planning to use her all along, or whether that reference just festered in the back of his mind.

The book is slated to ship April 30… at which point. the additional 5% discount for preordering disappears. So order now.

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