From the Bookshelf: The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980

As I opened up the latest volume of The Complete Peanuts, I was struck not just by the big smug grin Charlie Brown had on the cover, but by how bright the orange behind him looked. I suppose that as the series gets ever further along and takes its first step into another decade, the casual dismissals by some of the later years of the comic strip have begun to concern me, and just perhaps I was wondering if the reprint series was stepping away, or had to step away, from an emphasis on Peanuts as being "about" depression and suffering and "respectable" things like that. Too, the summary on the back cover seemed to concentrate on the storyline where Charlie Brown winds up in the hospital with (just about) everyone else concerned to the slight exception of everything else. As I read through the volume, I continued to take it a bit at a time but at times missed my complete intended reading for the day. However, as I went along I found myself thinking there was indeed melancholy mixed in, but not so much as to be overwhelming. As well, despite being quite familiar with the previous "Peanuts Parade" reprint series for these years, there were still strips I hadn't seen before along the way.
( 'If you don't help me work for women in sports, Marcie, I'll never introduce you to Billie Jean King!' )

( 'I hate it when he brings over his electronic games!' )

( 'I don't know why you wanted to '10 braid' your hair, sir...' )