As they have the previous three holiday seasons, Fantagraphics are offering a boxed set collecting the current (1965-66) and previous (1963-64) volumes, in a new slipcase designed by the award-winning graphic novelist, Seth. It's the perfect gift book item of the season!

In The Complete Peanuts 1963-64: this volume is particularly rich in never-before-reprinted strips: Over 150 (more than one fifth of the book!) have never seen the light of day since their original appearance over 40 years ago, so this will be a trove of undiscovered treasures even for avid Peanuts collectors. These "lost" strips include Linus making a near-successful run for class president that is ultimately derailed by his religious beliefs (two words: "great" and "pumpkin"), and Snoopy getting involved with a group of politically fanatical birds. One wonders: Was it the political edge in these stories that got them consigned to oblivion for so long? Also worthy of note is an extended, never-reprinted sequence in which Snoopy gets ill and heads to the veterinarian hospital...Also in this volume: Lucy's attempts at improving her friends branches out from her increasingly well-visited nickel psychiatry booth to an educational slideshow of Charlie Brown's faults (it's so long there's an intermission!). Also, Snoopy's doghouse begins its conceptual expansion, as Schulz reveals that the dog owns a Van Gogh, and that the ceiling is so huge that Linus can paint a vast (and as it turns out unappreciated) "history of civilization" mural on it.

And baseball continues to be a mainstay: Charlie Brown suffers from pitcher's elbow and is replaced by Linus, who turns out to be a vast improvement; he also blows several more crucial matches through various screw-ups (one with the little red haired girl in attendance); and adding insult to injury, his favorite baseball player is demoted to the minor league. The Complete Peanuts 1963-64 features a new introduction by animator Bill Melendez, producer of over 75 Peanuts animated specials and movies, including the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas.

In The Complete Peanuts 1965-66: We are now in the mid-1960s, one of Schulz's peak periods of creativity (and one third of the way through the strip's life!). Snoopy has become the strip's dominant personality, and this volume marks two milestones for the character: the first of many "dogfights" with the nefarious Red Baron, and the launch of his writing career ("It was a dark and stormy night..."). Two new characters—the first two from outside the strip's regular little neighborhood—make their bows. Roy (who befriends Charlie Brown and then Linus at summer camp) won't have a lasting impact, but upon his return from camp he regales a friend of his with tales of the strange kids he met, and she has to go check them out for herself. Her name? Peppermint Patty. The Complete Peanuts 1965-66 features a new introduction by Hal Hartley, writer/director of acclaimed independent films Trust, Henry Fool, Kimono, Simple Men, The Unbelievable Truth, and Fay Grim.

A wonderfully bound book, with a solid cover and sturdy pages. This might seem irrelevant but these two books are for carrying around and reading and re-reading and they will withstand the heavy usage. I love the index in the back, it makes searching for a particular strip easier. And then of course, there is the impeccable quality of the writing and drawing that has never and will never age. an excellent addition to my collection

This is my second of these boxed sets of Peanuts. Beautiful packaging & publishing details. No color Sunday strips, of course (they appear in B&W like all the strips); but color would make the editions impractical to print anyway.

Many hours of pure enjoyment ahead: I plan to get all the sets as they come out and am learning a great deal about some favorite characters. A must-have for any true lover of Peanuts.

I love Peanuts it really got good by these years when they put in Peppermint Patty. I love when they talk to the readers like on 2/4/65 when Snoopy was gonna marry his skating girlfriend he said to the readers wish me luck so cute. Great comics great books and a lot of long lost comics and lots of it came from TV. I guess I should have put this review on the Complete Peanuts 1965-1966 but all the years are great. I really do like the Complete Peanuts 1963-1964 a lot because they talk to readers a lot.

For those of us who grew up in the 1960's Peanuts was the paragon of subtle wit and insight into our cultural minds. We could live vicariously in the dancing of Snoopy, his triumphs over the Red Baron, and his material excesses(a house with a Van Gogh, no less). We could sigh along with Charlie Brown, philospophize with Linus, and argue with Lucy. This collection continues the daily progression of the characters as they navigate the turbulent 1960's and gave us all something we could share in common every day in the paper.

The Complete Peanuts is definitely complete! It's a real collectors' item!

Each book contains 2 complete years of Peanuts - the funniest comic strip of all time (IMHO). So this two-book set contains four complete years of Peanuts - all the strips that were published between 1963-1966.

Note that both books included in the boxed set are exactly the same ones that are sold separately. The books also contain full book jackets (i.e. if desired can be shelved separately). As of this review date it is cheaper to buy the two-book set than to buy them separately at Amazon and we get an added attractive slipcase with the two-book set.

Unfortunately the Sunday strips are in black and white - a minor gripe. However other such comic strip collections (including Calvin and Hobbs) have the Sunday ones in color.

Recommended.

(Note: I have essentially copied my review of the other peanuts sets for this one)