As anyone who’s taken a glance at my “Books” featured in the sidebar of this blog knows, I’m a BIG fan of the awesome COMPLETE PEANUTS series that Fantagraphics has been putting out pretty regularly since about 2004.
I was a HUGE fan of Charlie Brown and the gang growing up, and was always frustrated whenever parts of an ongoing “story” within the strip were skipped over in the paperback reprints. I spent most of my life trying to get the various different packaged collections trying to get the complete run of the strips, not realizing that they NEVER DID print the “Whole Run” of Peanuts…that is , until the Fantagraphics collections!
The series is broken down into years (1950-1951, 1952-1953,etc, etc…) and each time a new book is released, I am constantly in AWE of just how many strips have never been seen in print since their original appearances in the newspapers! I thought there might be a handful of strips that were “new” to me, turns out there are HUNDREDS!
The latest book to come out is Peanuts 1969-1970, and in this one some of the rare strips reprinted are one like the first appearance of Franklin (whom Charlie Brown met at the beach!) the first appearcne of Snoopy's Pal Woodstock, and a truly unforgettable one in the chapter of Charlie Brown and his obsession with The Little Red-Haired Girl!
At some point, charlie Brown began talking about the Little Red Haired Girl in past-tense, as if she no longer was a part of his life. like this strip from the 1970 paperback “You’re Out of Sight ,Charlie Brown”…
I initially assumed this was simply because school was out and he’d see her again next semester, but I was to realize later that she’d MOVED at some point in the strip, but no evidence I had shed any light on when that might have been!
So I’m reading through THE COMPLETE PEANUTS 1969-1970, and lo and behold- the actual story arc where the Little Red Haired Girl Moved! So it really DID exist! This was one of the key finds I’ve come across in the Complete Peanuts series- I can’t believe such a significant storyline was overlooked when it came to reprinting the strips for the paperbacks, but it was thrilling AND insightful to FINALLY get to read them!
For one thing, this really was the closing of a chapter of Charlie Brown’s life, taking the Red Haired Girl from a simple elementary school crush to the nearly mythic-like status she ascended to when she became more like a symbol for every desire Charlie Brown wanted.
Secondly, I think it’s pretty significant in that it was really the last time Linus had much faith in him. After this incident, Linus accepted that his friend was a wishy washy guy who’d NEVER step up to the plate!
A truly memorable story arc that belongs up there with the Linus and Lucy Move Away. Linus for Class President, and Lucy buries Linus’ Blanket storylines!
