Charles Schulz enters his fourth decade as the greatest cartoonist of
his generation, and Peanuts remains as fresh and lively as it ever
was.
(How do we know it's 1980? Well, for one thing Peppermint Patty gets
herself those Bo-Derek-in-10 cornrows -- Peanuts' timelessness
occasionally shows a crack!)
That said, The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980 includes a number of classic
storylines, including the month-long sequence in which an ill Charlie
Brown is hospitalized (including a particularly spooky moment when he
wonders if he's died and nobody's told him yet), and an especially
eventful trek with Snoopy, Woodstock, and the scout troop (now including
a little girl bird, Harriet). And Snoopy is still trying on identities
left and right, including the "world-famous surveyor," the "world-famous
census taker," and Blackjack Snoopy, the riverboat gambler.
In other extended stories, Snoopy launches an ill-fated airline (with
Lucy as the agent, Linus as the luggage handler, and Marcie as what it
was still OK then to call the stewardess)... Peppermint Patty responds
to being leaked upon by a ceiling by hiring a lawyer (unfortunately, she
again picks Snoopy)... plus one of the great, forgotten romances of
Peanuts that will startle even long-time Peanuts connoisseurs:
Peppermint Patty and..."Pig-Pen"?!