As Peanuts reaches the mid-1980s, a period of Peanuts that is far less wellknown than the endlessly collected 1960s and 1970s eras, Snoopy's deadpan, droopy-mustached brother Spike takes center stage. In romantic news, thePeppermint Patty-Marcie-Charlie Brown love triangle of overlapping unrequitedlove heats up (well, kind of), while Linus continues to vociferously deny thathe is Sally's "Sweet Babboo"; of course, Lucy's unsuccessful pursuit ofSchroeder remains unabated. In what is probably his most baroque and hilariousbaseball-involved humiliation yet, Charlie Brown agrees to join PeppermintPatty's team the "Pelicans" only to discover that he's wanted not as a playerbut as a mascot. Linus gives up his security blanket and forms a support groupfor other kids who are trying to do the same, and Peppermint Patty manages to beheld back in school and go on a European trip with her dad, sending backperiodic dispatches from the road: all this plus appearances from Franklin, Rerun, and the rest of the gang. | The Complete Peanuts 1983-1984 by Charles M Schulz, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters