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 severalmore 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,"