Monday, June 8, 2009

April 27, 1951: First use of a blush

Peanuts
Is it just me, or does Snoopy's tongue being stuck out in the third frame seem a little like it's over-stating his attitude? Schulz usually leaves more to the reader's imagination.  But anyway, it's the first doghouse, or birdhouse I suppose, seen in the strip, so it's worthy of commemoration.  It also marks the first time a character blushes to show embarassment.

2 comments:

  1. The tongue is unusual...but very cute still. Snoopy was at peak "cute" during the earliest strips.

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  2. For me, Snoopy blowing a raspberry is just totally wrong. It's the kind of extraneous business lesser cartoonists would use to juice up a lame bit, elbowing you in the side to make sure you got the joke, but Schulz purged that sort of thing from his work.

    While the blush works, the extra wavy "reaction" lines around Charlie's head look like Schulz wasn't comfortable drawing them.

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