February 13, 1954:
Lucy seems to be exhibiting problems with her indoor voice. When she's shouting, notice the post of dismay Violet is wearing. But Lucy doesn't have "angry eyebrows" in any of these panels.
Sometimes Charles Schulz will draw a doll in one of the panels, and I'm always amazed by the effort that goes into them. Like I said about the last strip, showing a character small isn't really like just drawing it at a smaller scale. The doll here shows so much attention to detail looks like it could well have been a new character.
February 15, 1954:
Here is what I meant by "angry eyebrows."
I assume this is before class started, or else I'd think Violet's outburst would cause a disruption.
The change in Charlie Brown's poses from panels 2 to 3, and from 3 to 4, are strange. He goes from happy, to flinching like he's about to be hit, to a kind of casual leaning back. Violet is still pretty angry in the last panel though.
For some reason my attention is drawn to Violet's exclamation in the third panel. It doesn't have an exclamation point, and it has an apostrophe noting the removal of the "e" in "the."
This is not the first strip that shows characters in a school setting, but it might be the second.
February 16, 1954:
This is classic Lucy, and helps to show what a terror she's developing into. Although there's no spite shown on her face it's difficult to avoid assuming some. We also get a somersault here, although it's not the side-view one we usually get later.
February 17, 1954:
The question presented by this strip is, is Patty's long pause her intended to be hers, or are we just sort of seeing Charlie Brown's mental state illustrated? The latter is a bit of a stretch, so I believe it's the former.
Note Charlie Brown's expression in the last panel is not a chagrimace. It's more like a frown.
Kinda strange how Schulz was switching between Violet's hairstyles there; on February 13, she has the more familiar bun in the back (or whatever you'd call it), but then on the 15th, she's back to the original pigtails. Odd.
ReplyDeleteThe way Patty just sits there with this deadpan - and yet, somehow concerned? - expression is just priceless. It's like she was getting ready to tell Charlie Brown some unpleasant truths.
ReplyDelete