Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sunday, January 30, 1933: Tum De Tum Te Da Te Dum ♫


Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Put a crayon in Lucy's hand and the world is her kitty.  Comic characters are susceptible to manias that would get real people committed.  Can't you just imagine a Batman villain whose schtick was drawing lines between dots?  "The Connector."  It can't be any less silly than the Riddler, whose gimmick is providing clues by which he can be caught.

Every once in a while Schulz allows himself a metajoke.  The strips in which people make fun of the size and shape of Charlie Brown's head are among these ("Is that a beach ball?"), as are the ones where Charlie Brown can't hide behind a tree because his head is too wide.  One strip Schroeder even threatened to put in a transfer to a different comic strip.  The last panel here is another such joke.

Some time later, Lucy will ask Charlie Brown if he thinks she has beautiful eyes, and, perhaps risking a pounding, Charlie Brown says they look just like little dots of india ink.

The first frame here is one of Schulz's more abstract lead panel designs.

1 comment:

  1. there's also a Calvin and Hobbes series of strips where Calvin uses nearly the exact same "Tum de tum..." refrain. it's the one where he tries to do some plumbing to fix a faucet. homage to Schulz, I am sure.

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