April 28-30, 1954: Comics, stairs and hoops

April 28, 1954:

The latest in the "Charlie Brown, Cartoonist" sequence. This one, I think, has an uncharacteristically clunky final panel. I find it difficult to imagine how Schulz could have thought CB's statement at the end works, it's very un-Peanuts-like.

April 29, 1954:

This is more like it. After the "Big Kids" Sunday strip, I think this is the first one to have a full thought balloon from Linus. I find the stairs in the second panel a little problematic, though. It's like the stairs sort of "slope" down off the side, like a carpeted hillside or something.

April 30, 1954:

Is it any wonder Snoopy forgets the kid's name? Anyway, this strip only works because of the limited size of the panels. Presumably Snoopy can see ahead off-panel, so why doesn't he notice the hoop is only as large as his snout beforehand? Maybe it's why Schulz draws him with his eyes closed in the third panel.

January 20, 1953: Snoopy and Schroeder

I think this is the first strip with just the two of them. Later on there are some memorable strips that pair the two that I, um, don't remember at this minute. Heh.

How large is Snoopy in the last panel? The more I look at it, the more he seems to be huge! We know the kids have to reach up to reach the door handle, and as this strip shows Snoopy is still pretty small relative to them. But sitting down in the last panel, his head come up most of the way to the door! Am I just seeing things?

Sunday, April 27, 1952: That was sensational, Lucy

Lucy refers to herself in the third-person again here. I'm glad she grew out of that. That is not the only other thing, of course, that is different about her here. Between the wide eyes, tendency towards accidents and meek demeanor, there is probably no other character in Peanuts that changes so much between its conception and final version. (Well, except maybe for Snoopy, but that is a question for later....)

I read a lot of Peanuts back in first grade, for our school's library had a good collection of 50s and 60s Peanuts compilations. In a way, these early strips feel more like "real" Peanuts to me than the strips from the 80s and 90s.

I kind of miss that people don't use words like "sensational" in casual conversation these days. Or, if they are, they're not in the conversations that I tend to have.

April 16, 1952: Poor Lucy

The second time Lucy has referred to herself in third-person. She is largely depicted as sympathetic in these early strips, it'll be interesting to see the point where she transforms into her demonic guise.

September 15, 1951: Because Charlie Brown stands in the way?

It's funny, but also seems to suggest that either Charlie Brown is incredibly accident prone, or the other characters are resigned to him standing between them and the post.