June 20-25, 1955: But is it art?

 

June 20:

A weird art error in this one, the rain is drawn in front of the word balloons in the second and third panels.

Inthe June 15 strip we saw Lucy freak out when she demanded the rain stop, and it did. Reader John Evans reminds us that there is a sequence with Linus later in which he says "Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day," it does, and he's disturbed by it. That sequence, compared to these two strips' close proximity, seems to imply an underlying current in Schulz's mind.

June 21:

As long as we're talking about insights into the mind of the creator, I imagine that this question was starting to weigh in as well.

 

June 22:

A comic strip? Can it be art? Now the question, if not completely settled, is at least easier to judge (despite the tremendously influential Krazy Kat), but then comics were regarded as almost a disposable kind of art form, purchased outright from the creator by a syndicate or publisher who then hired him to produce his own work, from which he could be fired at a moment's notice. Newspaper cartoonists now have an easier time of retaining control over their work thanks in no small part to the efforts of people like Bill Watterson who refused to think of their work in belittling terms. It is important to remember, however, that Charles Schulz did not have complete control over his work -- he never did regain the rights to his life's work, and throughout its entire run it was saddled with the name Peanuts, of which he was vocal in his dislike.

June 23:

Say what you want about the lacy border, it looks to me like a girl kite flyer would need to be quite skilled to keep that thing aloft.

 

 

June 24:

A back-and-forth conversation between Charlie Brown and Lucy is becoming one of the staples of the strip. Their different outlooks provide endless opportunities for humor. It is theorized by the author of Schulz and Peanuts that Lucy is based off of Charles Schulz's first wife Joyce, which might explain their their conversations are so frequent around now, as well as Lucy's growing antagonism over the years.

June 25:

Charlie Brown only added the rec room to be able to charge higher rent.

May 29-June 4, 1955: Ol' Aerial Ears

On gocomics.com's archive, this sequence begins here.

Sunday, May 29

I should certainly say Lucy drives Charlie Brown crazy. She has caused him to hallucinate his kite string turning into a heavy anchor chain! It's not like we can believe that was one of the "few things" Lucy had. The question remains how Charlie Brown was able to run that chain up high enough into the air so that it could ground the kite with such a resounding CLANK, not to mention how Lucy brought it to him in the-- you know what, skip it.

May 30

Pinky Lee was the star of a children's TV show in 1954 and 1955. His catchphrase was "You make me so mad!" The Wikipedia page on him notes that he collapsed on-air later in 1955, which the audience of children had assumed was part of his goofy act. This basically ended Pinky's role on the show, although contrary to rumors at the time he didn't die until 1993.

June 1

By my reckoning, this is the first time Linus has ever had an attack due to the absense of his blanket. Lucy's attitude towards her brother's flannel dependence varies from warmly supportive to fierce antagonism.

June 2

At least he didn't say Beethoven!

June 3

I spoke too soon. Good grief!

June 4

He still COULD have licket Crockett, he just had something else to do.

June 5

Snoopy powers demonstrated: prehensile ears & improved auditory reception.

 

Sunday, March 13, 1955: Charlie Brown's going to regret that "kind of dumb" remark

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Charlie Brown and Schroeder must have like no depth perception.  And that's gotta be a pretty strong wind to support a kite that small.

How does Lucy's intelligence matter to how high she can fly a kite?
 

Sunday, June 13, 1954: Charlie Brown and a Kite

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Last Sunday Charlie Brown's kite contributed to a more general neighborhood chaos. This time a statement is definitely being made about his kite-flying skills. We don't yet know if it's an aspect of his character that sticks or if was just intended to be a one-off joke. Probably the latter.

Sunday, June 6, 1954: String and rope

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

This isn't the first time Charlie Brown has flown a kite, I think. It doesn't count as the beginning of the kite-flying-failure aspect of his character either, since all of the characters are holding (or jumping, or are tied to) some piece of string, and two are actually running with them.

Also different are the character's attitudes at the end. All of them are wearing a "dumbfounded" expression, including Charlie Brown. More frequently after causing a kite crash, Charlie Brown's expression is more like dismay, or disgust.

One thing I wonder about... in the last panel, three of the characters are sticking their tongues out. This is a bit of graphic shorthand sometimes used in comics (especially older ones) to represent dumbfoundedness or annoyance. But where did this convention get started? It doesn't seem like a particularly obvious connection to make, to stick out your tongue in the face of a blameless accident. How did this get invented? (While we're at it, when did "Z" become the universal signifying letter for sleep?)

Notice that Shermy is walking Snoopy here, making the dog's owner more doubtful again.

All of the current characters are represented in this strip except Linus.

Sunday, September 7, 1952: Perspective problems

Besides a step in the development of Charlie Brown's trouble with kites, the second panel here is weird in that the perspective is a bit wrong; it looks like Charlie Brown is much larger than the other kids in that panel.

Also notice, all the kids are here except for Shermy.

April 24, 1952: More kite fail

Snoopy exhibits his developing mischievous streak, and Charlie Brown fails at life again. This is a fairly modern strip, except for the art style it wouldn't be out of place in the 60s.

I would just like to call attention to Schulz's question-marks. He drew 'em extra-fancy.

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.

Sunday, April 13, 1952: Gangway!

Another first! Here we have the beginning of Charlie Brown's long and troubled career as a kite flyer.

What, precisely, is the context behind "gangway?" I've heard it before, but what is its origins?

March 21, 1952: Charlie Brown before the great kite slump

Your eyes do not deceive you, he is actually flying a kite. And flying a kite low is a hell of a lot harder than flying one high. As the kid gets older his physical skills go to pieces.

Maybe we need a word for Charlie Brown's life before he became such a failure. Maybe we should call this his "pre-goat period."