February 28, 1951: Shermy named again

Shermy's name is mentioned again.  I'm obsessing a bit on this because learning character names is fairly difficult in many comic strips.  Most individual strips of many comics are intended to stand alone, but even so, characters are only named once in a great while. You'd be forgiven for not knowing Wally, from Dilbert's, name, or... hey, I just realized I still don't know what the triangle-haired woman is called.

February 27, 1951: Om-nom-no-- is that a worm?!

Back to Patty and Charlie Brown here.  I'm given to wonder what differentiated Patty and Violet in Charles Schulz's mind.  I get the sense that Violet is younger yet a little more matronly with her skills at dirt-baking.  Patty is a bit more insecure.

The main reason I point out this strip is how Charlie Brown is drawn eating in the last panel.  I find it appealing.

February 24, 1951: Does this qualify as gross-out humor?

This strip marks the beginning of a strange theme, Violet's fascination with making mud pies.  The "pardon my fingers" comment is a nice touch.

By the way, I just noticed that none of the other characters, besides Snoopy, have met Violet yet.  Patty and Shermy have yet to see her.

The book Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis observes that most of the characters in Peanuts had analogues in people from Schulz's life.  While this is an appealing explanation to me, I wonder how accurate it is.  While I think an artist ultimately takes everything he creates from his life in some fashion, I'd say that sources are often heavily obfuscated.

The book notes that the name "Van Pelt," the last name of Lucy and Linus, was taken from some real-life friends of Charles and Joyce Schulz.  The name of the two Patties, both vanilla and "Peppermint" varieties, come from the same person, a cousin of Charles Schulz, with the later character being closer to the actual person.

Schulz often picked unusual names for characters: Linus. Marcie. 5. Eudora. Woodstock.

February 22, 1951: Violet's birthday

Funny thing about this strip, when he finds out Violet's birthday was last month he says he wishes he had known as he wanted to get her a present.  But they met just fifteen days ago!

This one is just funny, I think.  My first exposure to the characters of Patty and Violet were in compilations that painted them in a pretty negative light, often ganging up to denigrate poor Charlie Brown.  The little girls in the strips I saw almost seemed like different characters.  Though of course they paled beside the magnificent, maleficient Lucy Van Pelt.  

LUCY VAN PELT. Her her name, ye gods, and tremble!

February 20, 1951: Lost ball

Patty's joke here at Charlie Brown's expense is exceptionally deadpan, she doesn't break expression at all.  Take a gander at Charlie Brown's look of dismay in the last panel, part of Schulz's continued search for effective ways to display emotion.  It's great, but kind of strange.  His face reminds me of a Chinese hanzi character.

This is also another self-effacing reference to Schulz's art style.

February 19, 1951: Belittling remark

A rare piece of cartoon metaphor here, as Patty's words literally diminish Charlie Brown in stature. I think this is probably the only strip which does this. Schulz must have been dissatisfied with this solution, as later strips show embarrassment using cross-hatching to represent blushing.

Snoopy's smug look in the last panel is a winner. There are strips where Snoopy just sits there smiling, uncomprehending, like a real dog, and there are strips like this one where he has more of a personality. Not close to Snoopy's later brilliance, but still, a step along the way.

February 17, 1951: Radio used to be cool

Notice: the only signal that the radio program is exciting, essential to understanding Violet's question and the point of the joke, is Charlie Brown's body language in the first three panels.  In later strips Charles Schulz would probably provide some additional visual signal, like some words hanging in the air.

Ah, for the days when turning on the radio would more likely present some exciting adventure show or comedy, instead of lame pop music or a blustery cadre of demagogues. The world changed greatly during Peanuts' run, the peace and love generation were yet to be seen at the strip's start, and both the creator and strip had to adapt to the times.

February 16, 1951: Beethoven

Schroeder's introduction is still some months off, but here Charlie Brown provides the first in a long line of Beethoven references.

February 14, 1951: Valentine's Day

Another turnabout strip, another chase, and more of CB's playful insulting of Patty's looks.  The punchline, "It's risky, but I get my laughs!" is almost the same as a prior chase strip, I notice.

At first, Peanuts didn't take much notice of holidays. My theory is that, as a cartoonist's run continues, their initial stockpile of ideas and energy becomes depleted as the enormity of the task settles in, and they start having to riff on whatever comes to mind. That is the true test for a published cartoonist, not how great the strip is at first, but can they keep it up?

February 8, 1951: More Violet

Charlie Brown reminds the readers of Violet's name again here.

Violet's style is already something that might not have been possible in those tentative early strips, with their head-hugging hair.  Violet's hair is the most complex seen yet, with strong highlighting and thick, black shapes suggesting strands of hair.

Notice the girl's use of a bookstrap.  Are these ever seen anymore?

Thanks for the feedback, Aaron!