Sunday, October 18, 2009

December 21, 1951: Who is that?

Peanuts

Snoopy looks a little closer to his classic appearance here. He's subtly larger than before.

But the real reason to link to this one is... who is that kid on the left-hand side of panel three? It's not Shermy, and Charlie Brown's already in this panel. It could be Schroeder, but the last time we saw him he was still an infant!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Friday, October 16, 2009

December 19, 1951: Words of Flattery

Peanuts

This strip seems to me to be more like the "classic" Peanuts era, as opposed to the "early" era we've seen so far. It seems to me to be more about examining Charlie Brown's personality than something that kids do. The characters have been mostly placeholders up to this point, but this seems to say something about a specific little boy, instead of a Platonic archetype.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

December 15, 1951: Doghouse Roof

Peanuts

At what point did Patty stop hanging out with Charlie Brown, and go to being more, along with Violet, of a co-antagonist?

My theory is it was about the time that Linus aged to the point of being CB's primary friend. Maybe it was something nagging at Schulz, how the main character of his strip, despite being around six or seven years old, seemed to be spending most of his time with girls. Shermy, for whatever reason, never seemed to relate to him the same way.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

December 14, 1951: She throws like a...

Peanuts

Setting aside the question of whether Violet's throwing range is realistic, this is a good example of the kind of strip that fueled Peanut's early popularity. It's just funny. Everything about it. The surprised pose from Charlie Brown in the first frame, the determined look on Violet's face throughout, the wide smile on Charlie Brown's face in the end, and the frustrated reaction from Violet.

There are a lot of funny strips coming up....

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

December 13, 1951: Dogcicle

Peanuts

Another strip to fuel the who-owns-Snoopy fires. Mostly I just think this one's funny.

Monday, October 12, 2009

December 12, 1951: Sleeping In The Snow

Peanuts

Snowman shenanigans is another thing Peanuts has that Calvin and Hobbes appropriated. Although to be fair, Watterson took it to lengths that approach the sublime. Peanuts could get quite dark, but Charlie Brown never did anything like the uproarious Snow Goons sequence, or any of the one-off snowman chamber of horrors strips.

EDIT: Argh, forgot the embed code. Fixed now. Thanks Eric J for pointing this out.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

December 11, 1951: Snoopy Lives His Dream

Peanuts

Snoopy can't talk. He hasn't even gotten thought balloons yet. So, how does Charlie Brown know that Snoopy always wanted to live in a trailer? At least the barely-verbal Schroeder can play Beethoven.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

December 10, 1951: Revolutionary

Peanuts

This one seems kind of pointless until you recognize it as a U.S. Revolutionary War slogan.

(If you were confused about the comment on yesterday's post, the wrong strip got linked. It's been fixed now.)

Friday, October 9, 2009

December 7, 1951: That's going to make a mess

Peanuts

It's the first time anyone in the strip has played hockey, which is one of those pasttimes Snoopy and Woodstock engage in later on.

EDIT: The strip from the day before was showing up. Fixed.