February 25, 1952: "Yes sir, this shampoo is just the thing for your fleas."

In the Peanuts backstory Charlie Brown's father is a barber, which mirrored the occupation of Charles Schulz's real-life father. You can't be blamed for not knowing this fact as it seldom factored into the strip in later years, perhaps due to the awkwardness of making use of the fact after Schulz's own father passed on.

Sunday, February 24, 1952: Sure I've heard of crocodiles

The throwaway first-panel joke, I think, is funnier than the rest of it, though Patty's comment in panel 5 is pretty good.

February 23, 1954: Hey, guess what it's made of!

IT'S MUD MUD MUD I TELL YOU MMUUUDD HEAP IT ON MY LAST PLATE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH WORM

At least now she sees that it's not edible.

February 21, 1952: *sigh*

I think this is the first "sigh" in Peanuts, but I could have missed one. It is another step along the way for Snoopy's personality though, growing out of the state in which something as simple as fetch could occupy him.

February 20, 1952: OMG NEU CHARACTAR

Hey everyone meet Olsen!

I can't say he lasts very long. Especially once the sun comes out....

February 19, 1952: So now he's an art critic

Real dogs don't laugh. Here's a fun exercise... try to imagine what Snoopy's laughter sounds like. In the cartoons, it was always a weird kind of squeaky, babyish voice.

There was an animated version of the play You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown I saw some time ago, and it was notable for actually providing a voice to Snoopy's thoughts. This has always been the big things the comic strip has had over the cartoons; you don't hear what Snoopy is thinking, even as a disembodied voice. But that cartoon of the play did, and it was a really weird voice for him too. One could see how one could think of that as Snoopy's inner voice, but at the time it really didn't sound like it fit the character.

February 18, 1952: Eulogy for the Neighborhood

After some years, the rest of the kids' neighborhood would fade into the background, and ultimately only be shown in a heavily simplified way, often as simple as a straight-on view. Schulz recognized this in his comments in Peanuts: A Golden Celebration. I kind of miss these types of settings. I think they really added something to the strip.

OFF-TOPIC: Beanworld Book 3

Hoka-hoka-hey! The long drought is finally over! Beanworld Book 3 has arrived from Amazon! I've been obsessed with Beanworld for months now, and to actually have not just one, but a thick book of new stories, it seems almost like too much. It is wonderful! This post from Scott McCloud's blog explains why, and also provides some art examples from the new book. (S.McC. has a letter in one of the earliest Tales Of The Beanworld comics, as does Bob Burden of Flaming Carrot!)

It may seem at first to be night-and-day different from something like Peanuts, but the heavily-stylized art styles are fairly similar. Peanuts are a kind of legume after all!

February 14-17,1952: Three strips about perception

February 14 (Valentine's Day):


February 15:


February 16:


All of these strips are about a character's perceptions being shown to be wrong, but in a way they appreciate.

February 13, 1952: Charlie Brown Must Be Oblivious

We've been going through nearly every strip lately, but there's been a lot to talk about!

The reason I bring up this one is that I think I see in it an early version of the Charlie Brown Messes Up strips of the years to come. The payoff of this strip is unusual. The main comedic punch is in the third panel. If all Schulz cared about was that joke, he really only needed that panel. The others may be dispensed with wholly.

But I don't think Schulz was just concerned with the main joke here. The joke isn't about a clueless kid, it is about the kid's well-meaning observation being shown to be mistaken, and his embarrassment about this. About his realizing that he really should have noticed that he was standing on Snoopy's tail. In other words, this strip is about inadequacy.

Even now, most comic strips would just point and laugh and say, in essence, "That stupid kid! He is stupid! Isn't that funny? Ha! Ha!" By pointing at the stupid person doing something stupid and laughing, it helps to reassure ourselves that we are smart. Peanuts empathizes with the stupid kid, and in the process reminds us that we are all stupid, sometimes.

This is why Peanuts is a great comic strip.