March 28, 1952: Lucy, Live on Stage

The curtains at the sides lend this strip an odd theatrical appearance.

The strip itself is another of those instances of Lucy pestering her father, who as we've noted before are reputed based on the childhood antics of Charles Schulz's daughter Lisa.

This may be the creepiest yet we've seen of Lucy's wide-eyed early look. In that first panel especially she looks like visions of Hell hold no secrets for her.

March 26, 1952: That's just-- an alibi!

It's Lucy's first strip with characters other than Charlie Brown or her unseen father. The girl looks pretty miserable in the second panel, doesn't she?

Also of note here, it's Violet's first strip with her hair done in a ponytail, probably done so she doesn't look so much like Lucy.

March 24, 1952: Bring me my bear, servant!

The fifth sixth Lucy strip. Another instance of Lucy's demanding interactions with her unseen father. Apparently Schulz got the idea for these strips from his then-newbown daughter, Lisa. I hope he didn't get the idea for Lucy's later personality from her as well!

Sunday, March 23, 1952: More Baseball

The first baseball-themed Sunday strip, and a foreshadowing of the career of Charlie "The Goat" Brown.

Patty playing umpire in the first panel is especially nice.

In panel 5, which base is it that Charlie Brown is running to? There seems to be some confusion between Patty and Violet on the matter. If you look closely, the drawing of Patty in that frame is a bit of a throwback; she's reverted to her old round-headed look. It's interesting that I didn't notice how all the characters except Charlie Brown have been slowly moving from having oval heads when viewed in profile or three-quarters to having recessed eyes and prominent foreheads.

March 22, 1952: About face

It's a turnabout/chase strip in which Charlie Brown didn't intentionally insult Patty. He seems to be growing out of his smart-aleck phase.

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."

March 18, 1952: Requiem for a composer

The second appearance of Schroeder's bust of Beethoven. While we remember that Charlie Brown introduced Schroeder to the piano pianoforte, this strip implies that he also introduced him to Beethoven.

I kind of wish I lived in a world in which little kids were up on major classical composers, although it'd be a little intimidating.

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March 17, 1952: Lucy Lucy Quite Contrary

This is Lucy's fifth strip, and the earliest that tends to show up in abridged anthologies seeing as how it's the earliest glimmer of her fully-developed, ultra-antagonistic personality, and how it still has her saucer-eyes.

Those are some big thought balloons.

Sunday, March 16, 1952: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

If your opinion of Peanuts has been determined entirely by "Happyness is a Something Saccharine" plaques, then take a look at panel 5 here. SNOOPY in an ELECTRIC CHAIR. It is also Snoopy's first thought balloons, although there are no words in these. The dog has not yet learned the rudiments of human language.

Dogcatcher jokes have been a staple of cartoons since at least the Termite Terrace days. Snoopy, being ownerless at this time, would have a special cause for avoiding the Homeless Police.

An ice cream bone? Just this one I envy those papers that clipped off the top panels.

March 15, 1952: 100m Piano Toss

This strip is a variant of the same kind of sudden reaction as the turnabout strips brought up before. Tossing objects is still a common expression of cartoon anger, isn't it? Do this in real life and I don't like to think of how the police would react.

I'm pretty sure I have never heard the term "pianoforte" outside of Peanuts.