August 28, 1952: Ol' Pal Ol' Sock

It's only the second strip Schroeder has had a full line, and disappointment rules the day.

"Ol' sock?"

August 27, 1952: Bridge building

The card game Charlie Brown and Patty are playing here is probably Bridge, a game we hear Schulz was devoted to around this time.

As time passes, there are two types of character roles generally in Peanuts: those who we are expected to empathize with and those we view from without. Charlie Brown is nearly always someone with which we are to identify with, but with other characters it varies. After she settles into her role of Resident Crab Lucy, a force-of-nature type, is viewed from outside. Linus can play both roles, the former when interacting with his sister, the latter when playing the part of inscrutable wise kid. It's the difference between having a three-dimensional character and a two-dimensional one: both are actually necessary, but it can be troublesome to have all one or the other. (With three dimensional characters, it is easy to have them come out bland and wishy-washy. They tend to need elemental, two-dimensional characters to bounce off of and define them.)

Patty and Violet seem to be used more as persecutors for Charlie Brown later on, but here she and CB are used identical roles.

Sunday, August 24, 1952: Lucy can catch!

The soul of this strip is the last panel, and is one of the first really modern moments of Peanuts. The way in which Charlie Brown replies to Lucy's query, the way it's phrased and the attitude behind it, is essentially Schulzian. I don't think I can quite put it into words yet. I'll just note it for now.

August 23, 1952: WEIRDSNOOPY

Beware the wrath of WEIRDSNOOPY

Scribble of rage!

August 22, 1952: A Grand Coup

The second strip with Lucy beating Charlie Brown at checkers. "A grand coup!" sounds awkward to me, maybe it was some gaming lingo that was going around Schulz's bridge circle, or something?

August 19, 1952: Snoopy the impassive

Q. No one has been able to tell us what kind of dog we have. I am enclosing a sketch of one of his two postures. He only has two. The other one is the same as this except he faces in the opposite direction. - Mrs EUGENIA BLACK

A. I think that what you have is a cast-iron lawn dog. The expressionless eye and the rigid pose are characteristic of metal lawn animals. And that certainly is a cast-iron ear. You could, however, remove all doubt by means of a simple test with a hammer and a cold chisel, or an acetylene torch. If the animal chips, or melts, my diagnosis is correct.

--James Thurber, the Pet Department, The Thurber Carnival. Original text with illustration.

Sunday, August 17, 1952: Ragequit

This is the beginning of a running gag in which Lucy builds up an incredible winning streak against Charlie Brown at checkers. It's a major part of the building of CB's defeatest attitude.

It is interesting to note Charlie Brown's reaction to his own behavior in panel 7. When he went on a rage tirade a few weeks ago, enough that the girls hid behind trees to get away (similar to Lucy's reaction here), we accepted it even though it'd look pretty disturbing in real life because comics exaggerate and illustrate emotions to enable us readers to more easily see them. Here, however, the comic takes his behavior and has him react to it with realistic dismay. It's a rather cool little deconstruction of the form.

August 14, 1952: Schroeder's address

Another of those little facts to file away for use in trivia contests. Schroeder's address is 1770 James Street.

August 11, 1952: Comic strip logic

Well, it makes a kind of sense. Presumably it wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been a toy telephone, or if Lucy had been talking to a person.

August 9, 1952: HE SPEAKS

The most interesting thing about this strip is that, finally, Schroeder says something more than a word or two, and in English.