September 8, 1952: God of the moving image

(For some reason this one didn't go up when it was scheduled....)



We've seen plenty of radios in prior strips, but this is the first TV set.

September 11, 1952: Stoking the flames

Charlie Brown will eventually come to regret treating Lucy so badly.

Sunday, September 7, 1952: Perspective problems

Besides a step in the development of Charlie Brown's trouble with kites, the second panel here is weird in that the perspective is a bit wrong; it looks like Charlie Brown is much larger than the other kids in that panel.

Also notice, all the kids are here except for Shermy.

September 3, 1952: Ludwig Van Beagle

This is the first strip in which Snoopy imitates someone. There is a great sequence in the early classic era of the strip in which Snoopy imitates a number of things (which includes one of Peanuts' relatively small number of pop-culture references). This strip also leads towards Snoopy's developing imagination.

September 1, 1952: Snoopy's sense of dignity

Charlie Brown is known to remark, later on, "Why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else?" Such is his enthusiasm for the game of Fetch that he describes it out loud. Snoopy will have no part of it.

Impressing stick fetching upon the reader's mind in a form that sounds somewhat demeaning is essential to the joke. Phrasing it like that, and posing that exposition as Charlie Brown's excited words, that is not I'd call standard joke construction. Jokes have constructions you know, and there are fewer ways for putting them together than you might think. Finding a new way of building a gag is a difficult task. One of the aspects of Schulz's work I enjoy the most is his ability to so often to construct new kinds of gags. Many things about Peanuts seem to express a kind of genius, but to me this may be the greatest thing about it, Schulz's ability to present a joke to us in a clean, iconic way, that is understandable but not overstated. It is wonderful.

Sunday, August 31, 1952: But it's his pool, right?

This is a case where Charlie Brown's responsible for his own disappointment, to some extent. It's his pool, right? That's why he filled it? I guess he doesn't want to throw his friends out when they're having such a good time. (Schroeder especially is getting into it, although I doubt he really needs to hold his nose as he jumps in.)

Why is it necessary for Charlie Brown to empty the whole pool just because Snoopy is sitting in it?

As a kid, I'm not entirely sure why, I loved the picture of Snoopy sitting, smiling, looking out of the pool at Charlie Brown. It's something about his profile, or his attitude maybe. Or maybe it's just really cute.

The shading on the underside of the pool as CB empties it is an unusual touch for Peanuts.

August 29, 1952: Charlie Brown plays it safe

This time the game is more obviously Bridge (although it could be another bidding game like Spades, I suppose). A nice, subtle touch here is the smile on Patty's face.

For those who are not familiar with the game... In Bridge, a good hand is generally one in which you have one suit with a lot of cards. If you're the highest bidder then you determine which suit is trump, so if you have a strong suit it's mostly to your advantage to bid high. But there are many other factors at work as well. For a game that so limits the types of actions available to players, Contract Bridge is remarkably subtle and deep.

To add to the list of things Snoopy can say: *gasp*.

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.