October 24, 1952: That's how you know it's Lucy

This is the first real sign of Lucy's loud, angry persona. Not in what she does; she's been cranky before. The key element is how Charlie Brown recognizes it, and Patty reacts to it in the last frame.

The letters of the word BANG here appear to be stenciled or pasted, or at least drawn with mechanical aid, instead of hand-drawn. I wonder if that was how they were originally rendered or if the syndicate replaced them?

October 23, 1952: Snoopy fails to get the paper

The first panel contains an excellent drawing of Snoopy walking. You can plainly see here that he's changed a lot since his original appearance:



Although, looking at Patty there, he's not changed nearly as much as the other characters. If Peanuts' art style remained like that throughout the strip's run, would it be as popular? It does look very fifties.

October 22, 1952: Thanks for clarifying, girls

Instances like this can't be good for a kid's self-esteem. It is difficult to imagine, by the way, these little kids playing bridge. Charlie Brown's supposed to be about four or five right now, although it's possible that it's not Contract Bridge.

I'd like to point out that Charlie Brown breaks the fourth wall in the last panel.

October 21, 1952: Snoopy takes offense

The third panel here is a good depiction of emotion. It's easy to represent happiness, just draw a smile. Anger is a scowl and slanted-downward eyebrows. Snoopy's emotion here is wounded pride, which is rather harder to represent. It helps that the dialogue clearly tips us off as to how Snoopy feels.

October 20, 1952: Bridge column

I remember looking with just as much bewilderment at the bridge column in our local paper as a kid.

Glancing at the last panel by itself, it looks very close to the classic Peanuts look. Patty is almost completely in that style, Charlie Brown's head is just a little too oval and his eye a little too thick.

Sunday, October 19, 1952: Snoopy dance!

It's Snoopy's first time doing the "Happiness" dance, here with forelegs folded in a Russian style. It's also Snoopy's first time as the life of the party.

It's not his first time with a thought balloon. If I'm remembering right, it is the third legitimate time his thoughts have been represented. One of the two times was with the now-familiar thought bubble (with small circles replacing a tail), and the other time was like it is here, with a tail on the balloon. It is also the second time Snoopy's doghouse has been depicted with a TV antenna.

This is an important strip along Snoopy's development. Except for the way it is drawn, it could easily be a strip from ten years later. It is solidly Classic, as opposed to Early, Peanuts.

As far as the question of Snoopy's ownership, this is another step away from his being owned by Charlie Brown or another kid, back towards his being a neighborhood dog who's just "around," although he does seem to own his own house. (And a TV set and electrical power.)

October 18, 1952: Is that a blanket?

Is that a blanket that Linus is sitting on?

October 17, 1952: More comics

Some of the titles on the comics have violent names, like they did in the drugstore strip from some months back. Some of the titles are: "Zipp!" "Kill" "Wow!" "Smash" "Hate" "Killer Comix" "Slaughter" "War" "Ha! Ha!"

October 16, 1952: Watch what you say around Lucy

Lucy still tends to take things literally.

October 14 and 15, 1952: Patty and Violet's Party

I mostly remember Patty and Violet for the times they double-teamed Charlie Brown in the classic age of the strip. If one interprets Charlie Brown as a stand-in for Charles Schulz himself, a view that may have some merit, that may indicate problems with female figures. I think it is possible to read too much into this, however; mostly it just serves to develop Charlie Brown's pessimistic personality a little more.

Also: rats!