March 12, 1953: Head-over-heels

This is the first strip in which a character is thrown head-over-heels just from the force of some other action, usually a loud noise. We have had a case sort of like this back in the first Lucy football strip, but it didn't happen in the iconic Peanuts fashion. This is the first time in which it's mere noise that causes the tumble.

The head-over-heels motion will become one of the most distinctive elements of Charles Schulz's visual comic language. It looks natural on the page, but it doesn't animate very well; the implied force is away from the noise, so the subject can't stay on-screen long enough to read the motion well. Also, is the victim spinning, or just being thrown back? And what kind of sound should the somersault itself make?

Sunday, March 8, 1953: Towards a More Neurotic Brother

Security blanket aside, Linus ends up being perhaps the most well-adjusted of the Peanuts kids. I can only assume it's because, when Lucy is your sister, the slings and arrows of fortune just don't seem to be as bad.

March 7, 1953: Baby vs. Dog

My favorite thing about this strip is the exclamation points in the first panel. No attempt is made to justify or even explain the aggression on both sides. It's as if they're saying: "Oh. It's YOU."

The last panel is a little cramped. Although they're moving away from each other, they're actually closer together there than in panel three.

March 6, 1953: Who is Snoopy's owner?

This strip finally puts a solid finger on Snoopy's owner. If he's part of Charlie Brown's family, then he must certainly be his dog.

The drawing of Snoopy in the third panel is very appealing, I think.

March 4, 1953: When Charlie Brown was thawed out 1,000 years later, he found Snoopy fossilized in that state

This is just a great strip. Snoopy's in shock!

It's important to note that Snoopy isn't drawn exactly the same in each panel. His smile in the second panel fades in the third, and wears grieved eyebrow-lines in the last.

March 3, 1953: Lucy and the sandwiches

This strip makes no sense if you don't remember Lucy's prior fussiness over cutting sandwiches. This indicates that Schulz feels confident enough in her personality that he can use the character as a symbol of it, just like Schroeder is a symbol of both the artist and musicians in general.

This is different from Snoopy being a symbol of, say, dogs, or Linus of babies, because that's obvious from immediate reading.

The only other example of what I'm talking about that springs to mind are Charlie Brown's tantrums when faced with another character's quirks. Violet's mud pies don't count because Schulz only uses that in a context where the reader is reminded of her mud pies.

March 2, 1953: Treat Schroeder's piano with respect!

This is the first of a long-running theme of the strip, other characters not giving Schroeder's piano the respect it deserves. By the way, isn't that an evocative drawing of the ringing on Snoopy's ears? Just wide looping scribbles. Looking at them, I can practically hear it.

March 1, 1953: Obsolete furniture

The funny thing about this strip is that most of us today are probably more familiar with rocking chairs than many of the examples of modern furniture seen here, or the record player.

This strip is pretty rich in detail. Schulz wasn't afraid of putting in some quality draftsmanship in the early days.

February 27, 1953: Presaging Calvin

This one is sort of a companion strip to the one two days ago, where Lucy gives Charlie Brown a (pseudo-)scientific reason not to cut bread. Anyway, I wish folks online would be as ready to admit the ultimate source of their data.

This is a very Calvin-esque attitude for Charlie Brown.

February 26, 1953: Snoopy, dog about town

I can only assume that Charlie Brown's comment, about the dogfight, is a turn of phrase that has fallen out of favor in the 50+ years since the strip first saw print.

Question 1: Who dressed Snoopy up in that outfit? He still doesn't have an explicit owner, nor opposeable thumbs. Evidently it was someone who appreciates tartan.

Question 2: How did Schroeder know where Snoopy was going?

Snoopy's role here is subtly different from his original personality. Here, he is sort of an honorary kid. He can't talk, but Charlie Brown and Schroeder know he can understand them. The disconnect between his obvious nature (dog) and the kids' treatment of him (colleague) is what provides the joke.