January 9, 1954: Counting stars gaiden

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Charlie Brown's exasperation at Lucy counting stars is one of the more iconic strip themes of early Peanuts.  So far by my count we've only seen one Lucy star counting strip, and she more guesses than counts in that one.

January 7, 1954: Anyone want to buy half a snowman?

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Wow, that's a smug look on Charlie Brown's face in the third panel.  Whatever happened to annoy Patty, anyway?  The "inside" of the snowman is shaded for some reason, like it was filled with chocolate.  The carrot and buttons are missing, so it actually looks like Patty took slightly more than half of it.

Chagrimace!

OFF-TOPIC: Computer game Kickstarter project

It isn't relevant to Peanuts in the least, but it is something I've been working hard on, and I'm very excited about it, so I figure it should be mentioned here, like, once.

I'm working on a computer game project about exploring caves.  It's called "In Profundis," and I've just launched a Kickstarter project for it.  If you're interested in such things, why not go have a look, and maybe contribute to the cause?

In Profundis Kickstarter page

There, all done.  We now return you to our regularly-scheduled comic strips.

January 6, 1954: Ribbit

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Snoopy looks kind of frog-like in the first panel here.

"Have you ever been a dog?"  "Of course not."  I think this strip is actually funnier if you give it the 3eanuts treatment.

January 5, 1954: Snoopy and caramel

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

Should this go on the list of Snoopy powers?

Charlie Brown's mistake here is in assuming Snoopy is a dog.  He's more likely some kind of Shmoo-like creature.

Schroeder's reaction is made a lot funnier, I think, without a word balloon spelling out "HA HA" or something like that.

Chagrimace!

January 4, 1954: Schroeder, the proto-Linus

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

A character is needed for Charlie Brown to talk with sometimes, and the character chosen depends on what role he must play in the strip.  If it's an equal then it'll be Shermy, if it's something that involves playing or social matters it'll be Patty.  If it involves throwing him out of her house then Violet. 

Already, Schroeder doesn't get much play outside of his piano, but he works here because he's a little younger than Charlie Brown and thus apt to ask questions regarding the shape of the sun. Lucy could also perhaps have filled the role, although it won't be long before her willful ignorance of such matters becomes prominent.

This is exactly the kind of strip that Linus would be in, if he were old enough to talk yet.

Sunday, January 3, 1954: More of Lucy's infatuation with Schroeder

Read this comic at gocomics.com.

We've recently seen more hints about Lucy's developing self-centered personality.  We've seen a little of it before in one prior strip, but this here is the true beginning of Lucy's long-running crush on Schroeder, what Charles Schulz had been known to call her "weakness."

While Lucy can be bossy, crabby and fussy, in some ways she's rather admirable.  She has a very strong personality, is (usually) very confident, and doesn't often take 'no' for an answer.  The second panel here is a good depiction of this side of her.  Generally the Schroeder strips depict Lucy at her best, although this is far from universal.

Panel three is rather abrupt if the first two panels, which newspapers sometimes remove, are missing.  The only previous hint of Lucy having a crush on Schroeder was that other strip almost a whole year back.





Most Lucy vs. Schroeder strips make the musician a bit more inscrutable.  We're usually on Lucy's side in the struggle.  That had yet to develop in this strip, which is more egalitarian in presenting clash of the characters' wants.

We get another somersault here.

January 2, 1954: Charlie Brown is not a good cartoonist

Read this comic at gocomics.com.

Have we seen enough about Charlie Brown's failings as a cartoonist yet?  They're entertainingly meta, but still, we've seen the joke before.

New Year's Day, 1954: Linus is still scornful

Read this strip at gocomics.com.

This strip is a reprise of the joke from Sunday, 2/15/53.  In that earlier strip, Lucy doesn't seem quite so vicious, because in that one Linus is trying to play with her stuff, while here, Lucy is outright taking Linus's cookie unprovoked.

This might mark the first moment where Lucy seems to be truly evil, in a way it's impossible to explain with another motive.

I love Linus's face in the second panel.

Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, 1953

December 25, 1953:

December 31, 1953:

The Christmas strip is another message to the reader, which I don't think generally work for Peanuts, but at least there's a joke to it this time. It's funny that, if you give him enough space, Charlie Brown draws his letters with serifs.

The New Year's Eve strip isn't holiday-specific, but is funny. It's something of a follow-up. I love Schulz's giant serif Zs, which we can take to indicate the sound, and loudness, of Snoopy's snoring. Schulz returns to this particular gag later.

The motion lines make it look like Snoopy is being thrown out of a basement.