November 17, 1951: Bump! Bump! Klunk! Bump!!

This gag is a prototype of one that would be used later with characters like Linus and Sally.

Someone in the Metafilter thread remarked about Snoopy's warping to the top of the stairs.  Only explanation I can come up with is that Shermy must have fallen past him.

November 15, 1950: Could have been a dog

More character angst, more Snoopy cute.  Snoopy's ears would keep that trick much later.  Notice that in the surprise shot Snoopy has a visible mouth, which is uncommon for him.

November 13, 1950: Snoopy as coat-rack

More Snoopy ultra-cute.  From the first panel with the three-quarters, behind-the-head perspective, to the last panel with Charlie Brown's coat on his snout.  But what's he doing at Patty's place?  Snoopy is often just sort of "there" in those days.

By the way, I've mentioned these characters' names frequently, but Patty's name has only been mentioned once so far, and Shermy and Snoopy have yet to be named.  Charlie Brown, on the other hand, is named frequently.

Note: A friend noted that Comics.com offers a mechanism for embedding a strip into a page.  This seems as close to an endorsement for putting 'em in the blog as any, and their embed code additionally links to the strip's page.  Two stones, one bird!

Novmber 11, 1950: Kind of calculated, isn't it?

CB is just so sensitive.

November 10, 1950: Snoopy's puppet head

1. Notice Snoopy's snout in the first panel is a little thicker than usual, which helps to make him look a little more like the modern Snoopy.

2. In the last panel, we see him doubled-up.  Snoopy is such a visually-strong character even in those days.  His mouth, opened at a puppety angle like that, is major-league cute.

November 9, 1950: Frightens me too, bud

Another premonition of Charlie Brown's later outlook on life.

Notice, "another sixty years."  He was nearly ten years short, but still, Peanuts remains in print to this day.

November 7, 1950: Maww mcmaww mra-aww

A rare adult-spoken word balloon.  In television peanuts, these were usually presented as muted trumpet.

Also, this one makes it less obvious that Shermy is Snoopy's owner, although that impression gets reinforced later.  To be torn down again.  Really, it's hard to get a fix on Snoopy's owner until the strip starts to take its backstory more seriously.

November 4, 1950: Om nom nom

OMG SNOOPY ATE PATTY!

November 1, 1950: Easy eavesdropping

Another strip that'd be unthinkable later.  Doesn't it seem weird, by the way, that Patty is talking about Charlie Brown so close to him?  He's right there.  He's not even hiding behind anything.

October 30, 1950: The age before white-out

Notice the hasty lettering correction in the second panel!  I also like how it seems to actually turn out to be Charlie Brown's birthday.