July 2, 1951: Waka-waka-waka

Charlie Brown's got that Pac-Man fever.  The question-mark over Snoopy's head is a nice touch.

June 23, 1951: Patty and Violet like Charlie Brown

These two little girls' opinion of Charlie B. seem to decline over time.  I remember, as a kid reading Peanuts compilations, thinking Patty and Violet often seemed incredibly cruel to him.  This, of course, is before the diabolical Lucy came on the scene....

June 22, 1951: Nyuk nyuk nyuk

Patty gets back at Charlie Brown for past chase strips.

Two things:
1. Charlie Brown's mouth looks a little weird in the last panel.  Ever see Grim Fandango?
2. It's a bit less funny when it's a boy chasing a girl after a bad joke.

June 20, 1951: Nooooooo (#1)

Violet falls off the wagon.

June 19, 1951: Why call the lifeguard to save a beachball?

Another meta strip where Schulz makes fun of his own art style.

June 18, 1953: "And soon I'll know the wonders of the sunken city."

There is an unexplained gap in Comic.com's archives over June 10-17.  I should have a look in Fantagraphic's Peanuts compilations to see if strips are missing or if Peanuts was on hiatus during that period.

This is a vaguely creepy strip.  If the eyes aren't Charlie Brown's, whose are they?  And why is he hanging out in the sewer?  My vote goes to a suburban Deep One. (That's right, Peanuts and the Cthulhu Mythos, baby!)

June 8, 1951: I name thee Laughing Dog

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but again, it's odd to think of a time when the characters didn't know if Snoopy could understand what they're saying.

Other than the laughing post in the first frame, Snoopy is very dog-like here, just blankly staring forward.

June 5, 1951: They start so young

There are three broad categories of Peanuts strips from this time: kids acting like kids, kids acting like adults, and kids displaying precocious knowledge of adulthood. (There are other types, but these seem to be foremost.) This strip falls into the third category, with Violet speculating about later getting a date with a human being who's not yet old enough to talk.  Notice, by the way, Schroeder's dubious look in the second frame.  That expression is not essential to the joke, but Charles Schulz put it in anyway.  This is one of the joys of early Peanuts for me, noticing those little things Schulz just threw in.

Schroeder was an Archetypal Baby in this one.  Enjoy it while it lasts kid; it won't be long at all before you become the Archetypal Musician instead.

June 4, 1951: Man of the earth

Notice the difference in Charlie Brown's mouth when seen in three-quarters' perspective (second panel) and nearly full-on (fourth panel).  On the first we get a relief line, the second just a mouth outline.  If Charlie Brown were seen straight-on, Schulz would have had to figure something to do with his nose, as his U-shaped noses would have to pick a side to be seen from then.

100 posts!

August 7, 1951: Background detail

Panel two has one of the most detailed backgrounds seen so far. Just look at it. It's almost un-Peanuts-like.