Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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

Peanuts

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.

Monday, March 30, 2009

November 15, 1950: Could have been a dog

Peanuts

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.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

November 13, 1950: Snoopy as coat-rack

Peanuts

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!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

November 10, 1950: Snoopy's puppet head

Peanuts
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.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

November 9, 1950: Frightens me too, bud

Peanuts
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.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

November 7, 1950: Maww mcmaww mra-aww

Peanuts
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.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

November 4, 1950: Om nom nom

Peanuts
OMG SNOOPY ATE PATTY!

Monday, March 23, 2009

November 1, 1950: Easy eavesdropping

Peanuts
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.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

October 30, 1950: The age before white-out

Peanuts
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.