As Lucy becomes more bullheaded and cantankerous, Linus would grow into the role of asking Charlie Brown science questions. In one memorable strip, he asks an angry-faced Lucy why the sky is blue. She snaps back at him "BECAUSE IT ISN'T GREEN!"
That coy smile on Pig-Pen's face in panel three is interesting, in a Mona Lisa kind of way.
This is a growing part of Lucy's personality, a refusal to acknowledge basic facts. At she isn't laughing about what a joker Charlie Brown is afterwards this time. Charlie Brown's stomachache of dismay when confronted with one of his friends' quirks is a developing part of his character, too.
It's been a little while since we've seen a fussy Lucy strip. This one fits right in with the pattern: Lucy looks a gift horse in the mouth, and the horse kicks. Charlie Brown's expression is a little different this time: it's a more introspective look of annoyance, more of a look of "why does this happen to me?" than "why do I put up with her?"
I might have to agree with Lucy, however, if there really are weeds in the lemonade.
Having trouble coming up with something to say about this one. Not the most complex joke we've seen.
This seems more like something Linus would do. Actually, Schroeder has been in a good number of non-musical strips around this time. He's catcher of the baseball team, he's Charlie Brown's cartooning audience, and he's also around as a bit character. I remember as a kind seeing Schroeder strips at the piano and wondering why I never saw him anywhere else. He seemed to exist in a piano-centered universe, with occasional visits from the Satan of his personal world, Lucy.
The first panel demonstrates a curious aspect of Peanuts' artwork from around the time. Characters wearing a neutral expression viewed front or from the diagonal are often drawn without mouths. I thought it was weird the first time I saw it, and I still think it's weird now.
Re. the 8/11 strip, is this the first time Lucy's intransigence has given CB a stomachache? For awhile, this back-and-forth between Lucy and CB was a long-running gag.
ReplyDeleteLucy... the original Tea Partier!
I can't imagine that Schroeder's mouthlessness is purposeful. I suspect there's some sort of error there; maybe it was removed by an overzealous syndicate employee who thought it was a stray speck.
ReplyDeleteAre there other examples of three-quarter views missing mouths? I'm glancing through the '53-'54 book but not seeing any.
I remember noticing it elsewhere, but can't point to a specific trip, it's just something I've noticed in the past.
ReplyDeleteIve seen classic Snoopy like that all the time
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