June 25, 1952: On the links

Generic sports strips like this I usually don't consider worth linking, but it is important to note that Charles Schulz eventually starts up a second, short-lived strip called It's Only A Game. Warning: link contains adult figures drawn in the Peanuts style!

It's Only A Game was a shallower gag strip devoted to various types of sports, including more cerebral ones such as Bridge, to which Schulz was devoted. The supplied link is to a discussion of the strip and its history, along with Schulz's assistant/eventual ghost artist for the strip, Jim Sasseville. The article is a bit of an eye-opener; Charles Schulz could be kind to friends, but apparently he could also cut them off at a moment's notice.

(Thanks RAB for the link to that one, from some time back.)

April 23, 1952: The largest scribble of shame yet!

There are a lot of strips about arguments and their nature right now. Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography notes that he got a lot of ideas for the strip from his social circle, including characters and pastimes, so presumably this strip about arguments originated from his observations of real arguments in his group.

It is a little-known fact that Charles Schulz started a second, short-lived comic strip later on, called It's Only A Game, the U.S. Acres to Peanuts' Garfield. My guess was he started it as an outlet for many gaming-oriented ideas sparked by his social circle that would be out of place in Peanuts.