Every member of the Peanuts Band contributes to the lasting legacy and comic success of the comic strips. indeed, Peanuts is as beloved and timeless as it is because of its characters. It doesn’t have to be a new gag in every strip to be funny. Peanuts Let her characters drive the narrative, and the humor comes naturally from there. While the likes of Charlie Brown and Snoopy are obvious standouts, one of the funniest members of the Peanuts Gang is unarguably Lucy.
Lucy basically plays the part of the gang ‘know-it-all’, but not in a way that’s too unbearable, mostly because Lucy is constantly (hilariously) wrong about whatever subject she claims to know everything about. In fact, it’s the punchline of one particular ‘Lucy joke’ that appeared in September 1954, which is why it’s as funny now as it was when it first appeared – and it’s far from the only one. Here are 10 of the funniest Peanuts Comics that just turned 70!
10
Pig-pen will do anything to keep from getting clean (including getting clean!)
Peanuts – September 6, 1954
One day, Patty decides that enough is enough when it comes to pig-pen always being dirty. She scampers over to where Pigpen is playing in a sandbox, saying she’ll give him a bath herself. But, when Patty sees him, she finds that Pigpen has already taken a bath. However, the comic changes perspectives, and shows that Pig-Pen only cleaned half of his body, while the other half was as dirty as ever.
Pig-Fen has stated in the past that he constantly urinates, he just prefers to be dirty. So, when someone is trying to get him clean (like Patty in the comic), Pig pens have to take creative measures to keep themselves dirty. And, in this case, that includes getting clean!
9
Charlie Brown takes extreme measures when he doesn’t feel included
Peanuts – September 1, 1954
Violet and Patty are planning to throw a party, and after creating an invitation list, they let Charlie Brown know he’s not invited. Rather than accept the fact that he is not wanted in the party, Charlie Brown freaks out. He yells at Violet and Patty that they better invite him, otherwise he will bomb their houses with fighter jets. After Charlie Brown’s outburst, Patty and Violet change their minds, and decide to invite Charlie Brown after all.
It seems his extraordinary threats worked, like Violet and Patty would rather have Charlie Brown at their party than risk being blown to harm by his fighter jets (Which he obviously doesn’t have). Clearly, Charlie Brown takes extreme measures when he doesn’t feel included, and this time, it really paid off.
8
Charlie Brown has a pretty bleak outlook on growing up
Peanuts – September 7, 1954
Charlie Brown and Violet sit together on a bench, and Violet asks him what he wants to be when he grows up. Charlie Brown pauses for a moment, and then responds, “You mean I have a choice“. Charlie Brown had seemingly never given this particular question any thought before, assuming that he would just fall into a predetermined career After he finished school. That’s a pretty bleak outlook on growing up, especially for a child.
Usually a child will give the person asking the question a number of ‘dream jobs’ which usually stem from their current interests. However, Charlie Brown doesn’t, implying that he doesn’t really have any interests in what he wants to devote his life to, and he doesn’t really care what career he ends up with, which would be pretty sad if it weren’t so hilarious. .
7
Linus was always smarter than Charlie Brown, even as a toddler
Peanuts – September 12, 1954
Charlie Brown is watching Linus one day, and decides to show the toddler how to build a house of cards. As Charlie Brown tries to prove, he keeps fumbling the cards, and can’t even manage to stack three cards on top of each other. Then, Charlie Brown finally gets it, but when he turns to show the toddler, he finds it Linus built an impressive house of cards without Charlie Brown’s help. Chuck leaves in a huff, muttering about how he hates “Smart-alecky kids“.
Linus was always something of a sound board for Charlie Brown, someone who seemed to have all the answers, or at least some great advice, when Charlie Brown was down. And, as shown in the early Peanuts Funny, it seems that Linus is always smarter than Charlie Brown, even as a toddler.
6
Lucy always has all the answers (even if they don’t make sense)
Peanuts – September 13, 1954
Charlie Brown approaches Lucy as she stares at the ground, watching a group of ants. When she notices him, Lucy comments to Charlie Brown that she thinks ants are stupid because “They don’t even know I’m looking at themCharlie Brown then challenges that assertion, asking Lucy,How do you know they don’t know?“And Lucy replies,”They don’t look up!“.
Simply because the ants don’t obviously acknowledge her, Lucy thinks they’re stupidApplying human logic to a bug that doesn’t need to ‘look up’ to know someone is watching it. The leaps in her logic are absolutely hilarious, showing that Lucy really does have an answer for everything – including why ants are ‘stupid’ – even if the answers are totally absurd.
5
Linus gets right under the TV set
Peanuts – September 25, 1954
Linus is sitting on the floor in front of the TV and is enjoying what he is wearing. Linus is then joined by his sister, Lucy, who sits right behind him and scoots him closer to the set. Then, Lucy’s friend, Patty, comes in and sits behind Lucy, scooting both Lucy and Linus closer to the TV. However, Linus – who was sitting very close to the TV from the beginning – gets scooted a little too far, and ends up right under the TV.
Linus is a toddler, and the older kids push him out of the way of the TV So they can watch it. It’s something that anyone with a younger (or older) sibling has experienced before, making this comic as relatable as it is visually hilarious.
4
Lucy never ceases to annoy Schroeder
Peanuts – September 27, 1954
While Schroeder is trying to play his piano, Lucy approaches him and comments on the bust that Schroeder has with him. Lucy asks Schroeder who it is, and Schroeder tells her (rather snidely) that it is Beethoven. Lucy then explains that she thought it might be Schroeder’s gramophone, and the piano just goes silent.Or else he would surely lose it on Lucy for her ignorance.
Lucy has had a crush on Schroeder since the beginning of PeanutsAnd Schroeder made it clear that he had no romantic interest in her. However, this does not stop Lucy from trying to make a connection with him, but every effort she makes backfires. Usually, Lucy will simply interrupt Schroeder while he’s practicing piano, which in itself makes him furious. But not even knowing who is Shrader’s hero of all time is perhaps Lucy’s biggest crime in his eyes, because he is literally stunned into silence.
3
Lucy’s Funniest Peanuts joke begins with a lofty goal
Peanuts – September 21, 1954
Charlie Brown walks up to Lucy as she is drawing a line on the ground with a crayon and asks Lucy what she is doing. Lucy tells him that she has decided to draw a clear line around the world. Ignoring the absurdity of Lucy’s self-imposed task, Charlie Brown non-pics how she’s drawing the line, asking if she really thinks she can get the job done with a crayon. However, Lucy apparently thought about it, saying, “I’ve got an extra one right here“.
Lucy is trying to draw a line around the worldAnd the only criticism Charlie Brown has is that she does it with a crayon. Then, Lucy pulls out a backup crayon, indicating that she has the same concern, and has made efforts to ensure that nothing can get in her way. However, the one thing that none of them stopped to consider is that it is impossible to draw a line around the world, backup crayon or not.
2
Charlie Brown pokes even more holes in Lucy’s plan to draw a line around the world
Peanuts – September 22, 1954
After Lucy clears up the crayon problem, Charlie Brown comes up with another issue Lucy will run into. Charlie Brown asks, “What will you do when you get to the ocean?“To which Lucy replies,”Good grief, Charlie Brown. They have bridges, don’t they?!“. Lucy truly thought of everything, and Charlie Brown’s constant questioning was nothing more to her than irritating chatter.
Lucy’s frustrated response to Charlie Brown’s more than reasonable question is absolutely hilariousSimply because it is completely absurd. It’s obviously not a system of bridges connecting the entire world, and Lucy’s complete lack of understanding of how vast the Earth’s oceans are makes her rude response to Charlie Brown that much more hysterical.
1
Lucy does the impossible and actually draws a line around the world
Peanuts – September 24, 1954
Everyone knows that a joke is only as good as its punchline, and in this case, Lucy’s funniest Peanuts Wits has the perfect one. Patty and Charlie Brown stand together near a section of Lucy’s line, and Charlie Brown explains what Lucy’s trying to do. After agreeing that this is ridiculous, Patty and Charlie Brown note that they haven’t seen Lucy in a few days. Then, Lucy comes out of nowhere and connects the line she’s drawing to its starting point, and then walks away, leaving Patty and Charlie Brown in a state of utter disbelief.
Lucy literally does the impossible and draws a line around the whole worldWhich is the perfect punchline to this hilarious joke, as she actually pulls off what is presented as an absurdly impossible feat. That’s why this is one of the 10 funniest Peanuts comics that just turned 70!