In the fifty years of Peanut‘, Charles Schulz found bold ways to experiment with the format and elevate his stories beyond their initial simplistic structure. A major change occurred when Schulz began implementing longer story arcs into his work. At first, the narratives were condensed into a single strip, but some had enough comedic potential to be explored in jokes over the course of an entire month.
October 1974 features one such story, starring none other than Lucy van Pelt. During this month, Lucy and Schroeder took center stage when her one-sided crush on him reached its breaking point.leading to one of the strip’s most memorable longer stories.
While she fawned over him, Schroeder almost never paid attention to Lucy, and in the fall of 1974, her latest method of winning him over was absolutely hysterical. Without further ado, here are the 10 funniest Peanut comics that just turned fifty.
10
Snoopy decides he’s finally had enough of Woodstock
First published: October 27, 1974
Snoopy and Woodstock go golfing together in this first comic strip, and the day starts out pleasantly for both of them. Woodstock appears to be talking, as he sings in each panel while Snoopy focuses on the game. This continues, until Snoopy can no longer take his friend’s ramblings, at which point, Snoopy thrusts a golf club into Woodstock, silencing the poor bird.
Snoopy and Woodstock’s friendship spans centuries, spanning decades of publishing. However, as much as the two get along, there are times when even the closest of friends start to get on each other’s nerves. This is one of those moments where Snoopy shuts his friend up so he can play golf in peace.
9
Schroeder loves his piano more than Lucy
First published: October 1, 1974
This strip begins the hilarious story of Lucy and Schroeder starting this month in publication. Lucy is leaning against his piano, as she always does, and comments on how he isn’t as talkative as usual. When she asks Schroeder if he has noticed her uncharacteristic silence, he does not respond because he is too absorbed in playing the piano. This angers Lucy, and she attacks him in her trademark loud style.
Lucy’s unrequited crush on Schroeder is an endearing element of her character, although it also brings her worst flaws to the surface.; his desperation to be noticed by Schroeder often leads to an explosive outburst on his part, and this case is no different. The irony here, ultimately, is that Lucy ends up talking too much about how she’s not talking much.
8
Lucy dismisses her competition for Schroeder’s heart
First published: October 2, 1974
After being ignored by Schroeder in favor of a piano one too many times, Lucy finally explodes. She is tired of competing with a piano for his affection, so she announces to Schroeder that she is going to steal his piano and throw it in the sewer. She does just that, passing him the piano and declaring: “It’s the woman against the piano! The woman is winning! The woman is winning!”
Lucy’s desperation to be noticed by Schroeder often causes her to lash out, but this is a new extreme for her. Schroeder’s love for music is something Lucy refuses to see for what it really is: a hobby he is passionate about. Instead, Lucy decides it’s her or the piano, and is resorting to drastic measures to ensure she comes out on top.
7
Lucy throws Schroeder’s piano into the sewer
First published: October 3, 1974
Lucy told Schroeder that she would throw his piano down the sewer, and she’s the kind of girl who keeps her word. Schroeder, naturally, is surprised by this turn of events. He exclaims perplexed about what she did, to which Lucy clarifies that she didn’t play his piano in the sewer – she threw it competition.
Readers get a glimpse of Lucy’s possessive nature and witness how it has distorted her idea of ​​love. Lucy is known for her lack of empathy, evidenced by her brutally honest attempts at psychiatry, and she is determined to get what she wants no matter what. As such, she does not take kindly to Schroeder’s affections which lie elsewhere. Her piano is not her instrument for Lucy; it’s just an obstacle that distracts you from it.
6
Charlie Brown helps Schroeder find his piano
First published: October 4, 1974
Schroeder won’t give up his piano without trying to reach it and counts on Charlie Brown’s help to do so. He descends into the sewer as Charlie Brown repeatedly asks for updates. Schroeder doesn’t respond, but after a while, music starts playing deep in the sewer. It seems that Schroeder has found his piano after all, and instead of wasting time talking to Charlie Brown, he picks up where he left off by playing a song.
It’s good to see that Charlie Brown is so eager to help a friend in need, considering how Schroeder and the other members of the Peanut gang treat you. One of Charlie Brown’s saddest characteristics is his bad luck, which causes his peers to disrespect him. Charlie Brown helping Schroeder shows that he is a good friend to others, despite them not being his best friends.
5
Schroeder’s Beloved Piano Meets Its Untimely End
First published: October 8, 1974
Schroeder’s hopes of playing the piano in the sewer are quickly dashed, much to his dismay. A torrential downpour causes him to worry that his piano will be washed away down the sewer, so he and Charlie Brown try to reach it before it’s too late. Unfortunately, they reach the manhole when it is too late, and Schroeder watches in horror as his precious piano falls out of the sewer.
As a music aficionado, Schroeder’s biggest inspiration is Ludwig van Beethoven. He hardly lets a conversation go by without mentioning Beethoven in some way, even if the topic has nothing to do with the composer. Schroeder still mentioning Beethoven as his piano falls down a manhole is a true testament to his devotion.
4
Schroeder orders a new piano (much to Lucy’s dismay)
First published: October 11, 1974
With Schroeder’s piano officially out of service, he has no choice but to call the piano company to replace it. Lucy overhears the call and the jealousy soon becomes too much for her; consequently, she screams into the phone, “Don’t be in a rush with delivery!” Lucy’s jealousy of an inanimate object hasn’t abated, it seems. Schroeder mentions here the baffling fate of his first piano, alluding to it being “chewed up by a kite-eating tree”.
This refers to the tree that Charlie Brown repeatedly flies kites to. Schroeder lost his piano to the infamous tree in a January 30, 1969 comic strip, which makes this the second time he has replaced it. The surprising notoriety of The Kite-Eating Tree proves that Schulz’s non-human characters in Peanut are as memorable as humans.
3
Lucy discovers the secret of love
First published: October 12, 1974
After everything that happened between her and Schroeder, Lucy confides in Peppermint Patty about her love-related discoveries, saying: “the secretet to love is to eliminate competition.” From her perspective, now that Schroeder’s piano is out of the picture, he will eventually come to love her. Of course, she ends her point with the reluctant admission that this would take centuries.
Needless to say, Lucy’s perception of love is ridiculously misguided. She herself identified the flaw in her logic: she can’t force Schroeder to love her by taking away something he loves. Lucy misinterprets love in a way that only a child would, and Schulz excellently portrays this youthful belief.
2
Schroeder’s new piano gives Snoopy a dance floor
First published: October 22, 1974
Schroeder finally acquires his new piano, but the presence of another character interrupts him as he begins with a song. As he plays the piano, Snoopy dances on top of him. Schroeder asks him to stop, warning him not to scratch. That doesn’t eliminate Snoopy, who resumes his dance and thinks, “AhHow about a distressed finish?” His response puts a clever twist on scratching Schroeder’s piano, illustrating Snoopy’s human intelligence.
What really marks the comedy of this strip is Snoopy’s blithe indifference to Schroeder’s desires. Snoopy has evolved to be more intelligent than the average dog and therefore understands the desires of the humans who interact with him, so when he ignores them to do what he wants, it is intentional. Snoopy does what Snoopy wants!
1
Lucy and Schroeder are back to square one
First published: October 23, 1974
This strip wraps up the plot, as things return to normal for Schroeder and Lucy. He went back to playing the piano, while she went back to annoying him. Lucy places her glass of lemonade on the surface of his new piano, and when she teases him about being bothered by it, he yanks the piano out from under her. Clearly, Schroeder is no longer entertaining Lucy’s antics after her latest outburst.
Lucy and Schroeder’s status quo is fully restored at this point, and of course Schroeder will always choose his piano over Lucy, no matter how much she tries to vie for his attention. It doesn’t look like Lucy has learned her lesson about trying to force love, but at least this crazy guy Peanut the saga still makes readers laugh fifty years later.