Peanut may be the funniest comic book of all time, and that’s something that can be said about every era of its half-century of distribution. Charles M. Schulz created Peanut in 1950, and produced new comic strips until his death in 2000. Over that time, Schulz crafted truly timeless gags and gags that linger in readers’ memories long after they read them – including one in particular.
In September 2024, the equivalent of a full month of Peanut Comic books turned 60 years old. While many might think that due to their age these jokes would not appeal to modern readers, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, just one joke proves this sentiment to be true, as it will have readers laughing hours after reading it – and it’s far from the only one. Here are the 10 funniest Peanut comics that just turned 60!
10
Snoopy is confused but sympathetic when he sees a bird with a sign
Peanut – September 1, 1964
One day, while sitting on the grass and minding his own business, Snoopy sees a single bird marching with a sign. There’s nothing on the sign except an exclamation mark, but the bird seems adamant about spreading its unclear message. When the bird leaves, Snoopy says, “I can’t fight this“, partly because he has no idea what the bird was trying to say, and also in a show of support despite the confusion.
Snoopy has long been an ally of birds, as evidenced by his friendship with Woodstock, as well as the formation of Snoopy’s Beagle Scouts (which consists entirely of Woodstock’s family). So if this bird has something to say, Snoopy will listen with pleasure – even if he has no idea what he’s listening to.
9
Snoopy becomes even more involved in this bird’s unclear message
Peanut – September 2, 1964
After noticing this protesting bird, Snoopy decides to stick around and hear more about what it has to say. Snoopy can confirm that whatever this bird is saying, he’s saying it with passion. And that’s the real point of this joke, as it highlights something that’s just as true in the real world as it is in this comic: how someone says something is often more important than what they’re saying.
This bird is passionate about its cause, waving its sign with vigor and enthusiasm. Snoopy feels this passion, even if he doesn’t understand the cause. AND because this bird is so passionate about what he believes in, Snoopy wants to support him. It’s an interesting social commentary that can be applied to just about anything.
8
Things start to heat up during this ‘bird demonstration,’ and Snoopy gets caught in the middle
Peanut – September 3, 1964
As Snoopy watches the ‘exclamation mark bird’ waving his sign, he sees another bird walking up to them, and this one is holding a sign with a question mark on it. Snoopy can feel the tension building between them immediately, and before long, the two birds begin to fight. It appears that they represent different causes, and as a result, his demonstrations quickly turn violent – and Snoopy finds himself right in the middle.
This is another interesting social commentary, as it shows one side of an argument “screaming” passionately about their cause, while the other side questions that position. The ‘exclamation mark bird’ does not want to be questioned, while the ‘question mark bird’ will not be satisfied until it has an answer, leading to conflict. Again, this can be applied to just about any sociological situation, while also making for a visually hilarious comic.
7
Snoopy meets another bird who champions a different cause
Peanut – September 4, 1964
After the ‘exclamation mark bird’ and the ‘question mark bird’ stop their inappropriate display of physical violence during what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration of their respective beliefs, Snoopy sees another bird with its own sign. This bird has a license plate with a semicolon. Perhaps this bird wants to bridge the gap between the “exclamation mark” and “question mark” poses, or perhaps it is representing a different cause entirely. Either way, Snoopy is more confused than when it all started.
It seems Snoopy can’t keep up with the different causes of these birdsbe they political parties, specific issues or personal beliefs. This all started when Snoopy saw a bird with a sign and thought it was interesting, but now he’s fully embroiled in a seemingly political argument that he definitely doesn’t understand.
6
Snoopy finds one last ‘signal bird’ with the power to change other birds’ minds
Peanut – September 11, 1964
As these demonstrations continue, one last bird joins in with its own signal. This bird is holding a sign with a comma on it, and initially the ‘exclamation point bird’ is vehemently against what the ‘comma bird’ represents. The ‘exclamation point bird’ screams and screams in the ‘comma bird’s’ face, spewing its message in an aggressive speech. But then, the ‘comma bird’ makes a quick remark about his cause and, as Snoopy himself points out, it was enough for the ‘exclamation point bird’ to give up his cause fully.
Whatever this ‘comma bird’ represents seems to be indisputable, as the argument the bird made was enough to cause the most passionate bird among those demonstrating to completely switch sides.
Peanut – September 12, 1964
In the grand finale of this ‘bird gag’, the ‘comma bird’ united the entire bird community. The birds were previously fighting with each other, marching for different causes, and hating the birds who advocated a cause different from theirs. But, it seems the ‘comma bird’ was able to gather all the birdssince its cause evidently made more sense to the vast majority of birds (even if it still doesn’t make sense to the reader).
While this joke is filled with sociological metaphors and political commentary, it’s important to also take what’s going on at face value. When someone does, they’ll see how hilariously absurd this whole saga really was. Birds fighting over scores for reasons that were never made clear to anyone, including Snoopy? Ridiculous – and hilarious.
4
Snoopy’s Dog House Gets a ‘Sistine Chapel’ Update Thanks to Linus
Peanut – September 21, 1964
Linus comes out of Snoopy’s doghouse while Charlie Brown stands in front. Charlie Brown asks Linus how the mural is, and Linus admits that it’s difficult to paint lying on his back. Linus then says that the hardest part isn’t the painting itself, but rather putting up all the scaffolding – which is obviously absurd and totally hilarious.
This comic is a play on the Sistine Chapel and how it was painted by Michelangelo. The real-life artist had scaffolding built so he could paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, lying on his back as he did so. And now, Linus is doing the same thing with Snoopy’s doghouse, which is a decidedly less intense job that really shouldn’t require scaffolding. But if Snoopy’s doghouse is getting the ‘Sistine Chapel treatment,’ at least Linus is making it authentic.
3
Linus is an extreme perfectionist, and Snoopy thinks he should relax
Peanut – September 23, 1964
Linus is showing Charlie Brown the mural he is painting on the ceiling of Snoopy’s doghouse, while Snoopy is lying on the roof, listening to their conversation. Snoopy listens to Linus explaining each historical representation to Charlie Brown and justifying certain creative liberties for some of the historical figures, since he doesn’t know what some of them looked like. Snoopy then responds to Linus over-explaining his creative freedoms in a comment he makes to himself: “A forgivable lack of knowledge in a mural painter who was only six years old!“
Linus is clearly a perfectionist (a direct result of his above-average intelligence), and Snoopy definitely thinks he should relax – he’s just a six-year-old boy, after all!
2
Linus aggressively supports Snoopy’s cause (but in the wrong way)
Peanut – September 20, 1964
It looks like Snoopy was inspired by the birds he encountered previously, because in this Peanut comic book, he has his own sign with his own cause that he wants to make people aware of. Snoopy’s sign says: “This is National Dog Week“, and he’s walking around to spread awareness and drum up support. When Linus sees Snoopy and his sign, the six-year-old tells Snoopy that he’s totally behind him, saying, “I think it’s wonderful when a person like you takes the time to promote a cause that’s truly worthwhile.“.
Although Linus’ words seemed supportive and exactly what Snoopy was looking for, his phrasing was condescending and made Snoopy feel embarrassed. It’s as if Linus was giving unsolicited validation to Snoopy for furthering his own cause rather than simply supporting the cause itselfwhich is the wrong way to offer support to a person or group.
1
Snoopy thinks a leaf didn’t fall, he was pushed
Peanut – September 29, 1964
On this fall day, Snoopy is enjoying the outdoors by sitting under a tree and watching the leaves fall. As Snoopy watches a leaf fall gently to the ground, he has a dark thought: that leaf was pushed. It seems that – for Snoopy – the idea that a leaf would simply fall on its own is unthinkable, so foul play had to be involved. Obviously, this is nonsense, although this isn’t the first time Snoopy has expressed his concern about falling leaves.
All over PeanutSnoopy regularly expressed his concern about falling leaves, with the idea of them being raked up and bagged his most pressing concern. However, it seems that the simple act of falling is enough to alarm Snoopy, especially when he believes that this leaf didn’t fall, he was pushed. And that’s why this is one of the 10 funniest Peanut comics that just turned 60!