The year is 1954 and, in the month of October, Charles Schulz delivers some of his best Peanut to work. At this point, Schulz was publishing Peanut strips for four years. Although the brand still had a long way to go before becoming the biggest and best comic book in the world, it was already a staple in newspapers everywhere.
At this point, Schulz had already hit his stride as a writer and artist on Peanutseven considering that he still had time to perfect his craft. The cast of characters that readers are most familiar with today – Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and more – have mostly appeared and are starting to find their voices as characters. Schulz’s visual jokes are not only sharper, but perfectly current as fall approaches. Some of Charlie Brown and friends’ best misadventures happen during the fall, as evidenced by some of the best Peanut strips from October 1954.
10
Charlie Brown’s Fancy Signs
October 1, 1954
Football is perhaps Charlie Brown’s favorite pastime, although he never seems to be able to kick one when Lucy is holding him. It’s hard to say whether Charlie was ever really good at football, even in the comic books, but he certainly seems to know his stuff. This is enough to impress Peppermint Patty and Lucy as they watch Charlie call football signals.
This strip actually includes a clever visual joke, because it plays with the idea of calling a football game.chic.” The elegance here comes at the source of the calls that Charlie Brown is making. It draws attention to the details of a comic book’s lyrics, something that often goes unnoticed and isn’t something you can think about while reading until a joke like this catches your eye.
9
Snoopy explodes
October 3, 1954
When discovering that dogs with a cold nose is a sign that they are sick, Charlie Brown convinces Lucy to test this theory on Snoopy. Granted, “convinces” might be a strong word for it, considering Lucy practically jumps at the chance to touch the nose of the sometimes WWI Flying Ace. The plan backfires when, before she can even touch her nose, Snoopy sneezes her.
Lucy assumes the dog exploded before her eyes.
On the one hand, it answers the question of whether the dog could be sick. On the other hand, the sneeze is so powerful that it throws Lucy backwardstaking Snoopy out of Lucy’s sight to the point where she assumes the dog exploded before her eyes. The image of a sneeze causing Lucy to do a somersault on her own, however, is a pretty hilarious sight to behold.
8
Solving problems with fists
October 14, 1954
This one is for fans of historical music. On the other hand, Schroeder and his recurring tastes in composers in general are probably for historical music aficionados such as his love of classical music dominates many of the strips centered around him. In this one, he is reading about Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt not getting along.
Lucy then ponders out loud: If the two composers disliked each other so much, why did they never fight?? While punching each other was probably highly frowned upon during the 1800s (perhaps even more so today), it is a valid question to ask a child, in all fairness.
7
“Why doesn’t the whole world know about this?”
October 16, 1954
Lucy doesn’t just kick soccer balls while Charlie Brown has one on the ground, determined to kick it. She has a knack for kicking him while he’s down, but in this case, Lucy proves equally effective at kicking Charlie Brown while he’s feeling fine. In the spirit of positive conversation, Charlie brings up the fact that he first started walking when he was nine months old, according to his mother.
Instead of investigating further or seeming a little impressed, Lucy practically bites Chuck’s head offshocked at the audacity of him making such a self-congratulatory statement, as if the world revolved around him. While Lucy is certainly more of a friend than a bully to Charlie Brown, when she treats him like this, the reader might think otherwise.
6
Lucy stacks the leaves
October 18, 1954
This strip is a fun combination of wordplay and visual humor at its best. It’s also a beautifully themed track geared towards the spirit of autumn. Peppermint Patty tries to convey to Lucy the joy of jumping through piles of leaves. The resident tomboy of the group, she knows how much fun it is to pile into a set of sheets prepared for October weather, something Lucy knows nothing about.
Patty convinces Lucy to make a pile and give it a try, but Lucy misinterprets the meaning behind Patty’s words. She literally piles up a pile of leaves, presumably to jump over them outside of the panel. It’s easy to praise Schulz for the visual masterpieces he’s consistently brought to the table over the decades, but his even more impressive use of wordplay and double entendres cannot be overlooked.
5
Ingenious Snoopy
October 19, 1954
They say every dog is man’s best friend, and when they are friendly, dogs are more resourceful with their owners. Case in point, when Charlie Brown desperately searches for a marker, Snoopy comes to the rescue when he reaches to insert his ear into the book so that Chuck doesn’t lose his place.
It’s honestly strangely healthy to see the Peanuts gang helping each other like this and just be nice to each other, especially Charlie Brown himself. Maybe it’s an arbitrary way to describe a dynamic between friends, but they can be mean to each other so often (especially Charlie) that it’s easy to forget that these characters lovingly care for each other when needed. This strip presents a small gesture, but a robust example.
4
Leaves fall for autumn
October 26, 1954
That Peanut strip really emphasizes the importance of panel sequencing to tell a broader storyall while also creating a funnier laugh. If a reader were to look at the first few panels and see the surprise on Snoopy’s expression as he sees a leaf land on the top of his head, they might think this is the first sign of falling that Snoopy has seen. The first sheet of the season has officially fallen, or so it seems.
The last panel wouldn’t be as funny or clever without the first few panels setting up the final payoff.
The next panels show that This is far from the first sheet of the seasonas Joe Cool’s secret identity adds the last leaf to an entire pile of leaves. The last panel wouldn’t be as funny or clever without the first few panels setting up the final payoff. It’s a small detail that’s easy to overlook in the grand scheme of how comedy works.
3
Ruining the Schroeder Effect
October 29, 1954
Keeping with the fall mood, Halloween is finally here. In this strip, Schroeder displays his Halloween costume: a simple but classic sheet over his head to be a ghost on All Hallows’ Eve. He is then told that he will probably need a jacket because it will be cold. This is very bad the jacket over the ghost sheet takes away any scary effect her original costume would have.
However, the look of a jacket squeezing the ghost costume, leaving no room for the arms and bulging eyes, creates a totally hilarious look. In fact, the look of Schroeder’s spinning ghost in the second panel is quite funny, so the costume was never that scary to begin with, but the jacket makes the joke even funnier.
2
“Hello?”
October 31, 1954
If Charles Schulz’s approach to writing the mean Peanut comics has taught readers anything so far, it’s that sometimes less really is more. Here’s one of Schulz’s funniest Peanuts comics, done with a simple concept and just one word spoken in full. Charlie Brown and Schroeder are talking through two cans on a string. Despite being just two, maybe a meter away from each other, neither of them can hear the other – at least not through the can.
The best look comes as the two pass each otherstill can’t hear each other. Even when the can slips from Chuck’s hand, the former Mr. Spaceman runs after the can, trying his best to talk to it as he chases it.
1
Charlie Brown needs security (blanket)
October 17, 1954
As Charlie Brown spies Linus’ signature blanket, he wonders aloud why Linus always carries this. Lucy simply responds that it brings her joy and security. She tries to make Charlie understand how mesmerizing something like this can be, but he thinks the whole notion of a blanket bringing someone happiness all day, just by holding it, is stupid, or so he says. Just when it looks like Charlie Brown is one step away from being as hateful as Linus’ blanket-hating grandmother, he goes to buy the same material the blanket is made of.
Interestingly, this is a lore-building strip, as it manages to reveal what material – flannel – Linus’ blanket is made of, as well as showing a rare (although incredibly small) glimpse of an adult, something that is not usually shown in none of Peanut comics or cartoons.