Behind the Music: Charlie Brown

I've been reading old Charlie Brown comics this week. I'm not a particularly large Peanuts fan, but I do really dig the older ones - the kids look HILARIOUS, for one, with their gigantor heads. And the humor's a little more random than in later years.

Anyway, here are a few favorites from Fantagrapics' The Complete Peanuts 1950 to 1952.

Click on the comics to view a larger picture. And do it! It's worth it.

Charlie Brown, playground player.

First football kick (note: this isn't Lucy, but another earlier character named Violet.) Look at how strung-out Charlie Brown is in the last frame. As Kevin said, "he looks dead."

Yes he does.

Patty and Violet have strong opinions about Charlie Brown's new shirt.

This actually is a great demonstration of the difference between "anxious" and "excited." Charlie Brown has very good reason to be anxious about showing the girls his new shirt.


Schroeder's angry face cracks me up.

Some early comics with Lucy. Lucy, like Schroeder, were babies when they were introduced. While Schroeder quickly became a musical prodigy, Lucy looks like she stumbled into an unfortunate preschool crack addiction.
I love that in these early comics, Lucy refers to herself in the third person.