Five Classic Peanuts Comics Highlighting Charles Schulz’s Genius From the 1950s

In the early days of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comics, the characters looked quite a bit different. They were smaller, rounder, and a bit more cutesy. The comic strip debuted on Oct. 2, 1950, and over the first decade of drawing the characters, Charles Schulz found their distinct look, which was still cute, but with far more personality for each character, allowing readers to tell them apart more easily.

While Charles Schulz was still figuring out the look and feel of Peanuts back in the 1950s, the early years contained sparks of absolute genius that would inform the strip’s 50-year run. Five specific comics show Charles Schulz was always a genius, even when Charlie Brown did not quite look like the Charlie Brown people know and love today.

October 2, 1950

The very first Peanuts comic contains the now-forgotten characters of Shermy and Patty (not Peppermint Patty, another girl named just Patty). The two of them are sitting while Shermy goes on about Charlie Brown. Well, here comes ol’ Charlie Brown, he says in the first strip as Charlie Brown approaches in the distance. Good ol’ Charlie Brown, yes sir, says Shermy as Charlie Brown passes by. Good ol’ Charlie Brown, Shermy trails off as Charlie Brown is still in earshot. Then, once Charlie Brown is far enough away, Shermy lets his true feelings be known by saying, How I hate him!

While Shermy and Patty would eventually be phased out in favor of other characters, this comic remains brilliantly funny. The slow-burn sweetness leading to a harsh punchline is still effective 70 years later, as Shermy seems fond of Charlie Brown until he reveals he is not. The contrast of such a cute character saying such a nasty, entirely unexplained thing about another child set the tone for who Charlie Brown is: a chump who other kids treat poorly.

November 9, 1950

Charlie Brown is not just a kid who other kids poke fun at, as he is also a bit of a sad sack. While this is an unusual quality for a main character to have, it made Charlie Brown relatable. Charles Schulz grasped that from the very start, as this comic strip is from just one month into his legendary run. In it, Charlie Brown tells Patty, The future frightens me! She tries to reassure him by saying, I don’t see why. You’re young and full of life. You’ll probably live for another sixty years! In reply, Charlie Brown says, That’s what frightens me!

While Charlie Brown did not quite look like himself yet, he sure sounded like himself.

November 14, 1951

This strip is the very first featuring Charlie Brown missing the football, and while the elements are not all there yet, it contains that initial spark of genius that would make this the best recurring gag in Peanuts history. It features Charlie Brown about to hit the ball and missing when it is pulled away at the last second, causing him to fall flat on his back. However, this is not Lucy holding the football, as it is the similar-looking Violet, another character who would fade over the decades.

The intent is also different. Lucy would end up pulling the football away out of cruelty because she wanted Charlie Brown to look stupid and knew he was a big enough blockhead to fall for the same trick repeatedly. Violet, however, drops the football out of fear she will be kicked, which is funny, but not nearly as funny as Lucy’s sadism.

December 25, 1955

Thanks primarily to the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Peanuts characters eventually became synonymous with Christmas, but Charles Schulz featured Christmas as a major theme well before that. In this Christmas day Sunday strip from 1955, Charlie Brown asks for donations to buy his pal Snoopy a gift. He approaches Patty and Violet, who each give him a nickel and praise his idea of buying a gift for his dog. However, when Charlie Brown walks away, they express their real feelings, with Patty saying, Boy, what a dope that Charlie Brown is! and Violet replying, You can say that again!

Even on Christmas, Charlie Brown cannot catch a break.

December 31, 1959

By the end of the decade, Charles Schulz’s characters began to look more like the Peanuts characters people know and love today. That shift appears in his very last strip from the 1950s, which ran on New Year’s Eve, 1959. In it, Lucy insults Charlie Brown repeatedly, and he complains that it is only 8:00 in the morning. I can’t help it, Charlie Brown, replies Lucy, You have so many faults it takes a whole day to list them! This serves as a funny, ingenious little joke by a man who changed American culture.

Source: Polygon