Peanuts

Rating:
Summary: Charlie Brown introduces baby Schroeder to the piano
Review: This review is actually of "Peanuts," the first reprint collection of cartoons from 1950-1952 by Charles M. Schulz, although obviously reviews of other books are mixed in here. From a historical perspective these early strips are fascinating simply because we watch Schulz put the pieces together. For example, it takes a while for Charlie Brown's shirt to get his beloved zigzag pattern. However, the most interesting aspects are the original roster of characters. Charlie Brown's main protagonist for most of these early strips is Patty, while his best bud is Shermy, and man's best friend is Snoopy. Then Violet is introduced into the strip, not only to give Patty a girl friend, but also to up the ante on giving Charlie Brown a hard time. At this point in the game of life, Charlie Brown still has his fair share of good moments in life. The foundation for the world's most loveable loser is there, but this is still a kid who puts on the world's biggest smile when the girls tell him their mothers consider him a "roughneck." This is also a time in history of "Peanuts" where parents are lurking around out of the frame.

The key moment in the development of the comic strip comes from a rather simple beginning. Charlie Brown is introduced to baby Schroeder. There are some efforts to help the baby learn how to talk and read, but then Charlie Brown introduces Schroeder to a toy piano. The rest, of course, is history. From the first massive chord Schroeder plays on his piano, Schulz introduces not only a strong sense of whimsy, he also creates his first running-gag. At another point several strips in a row are devoted to the kids playing out in the snow while others deal with Halloween and we can literally see Schulz start to take a bigger perspective on the world of "Peanuts." The characters start to become better defined and those who prove less than satisfactory foils, namely Patty and Shermy, are replaced by more interesting protagonists (I am thinking of Lucy and Linus, but they do not appear at this point); more importantly, eventually Snoopy would be more than a mere beagle. Still, it was something of a surprise to re-read these strips a half-century later and realize that the pivotal character in the development of the comic strip was Schroeder.

Rating:
Summary: Charlie Brown introduces baby Schroeder to the piano
Review: This review is actually of "Peanuts," the first reprint collection of cartoons from 1950-1952 by Charles M. Schulz, although obviously reviews of other books are mixed in here. From a historical perspective these early strips are fascinating simply because we watch Schulz put the pieces together. For example, it takes a while for Charlie Brown's shirt to get his beloved zigzag pattern. However, the most interesting aspects are the original roster of characters. Charlie Brown's main protagonist for most of these early strips is Patty, while his best bud is Shermy, and man's best friend is Snoopy. Then Violet is introduced into the strip, not only to give Patty a girl friend, but also to up the ante on giving Charlie Brown a hard time. At this point in the game of life, Charlie Brown still has his fair share of good moments in life. The foundation for the world's most loveable loser is there, but this is still a kid who puts on the world's biggest smile when the girls tell him their mothers consider him a "roughneck." This is also a time in history of "Peanuts" where parents are lurking around out of the frame.

The key moment in the development of the comic strip comes from a rather simple beginning. Charlie Brown is introduced to baby Schroeder. There are some efforts to help the baby learn how to talk and read, but then Charlie Brown introduces Schroeder to a toy piano. The rest, of course, is history. From the first massive chord Schroeder plays on his piano, Schulz introduces not only a strong sense of whimsy, he also creates his first running-gag. At another point several strips in a row are devoted to the kids playing out in the snow while others deal with Halloween and we can literally see Schulz start to take a bigger perspective on the world of "Peanuts." The characters start to become better defined and those who prove less than satisfactory foils, namely Patty and Shermy, are replaced by more interesting protagonists (I am thinking of Lucy and Linus, but they do not appear at this point); more importantly, eventually Snoopy would be more than a mere beagle. Still, it was something of a surprise to re-read these strips a half-century later and realize that the pivotal character in the development of the comic strip was Schroeder.