Let's Read Peanuts (The 50s are over, but the trauma of the cold war will last us a lifetime) – February 1960
There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read along at the official GoComics page or by purchasing the Fantagraphics hardcover collections.
February 3, 1960
“Oh my GOOOOD, Linus! Just ask your parents to remind you or something!”
February 4, 1960
…is literally what I said, out loud, before turning the page and seeing this strip.
Soooo… good job, Linus. I guess. Sort of.
February 5, 1960
Dun dun DUN! Plot twist!
That's right, Miss Othmar is gone and she's definitely never ever coming back in like a year and change.
February 6, 1960
Honestly? I bet she got a kick out of it.
February 8, 1960
Since when has Snoopy’s doghouse been on the side of the house!? I always imagined that thing being way out in the back yard somewhere. Is it literally ever shown being there for the rest of the strip? I call bullshit!
February 13, 1960
Wait, so he wasn't just being paranoid? Snoopy could have actually been impaled and died??
That’s hilarious!
Also, VERY 1980s coded strip we have here. If you were cool in the 1980s (and a cartoon character) liking pizza was like 40% of your personality. That was just the law.
February 15, 1960
Called it!
Anyway, I'm fascinated by this early attempt at switching up the status quo and introducing a bit of continuity. It’s a shame Schulz so rarely commits to this kind of thing because it's nice seeing the characters and world evolve.
That said, I'm also kind of glad Peanuts never ended up committing to the Gasoline Alley storytelling approach of following the characters in real time. I don’t really ~need~ to see Charlie Brown deal with prostate issues and grandkids in 1997.
Go read the early Gasoline Alley strips, by the way. They've got a lot of heart and only ~occasionally~ depict black people as deeply offensive minstrel show caricatures.
February 16, 1960
I still really enjoy these little 4th wall breaking gags. They're not as experimental as they were in the 50s but they're still pretty clever.
February 23, 1960
Ungh... anxiety over nuclear annihilation? That is SO 1959. These days all the cool kids give themselves mental health problems over global warming or the prospect of literally ever owning A Thing.
