This strip is reprinted in "You've Done It Again, Charlie Brown," (Fawcett Books, 1970). It has blown my mind. I don't believe that I'd ever seen it before, it feels different from a Schulz strip, and peers at the deeper Peanuts Universe around a corner. May I ramble? Thank you. pic.twitter.com/jW3dtb8fyk— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
To begin with, this first panel only works because of the years previously invested in the Lucy/Schroeder dynamic. The payoff to that investment is a seismic shift in its topography. The import of this panel is a catastrophic upheaval of the strip's status quo... pic.twitter.com/wDvIz0Xv45— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
...a status quo in which Lucy is more heavily invested than ever previously revealed. I don't know that we've ever seen Lucy approaching Schroeder's house before, but observe -- she smiles! She is anticipating this moment! Lucy -- fussbudget, crab, football tormentor -- is happy pic.twitter.com/WkeCc0MynL— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Lucy endures a living hell in the Peanuts Universe, she's the only non-neurotic five year-old on the block. She can't divorce herself from the inner circle of psychological torment because she's related to one of the worst offenders. Her attempts to liberate her pals are rebuffed— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Lucy's psychiatric booth, her repeated badgering of her brother, theft of his blanket, the football gag with Charlie Brown -- I maintain that Lucy is trying to normalize the behavior of her messed-up comrades, because they're making her miserable. But look how happy she is above— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Considering how relentlessly confrontational Lucy is with her other pals, you might have wondered if her banter with Schroeder was just part of her general apparent antagonism. It clearly isn't. In what other situation would Lucy walk away from an insult rather than fight? pic.twitter.com/QmB4lNU0Hi— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Lucy walks, defeated, into the street and is solaced by Snoopy, who performs the dog's duty of immediate empathy.— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Lucy and Snoopy have an antagonistic relationship, owing in no small part to Snoopy's immunity to correction. And yet, they immediately bond over ... misery pic.twitter.com/b5jkSxx0G3
Snoopy offers a solution. I read it as "I'll fuck her up for you, if you want!" He might also be instructing Lucy in the art of fucking people up. Either way, the implied animation between these two panels is relatively un-Schulz-like and delightful. I feel amped up looking at it pic.twitter.com/smNKqfIa8P— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Lucy ponders the instruction and proceeds back to Schroeder's, with grim determination on her face and soupbones clenched by her side. But this is supposed to be Lucy's DEFAULT state. She's always ready for a fight -- or so we're informed.... pic.twitter.com/pypSSKlNlS— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
My larger point about Lucy's character -- and I think this is supported through the strip, perhaps unintentionally -- is that she isn't crabby, miserable and confrontational by default. Circumstances have made Lucy this way, circumstances and the indulgent buffoonery of her peers— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Anyway. Meet Charles Schulz's best-drawn panel. Nothing is stationary, except the piano, to determine the anchor point of the image. The shadows increase as they move towards startled Frieda, encouraged by Schroeder's sudden cringe. Lucy looks insane, and flung into the panel. pic.twitter.com/fk1aH0kMZA— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
He changes the camera view for the denouement, steps down the emotional intensity. Schroeder has fallen into this stupefied gander -- he probably should have known this was going to happen. He'll have to write a letter to Frieda's family, and return any teeth or hair left behind. pic.twitter.com/ACcuo6CLCa— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
And the intensity is completely relaxed for the resolution, which is an atypically triumphant punchline in a strip which mastered the "HOW I HATE HIM!" school of comedy.— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
There are vastly more "Peanuts"-y Peanuts strips than this one, which is why I think I find so much to enjoy pic.twitter.com/PVeMatVdsM
Retrace the emotional and dynamic arc of this WORDLESS STRIP (dang, I forgot to mention that!), examine the distinctive motions and relationships introduced herein, and dig Lucy's deeper emotional realness. I may be reacting only to its previously unread-ed-ness, but I love this.— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
Retrace the emotional and dynamic arc of this WORDLESS STRIP (dang, I forgot to mention that!), examine the distinctive motions and relationships introduced herein, and dig Lucy's deeper emotional realness. I may be reacting only to its previously unread-ed-ness, but I love this.— Calamity Jon Reads... (@CalamityReads) November 7, 2018
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