15 Funniest Peanuts Comics That Just Turned 70 (Including Schulz’s Best Charlie Brown vs Schroeder Joke)

Summary

• Peanuts
  , created in 1950 by Charles M. Schulz, offers half a century’s worth of comics with hilarious interactions between iconic characters.
• July 1954
  Peanuts
  strips highlight funny moments like Snoopy’s feud with a songbird and a hilarious ‘Charlie Brown vs Schroeder’ joke, making them worth revisiting.
• The introduction of Pig-Pen in the
  Peanuts
  comics reveals a heartbreaking origin story that has solidified him as a classic character in the franchise.

Peanuts isn’t just one of the most iconic and hilarious comic strips in history, it’s also one of the oldest, especially when compared to some of the other famous strips with a lasting legacy (like Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes). Created by Charles M. Schulz, the adventures of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang began in 1950, with new comics released until Schulz’s death in 2000. That means there are half a century’s worth of Peanuts comics for fans to enjoy, and an entire month’s worth of those just turned 70 years old.

In this particular crop of Peanuts comics from July 1954, Schulz gives fans some of the best interactions between Charlie Brown and Schroeder, ones which solidify the initial rivalry between them in early Peanuts lore. Though those comic strips are far from the only ones among them that are worth looking back on, as these 70-year-old Peanuts strips also include hilarious moments between Charlie Brown and Lucy, some hysterical Snoopy gags, and even the introduction of Pig-Pen. Out of the entire month’s worth of Peanuts comics that just turned 70, these are the 15 funniest!

15 Charlie Brown’s Iconic T-Shirt wasn’t Always as Beloved as it is Today

Peanuts – July 3, 1954

Charlie Brown’s yellow t-shirt with the black zigzag is one of the most iconic aspects of his character design, but in the ’50s, it wasn’t as beloved as it is today. When Patty asks Violet if she’d seen Charlie Brown’s new shirt, she expresses relief that he finally got rid of the shirt fans know and love today. However, Charlie Brown replaced the original with a yellow shirt that was covered in black zigzags, which everyone could agree was a little over-the-top. Thankfully, Chuck was back in his old shirt by the next comic strip – Violet’s opinion be damned.

14 Snoopy has a Hilarious Feud with a Songbird

Peanuts – July 4, 1954

Before Snoopy took on more human characteristics, and was very much still just a dog, he had a feud with a songbird who wouldn’t get away from his dog house. The bird sat on top of the dog house and annoyed Snoopy endlessly, so the pup tried to take the bird out for good. Unfortunately, Snoopy failed in his attempt to eat the bird, and was cursed to listen to its annoying song for at least the rest of the day.

13 Charlie Brown Calls Out Schroeder for Knowing Beethoven’s Birthday… but Not His Dad’s

Peanuts – July 5, 1954

While hanging out with Schroeder while he’s playing his piano, Charlie Brown asks if he knew Beethoven’s birthday, which he did. Then, Charlie Brown asked if Schroeder knew his own father’s birthday, which he did not. Charlie Brown yelled at Schroeder, telling him he should be ashamed, but it’s doubtful that Schroeder was actually fazed. The piano prodigy is obsessed with Beethoven, and as far as he knows, his dad never wrote world-famous music -making his birthday not as worth remembering.

12 Charlie Brown is Caught by Snoopy After He’s Betrayed by His Own Shadow

Peanuts – July 8, 1954

After getting an ice cream cone and making his way back home, Charlie Brown notices his dog, Snoopy, sitting in the sunlight with his eyes closed. Chuck tries to sneak around him silently, knowing that Snoopy will beg for ice cream if he sees him with it. Just when Charlie Brown is almost in the clear, his shadow passes over Snoopy, causing him to open his eyes and see Chuck with the ice cream. Indeed, Charlie Brown was caught by Snoopy after his own shadow betrayed him.

11 Linus Used to Be So Uncomplicated in Peanuts Lore

Peanuts – July 10, 1954

Linus has mostly been portrayed as an old soul in Peanuts canon, a confidant to Charlie Brown who is wise beyond his years. However, in the early days of Peanuts lore, Linus was just a little kid, barely older than a toddler. In this comic, Linus is just trying to stack blocks before going to sleep while sitting up. No sage advice for Charlie Brown, no speeches about the true meaning of Christmas, just an uncomplicated little kid.

10 Charlie Brown and Lucy’s Weird Phobias are Literally Blocking Their Path

Peanuts – July 11, 1954

Sometimes, one’s phobias can block their proverbial path in life by keeping them from certain experiences they would have known if they weren’t held back by their fears. In this case, the phobias of Charlie Brown and Lucy are quite literally blocking their path, forcing the two to turn around and go the other way. Lucy thinks she sees a fuzz on the sidewalk, while Charlie Brown is convinced it’s a bug. Either way, the two refuse to face their respective fears, allowing their (admittedly weird) phobias to quite literally block their path.

9 Peanuts Reveals the Heartbreaking Origin of 1 Classic Character: Pig-Pen

Peanuts – July 13, 1954

Today, Pig-Pen is regarded as one of the main members of the Peanuts gang. However, it took Charles M. Schulz four years to introduce the now-classic Peanuts character, and his origin is a bit heartbreaking. When Patty asks a random, filthy boy what his name is, Pig-Pen says that he doesn’t have a name, and that he just answers to the mean things other kids call him – like ‘Pig-Pen’. And thus, Pig-Pen’s tragic origin story is revealed, and he’s still technically nameless to this day.

8 Pig-Pen Explains to Charlie Brown the Trade-Off to Always Being Dirty

Peanuts – July 14, 1954

After Patty meets Pig-Pen, she introduces him to Charlie Brown, who comments on how dirty Pig-Pen is. From head to toe, Pig-Pen was a complete mess (which is and has always been the defining aspect of his character), and Charlie Brown was genuinely concerned. However, Pig-Pen explains the trade-off to always being dirty: Pig-Pen has clean thoughts. This joke is a hilarious play on words, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that Pig-Pen desperately needs a bath.

7 Piano Prodigy Schroeder Finds Charlie Brown Utterly Uninspiring

Peanuts – July 18, 1954

Schroeder is a piano prodigy, and as an advanced exercise in music composition, he asked Charlie Brown to come over so that Schroeder could ‘paint his musical portrait’. Basically, Schroeder would capture Charlie Brown’s essence in an original piece of music, but when Charlie Brown sat in front of him, Schroeder found himself utterly uninspired. Schroeder walked away, frustrated by Charlie Brown’s uninspiring personality, leaving Charlie Brown sitting alone in somber silence.

6 Schroeder Writes a Piano Sonata… on the Back of Charlie Brown’s Comic Book

Peanuts – July 19, 1954

When Patty asked Charlie Brown if he’d heard that Schroeder wrote a piano sonata, Charlie Brown said that he had, not because he’d heard it, but because the piano prodigy used the back of Chuck’s comic book to write it. It’s like Schroeder added insult to injury by ruining Charlie Brown’s comic after basically telling him that his essence as a person was uninspiring, further fueling the underlying feud these two had in the early days of Peanuts canon.

5 Lucy is Inexplicably Rude to Snoopy Just Because He’s a Dog

Peanuts – July 24, 1954

In one of the more bizarre conversations between Charlie Brown and Lucy, Chuck randomly says that dogs aren’t real people, but “imitation people“. This piece of knowledge blows Lucy’s mind, and immediately causes her to become prejudiced against dogs. Lucy proves as much by being mean to Snoopy the moment she sees him, going “HUMPH!” toward him as she walks by, leaving Snoopy questioning what he did to deserve it. But, he didn’t do anything, Snoopy was just existing. Charlie Brown and Lucy were just being weird about dogs for some reason.

4 Charlie Brown & Snoopy Highlight the Dangers of Renting from the Library

Peanuts – July 25, 1954

This comic strip opens with Charlie Brown throwing a record like a frisbee and rolling it down the road before Snoopy charges out of nowhere and snatches it. Charlie Brown runs after him, trying to get the record back any way he can, all while completely disregarding its safety. When Charlie Brown finally does get it back, he plays it on his record player, only for the music to come out scratchy. Indeed, Charlie Brown and Snoopy highlight the dangers of renting from the library, as they are examples of people who should never rent something from the library.

3 Charlie Brown’s Knowledge of Astronomy is a Point of Major Frustration for Lucy

Peanuts – July 28, 1954

When Lucy points out a star in the night sky, Charlie Brown explains that it isn’t a star, but is actually the planet Mars. He then says that Mars is the closest to Earth it’s been in years, saying that it’s roughly 40 million miles away. This fact utterly blew Lucy’s mind, especially since Charlie Brown asserted that something 40 million miles away was close. Lucy simply stands in silence, too frustrated to even speak.

2 Lucy Can’t Comprehend the Idea of Relative Distance, Especially Astronomically

Peanuts – July 29, 1954

In a direct follow-up to the last one, this comic strip allows Lucy to articulate why she’s so frustrated with Charlie Brown’s assertion about Mars. She says that something that’s 40 million miles away can’t be close, because things are only considered close if one can touch them. Clearly, Lucy just can’t comprehend the vastness of space or the idea of relative distance at an astronomical level, and it’s utterly hilarious to witness.

1 Snoopy Scares Charlie Brown with an Absolutely Classic Summertime Prank

Peanuts – July 21, 1954

Given that it’s July in these comics, Charlie Brown and the gang are enjoying summer. On one particularly hot day, Charlie Brown decides to go swimming in an inflatable pool, only to find that there’s a shark lurking beneath the water. Charlie Brown runs away in fear, only for it to be revealed that it was Snoopy using his ear as a fake dorsal fin to scare Charlie Brown. The ‘fake shark’ prank is a summertime classic, and seeing Snoopy get Charlie Brown like this makes this Peanuts comic strip one of the funniest that just turned 70.