15 Funniest Peanuts Comics That Just Turned 70

Summary Enjoy 15 classic Peanuts comics from April 1954, showcasing the genius behind Charlie Brown and friends' adventures.

The humor in Peanuts comes from characters' naïveté, relatable childhood experiences, and mundane struggles taking on new weight in the context of being a kid.

Schulz's art captures the essence of childhood as seen in Lucy's relentless nature, Charlie Brown's optimism, and Linus' quirky mishaps.

Starting in 1950, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts quickly became a sensation, with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and friends ending up as icons recognized and loved around the globe. Peanuts and Schulz's characters have been through some significant changes since, and yet looking back at their early appearances, the soul of the franchise is undeniably already there. In these comics from 1954, fans can see the genius behind Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus at work.

Enjoy these 15 Peanuts comics that just turned 70, having been published in April 1954, and don't forget to vote in our reader poll at the end of the article, and have your say on which of Schulz's septuagenarian strips has best stood the test of time.

Related Charlie Brown's 'Lucy & the Football' Gag All Started with a Misunderstanding The football gag has become a staple joke in Peanuts history, but its beginnings showed Lucy pulled the ball away from Charlie Brown by mistake.

15 Snoopy's Umbrella

This April 22 Comic Is a Fun Visual Gag Based on What the Reader Can't See

This Peanuts strip has some major Little Rascals energy, as Schulz focuses not on the personalities of his individual characters, but on the larger group of kids. The visual gag plays on the reader not being prompted to wonder who's holding the umbrella, only to reveal that it was Snoopy (in his original design) keeping the group dry the whole time.

Peanuts charts a lot of the anxieties of childhood, from worrying about your grades to quarreling with friends. However, Schulz also has the kids run into relatable struggles like the weather being too bad to do anything but wait it out. This being 1954, the kids don't have games consoles or phones, and they're forced to simply huddle together and wait for the downpour to end.

In the 1950s as it is today, baseball was a frequent activity for the Peanuts kids, and April 1954 saw plenty of strips where they did their best to enjoy America's pastime.

14 "A Little More Black Tape"

This April 8 Strip Includes a Rare Look to the Audience

In the 1950s as it is today, baseball was a frequent activity for the Peanuts kids, and April 1954 saw plenty of strips where they did their best to enjoy America's pastime. Unfortunately, all those ball games come with some wear and tear, and eventually their ball has been fixed with so much black tape, there isn't much ball left at all. It's not uncommon for Peanuts characters to address a sarcastic bon mot to the reader, but it's rare they employ a simple 'look to camera.' Here, the problem is so apparent, Charlie Brown doesn't feel the need to say anything.

Related Charlie Brown Art Fixes How Every Movie Misunderstands His Design Charlie Brown’s luck is turning around, as one amazing piece of fan art finally gives him a haircut that explains how the character should look.

13 "I'm Going to Count All the Stars"

This April 4 Comic Showcases Lucy's Relentless Nature

Immune to criticism, tireless in pursuing her goals, and supremely confident in her abilities, Lucy van Pelt is rarely bested by any of her Peanuts playmates - however, the natural world finally gets the best of her in this charming strip. Lucy's quest to count the stars is the perfect story of childhood confidence coming up against newly discovered limits, as Lucy realizes that she can't boss celestial bodies around as easily as she does her schoolmates.

Schulz's art is fantastic in this strip - the final panel is an amazing single image, showing a little girl beaten by the vastness of the cosmos, while the title card - showing Lucy's ideal system where stars float past to be counted - adds an element of fantasy that captures how she thought her venture was actually going to go.

Schulz taps into the true-to-life childhood experience of finding the world unfamiliar and inexplicable, and the age where something like weird song lyrics can be genuinely troubling.

12 "Mary Wore Her Red Dress"

Lucy Has No Time for Nonsense in This April 24 Comic

While Charlie Brown is defined by his pessimism, Lucy is iconic because of her literal-minded, often blunt perspective. Here, she listens to the folk song Mary Wore Her Red Dress and - instead of enjoying the music - takes the lyrics entirely seriously, finding nothing comical in the story of a woman who wore a red dress, hat, and shoes for 24 hours.

Unlike Calvin and Hobbes, where a lot of Calvin's confusion about the world is meant to reflect life's big, unanswered questions, Peanuts most often takes its humor from its characters' naïveté, seeing them struggle with concepts that the reader implicitly understands. However, it's not simply poking fun - Schulz taps into the true-to-life childhood experience of finding the world unfamiliar and inexplicable, and the age where something like weird song lyrics can trouble your mind for the rest of the day.

Related 10 Funniest Peanuts Comics Where Charlie Brown Takes on Lucy Laughter reigns supreme as Charlie Brown squares off against the formidable Lucy in these ten uproariously funny Peanuts comics by Charles M. Schulz.

In later comics, Charlie Brown and Snoopy are rarely at odds, but in 1954 their relationship was a little different.

11 "Jump Through the Hoop"

This April 30 Comic Shows an Unusual Side of Charlie Brown and Snoopy's Relationship

In later comics, Charlie Brown and Snoopy are rarely at odds - while Chuck may find his dog's behavior confounding or inconvenient, it's rare that either sets out to actually inconvenience the other. However, in 1954 their relationship was a little different. Before Snoopy was spending his time battling the Red Baron or penning unsuccessful novels, he and Charlie Brown would sometimes get up to mischief like the trick in this strip. Fans can rest assured that Snoopy gave as good as he got, for example covering his ball in excess slobber so that his owner gives up on throwing it and leaves Snoopy alone with his toy.

10 "How's Your Arm?"

This April 2 Comic Is a Classic Set-Up and Punchline

This strip isn't just a good Peanuts comic but a great standalone gag. Charlie Brown fields some seemingly well-meaning questions about his health, not knowing he's setting himself up to get bawled out over his baseball performance. Even 70 years later, Charlie Brown's luck on the baseball field hasn't managed to improve, though at least as the team's manager, he's more often frustrated by their terrible technique than his own.

9 Sand Castle

This April 25 Strip Stars Violet - Charlie Brown's Original Antagonist

While Lucy would eventually become Charlie Brown's main antagonist, this comic sees him living in fear of Patty and Violet (the character who actually started the long-running gag where Charlie Brown tries to kick a football, only to have it pulled away at the last second.) Charlie Brown is known for his anxious approach to life - it's part of what's made him relatable to multiple generations of fans - but with friends like these in his life, he's not exactly wrong to be looking over his shoulder expecting the worst.

Related How Peanuts' Best Decade Changed Charlie Brown Forever Although Charles Schulz's Peanuts kicked off on October 2, 1950, the best decade for Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and their friends was the 1960s.

8 Snoopy's Golf Ball

This April 14 Peanuts Comic Tells a Fun Gag With No Words

This strip opens with the not-unusual sight of Snoopy chasing a ball, only for readers to realize the toy isn't actually his and its owner doesn't appreciate him interrupting their game. Despite its playfulness, this comic somewhat shows its age, both in Snoopy's design and having the unseen golfers pelt Snoopy with clubs. As The Far Side's Gary Larson learned during his own career, nothing starts the hate mail flowing faster than even the slightest suggestion of cruelty to animals.

Schroeder's obsession with Beethoven is one of Peanuts' best running gags...

7 "I, Too, Am a King!"

This April 12 Comic Celebrates Schroeder's Number 1 Obsession

Schroeder's obsession with Beethoven is one of Peanuts' best running gags, with the young musician championing his hero as the greatest of all time and press-ganging the other kids into celebrating his birthday every year. Here, despite more than a century having passed, Schroeder doesn't miss a beat in backing Ludwig van Beethoven against the King of Prussia.

6 Throw a Drop

This April 21 Sees the Kids Back on the Baseball Diamond

In another strip that's a great joke whether it's told by the Peanuts gang or not, Charlie Brown receives a complex list of secret signals and corresponding instructions. While readers might be expecting him to struggle with memorizing the list, he only actually interrupts to angrily remind Schroeder that he can't throw a drop - what should have been the easiest part of the entire plan.

5 None of Your Business

This April 15 Comic Is a Truly Goofy Gag from Schulz

A lot of Peanuts' humor comes from character, but in this strip Schulz simply has fun with words, as Lucy and Charlie Brown get stuck in a "Who's on First?"-style misunderstanding about his book's title. Despite their cartoony designs, Schulz poses Lucy perfectly in the last panel, as she finally understands why Chuck is being so rude (at least she partly understands, given his answer in the second panel doesn't actually make sense.)

While Peanuts is all about being a kid, it's also about having kids, and recognizing their foibles and quirks in the strip's cast.

4 "It's Going to Clear Up"

This April 11 Comic Shows Charlie Brown CAN Be Optimistic

Yet again, rain is the natural enemy of a group of kids trying to have fun, as Charlie Brown is gradually abandoned by all of his friends, who don't trust his claims that the weather is going to clear up any second. While he's known for expecting every situation to go wrong, Charlie Brown does have an optimistic side - sadly, it only tends to emerge in situations where he's 100% wrong.

3 Bump! Bump! Bump! Klunk!

Linus Stars in This April 29 Comic

While Peanuts is all about being a kid, it's also about having kids, and recognizing their foibles and quirks in the strip's cast. Every parent has suffered the irony of trying to protect their child from any harm, only for them to find a way to do something dangerous and somehow emerge totally unscathed. In this strip, Linus puts the cherry on the cake - not only is he completely fine after falling down the stairs, but he's elated to have apparently learned a new skill.

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2 New Chest Protector

Linus Falls Afoul of Lucy in This April 1 Comic

Bringing to mind the Office episode where Dwight Schrute tears a house to pieces in the name of checking how well it's constructed, this comic yet again sees Lucy's single-minded approach causing trouble. At this point, Linus has spent decades being bugged by Lucy, but it's likely he'd have traded this straight shot to the gut with a baseball bat for any number of hours being pestered at his piano.

1 Nobody Loves Me

Charlie Brown Gets the Perfect Answer in This April 13 Comic

Charlie Brown may have a hangdog attitude, but it's totally justified given the insults and mishaps he suffers on a daily basis. In this strip, Chuck turns to Violet for comfort, hoping to be reassured that his playmates love (or at least like) him. Unfortunately, he has to make do with Violet's reassurance that his friends definitely tolerate him - even if her attitude suggests that it sometimes takes a supreme act of will to do it. However, while Charlie Brown's concerns may be annoying, they're not unfounded - the very first Peanuts comic way back in 1950 confirmed that behind his back, some people really do hate Charlie Brown for no discernible reason.

Many fans have identified Charlie Brown's darker moments as the thing that makes Peanuts so relatable - the feeling that those around you are mad at you or the sense that things are somehow guaranteed to go wrong don't necessarily end with childhood. However, from 1950 to 2024, Charlie Brown has never given up, finding ways to have fun with his friends and pet, even in a world where his baseball games invite torrential downpours, trees deliberately set out to consume his kites, and the football is always snatched away at the last possible second.

Those are our 15 favorite Peanuts comics from April 1954, which just turned 70 in the far future of 2024 - be sure to vote in the poll below and give credit to your favorite strip of the bunch.