For over 50 years, creator Charles Schultz entertained readers with the Peanuts cast. The strip ran in thousands of newspapers, was made into anthologies, and into cartoons and movies such as "Charlie Brown's Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". There is absolutely no question Peanuts is a staple of 20th Century American culture.
Here are a few of my favorite Peanuts comics as found on Comics.com.
1) Snoopy ponders a bird's career:
Subject/ Target: Career aspirations
Why it's funny: The humor is in the twist at the end. While Snoopy is caught up in the drama of Woodstock's career path, Woodstock himself is ambivalent. Woodstock's ambivalence carries over to Snoopy in the final panel as Snoopy expresses both Woodstock's attitude and his own change in perception.
2) Snoopy and the Universe
Subject/ Target: Life
Why it's funny: In this comic, it is Snoopy who is ambivalent. While Lucy discusses Snoopy's place in the universe, Snoopy listens, and instead of getting depressed that his actions won't matter, he does the one action he thinks will give the most pleasure at the moment - sleep. The humor is in the twist in the third panel. The reader knows Snoopy will reaction to Lucy's discussion, but they don't know how. Then there is a relief when Snoopy doesn't overreact or panic, and instead takes it in stride.
3) Charlie Brown and Happiness
Subject/Target: Sports and life
Why it's funny: Charlie Brown is the ultimate sympathetic figure in comic strips. Nothing, whether it is kicking a football or his relationship with the red-haired girl, goes his way. The humor is that readers feel superior to Charlie Brown because, compared to him, their lives are not that bad. They sympathize with him and then, when things get worse, they laugh at his fictional tragedy. In this strip, the reader roots for Charlie Brown, and then when things don't work out via a sports analogy, he becomes sympathetic and through that sympathy he becomes comical.
