8 Peanuts Strips That Defined The Franchise Forever
TJ Mills is an editor on ScreenRant's Comic team, where she combines her lifelong passion for DC with her analytical background as a former Intelligence Analyst. Since joining ScreenRant in 2023, she has specialized in covering major DC storylines, character evolutions, and industry developments.
Few comic strips have created as many instantly recognizable gags as Peanuts. From Charlie Brown repeatedly failing to kick Lucy’s football to Linus’ endearing belief in the Great Pumpkin, Charles M. Schulz turned simple jokes into defining pieces of the franchise’s identity.
These recurring bits became so closely associated with Peanuts that they eventually helped shape how generations of fans understood its characters and humor. Over the strip’s nearly 50-year run, however, some individual strips stood above the rest, introducing or perfecting moments that would become synonymous with Peanuts. Here are eight Peanuts strips that defined the franchise forever.
8 The Very First Peanuts Comic Strip
Published: October 2, 1950
It only felt right to kick off the “8 Peanuts Strips That Defined the Franchise Forever” list with the very first comic strip, given that it introduced Charlie Brown himself and set the tone for future strips to come. Published on October 2, 1950, this strip features Charlie Brown minding his own business as he walks past Shermy and Patty.
This seemingly inconsequential action, however, prompts Shermy to say, “Well! Here comes ol' Charlie Brown! Good ol' Charlie Brown...yes, sir! Good ol' Charlie Brown… How I hate him!” In addition to being the first Peanuts strip, this is a notable moment because it sets up what would become one of the franchise's most iconic recurring gags: Charlie Brown's inability to catch a break and his seemingly endless streak of bad luck.
7 Charlie Brown & The Kite-Eating Tree
Published: March 14, 1965
Charlie Brown vs. the Kite-Eating Tree is one of the most timeless recurring gags in the strip, one that lasted for decades. The strip above is just one of many examples from before and after, with the enduring gag being that Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite, only for it to inevitably get tangled in the tree.
This also plays into the previously mentioned gag of Charlie Brown's terrible luck, as poor Charlie Brown losing his kite to the tree every time is just another example of the character never being able to catch a break in Schulz's strip.
6 Charlie Brown's Unrequited Love For Little Red-Haired Girl
Published: May 25, 1998
Unrequited love is something that many of us have experienced at least once in our lives, even if it was just childhood-defining puppy love. Schulz turned this almost universal experience into a running gag in Peanuts by producing a saga of strips in which Charlie Brown suffers through his unrequited love for the “Little Red-Haired Girl.”
This gag was particularly unique because the Little Red-Haired Girl never appeared as a fully rendered character in the strip. In fact, the closest she ever came to appearing can be seen in the strip above, where she appears as a silhouette while dancing with Snoopy, as Charlie Brown watches dejectedly from afar.
5 Linus & His Security Blanket
Published: March 25, 1965
Of course, it wasn't just Charlie Brown who helped define the franchise forever. Schulz created a varied cast of recurring characters who brought their own iconic gags to the strip. Among them was the beloved Linus, whose character-defining security blanket accompanied him in dozens, if not hundreds, of strips.
Linus' blanket also humorously seemed to have a personality of its own, attacking Lucy or anyone who dared criticize the security item. The strip above sees the blanket attacking Lucy after she threatens to throw it into the trash burner.
4 Lucy's Psychiatric Help Booth
Published: March 27, 1959
Speaking of Lucy, Linus' older sister also did more than her fair share in helping define the strip, with one of her most iconic recurring gags being her “psychiatric help booth.” Offering psychiatric advice for five cents, this gag resulted in Lucy delivering some of her most hilarious and brutal lines as she offered advice that, honestly, wasn't all that helpful.
Of course, this lackluster help is what made the gag so hilarious. One of the most iconic examples comes from a strip published in 1959, in which Charlie Brown expresses his feelings of depression and asks Lucy what he should do. Lucy promptly replies, “Snap out of it! Five cents, please.” It's not particularly helpful advice, but it is immensely funny.
3 Snoopy & His World War I Flying Ace Persona
Published: October 10, 1965
We can't have an “8 Peanuts Strips That Defined the Franchise Forever” list without some Snoopy. As one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in the strip, the black-and-white pup delivered some of its most iconic moments and gags, but one of his most legendary has to be his recurring World War I Flying Ace persona.
This persona transformed the beagle into a daring fighter pilot locked in an imaginary aerial war against the infamous Red Baron. It also resulted in one of the most recognizable visuals in the strip: Snoopy sitting atop his red doghouse, wearing his fighter pilot gear.
2 Linus Waiting For The Great Pumpkin
Published: October 13, 1962
Without question, Peanuts' best seasonal gag is Linus and his obsession with the Great Pumpkin, an imaginary figure who Linus believes appears on Halloween night to bring presents to good children. The humor comes from Linus clearly mixing up Halloween with Christmas and Santa Claus, as he patiently waits in a pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
While this gag appeared multiple times throughout the Peanuts comic strip, its legacy extends far beyond the page. The concept became so iconic that it inspired an entire animated special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), which remains a beloved Halloween classic to this day.
1 Lucy Pulling The Football Away From Charlie Brown
Published: September 12, 1976
Perhaps the most legendary strips in the Peanuts franchise are those featuring the recurring gag of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, causing him to hilariously miss the ball and fall flat on his back. Like Snoopy in his Flying Ace persona and Linus sitting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Lucy pulling the football away has become one of the most, if not the most, recognizable images in the franchise.
Above is a golden example of the gag, with the accompanying dialogue making it all the more hilarious: “I'm going to pretend to hold the football, Charlie Brown...But when you come running up to kick it, I'm going to pull it away... Okay?” Charlie Brown then runs up to kick the ball, only to miss as Lucy pulls it away, with her delivering the punchline: “Men never really listen to what women are saying, do they?”
If you think we missed a gag or strip that defined the Peanuts franchise forever, let us know in the comments below!
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.