For more than 70 years, Peanuts has been among the funniest comic strips ever published, but Charles Schulz’s masterpiece found humor in more than just punchlines. The series crafted its comedy through larger-than-life personalities, and every piece of dialogue felt tailored specifically for Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang, yielding some of the funniest lines in comics. The strip could shift effortlessly from philosophical to hysterical within just a few panels, whether Linus was defending the existence of the Great Pumpkin or Charlie Brown was trying to confront his anxiety.
At the same time, Peanuts never turned its characters into the butt of a joke. That’s because Schulz treated them with genuine compassion, allowing their insecurities and quirks to feel relatable in the most timeless way possible and, as a result, the humor holds up surprisingly well today, proving Peanuts is the greatest comic strip in history.
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“No, I’ll take the blanket… you keep the thumb!” -Linus
Linus and his famous security blanket are one of Peanuts’ longest running gags, right up there with Lucy tricking Charlie Brown by pulling a football away just as he’s about to kick it. The blanket followed Linus everywhere he went, offering a sense of comfort amidst a world full of anxieties, so when Snoopy ended up with it instead, he was reasonably upset. The beagle was practically mocking him, even sucking on his thumb like Linus. When Snoopy takes out his thumb, he seems unconcerned with giving back the blanket, only adding to his insulting impression. It’s a perfect example of Schulz’s character-based comedy.
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“There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people… religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin!” -Linus
Many kids believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, but Linus had his own holiday-specific belief in an entity which his peers had never even heard of before: the Great Pumpkin, a sentient pumpkin that arrived every Halloween. Despite years of disappointment and ridicule, he never wavered in his faith, and much like his attachment to his blanket, the humor comes from how seriously Linus treats it. We’ve all heard that it’s wise to avoid discussing religion and politics over Thanksgiving dinner because they’re topics which can quickly lead to heated arguments, and when Linus tells others about the Great Pumpkin, he’s immediately yelled at. It’s a signature Peanuts joke, combining Schulz’s character-driven humor with a relatable everyday experience.
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“Make it easy on yourself. This year, just bring me money. Probably tens and twenties.” -Lucy
Lucy Van Pelt wasn’t just bossy with Charlie Brown and Linus— she also attempted to persuade Santa Claus to bring her money in her Christmas letter. It isn’t too surprising because her lack of modesty has always characterized her every action, whether she was running her psychiatric booth, tormenting Charlie Brown with a football, or giving instructions for the Christmas play. Most children know they should be grateful when they’re writing a Christmas list to send to the North Pole, but Lucy approaches the task like it’s a business negotiation. By taking those impulses to the logical extreme, Schulz crafted a classic holiday comic strip.
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“I don’t know my social security number.” -Rerun
Rerun Van Pelt is one of the youngest cast members of Peanuts, and while he often looked up to his older siblings Linus and Lucy, he admired Charlie Brown even more for owning a dog. He frequently visited Charlie Brown with the hope that Snoopy might like to play with him, but the beagle sadly didn’t share the same level of enthusiasm about the idea. Unlike Rerun, Snoopy lives a pretty full life. Sure, he has an owner, but he’s mostly independent, going on all sorts of solo adventure, including imaginary missions as a World War I flying ace. By the time Rerun knocked at Charlie Brown’s door, Snoopy had created a document which would make it even more difficult for anyone to request a hangout session, but it’s communicated through a single line: “I don’t know my social security number.”
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“I can’t sleep, big brother… what should I do?” “Don’t do anything. Just lie there, and worry.” -Sally and Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown is known for overthinking everything, leading to his constant anxiety, so when his younger sister Sally comes to him for help when she’s unable to fall asleep, he suggests doing the only thing he knows to do in the situation. It’s a slightly tongue-in-cheek moment, as he tells her to “just lie there and worry,” but her innocence makes it hard for her to grasp sarcasm. After she attempts it, she returns to follow up, asking, “Then what?“ Their comedic back-and-forth works because we know their dynamic as brother and sister throughout Peanuts, adding a charm to their interactions, even in the midst of misunderstanding.
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“How do you spell ‘watching’?” “‘Watching’?” “That’ll be my job… watching TV.” -Rerun and Lucy
Lucy bosses everyone around, including her youngest brother, Rerun, but unlike the other kids, he never thought to question her. When she asked what job he’d like to have, he took the question seriously, only to give her the most ridiculous answer imaginable. Like many of Rerun’s funniest strips, the humor comes from his innocent misunderstanding of concepts older kids take for granted, like having a job. As with so many of Schulz’s comics, the strip finds humor in everyday life without ever making its characters the punchline, which is a real credit to his craft.
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“Love makes you do strange things.” -Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown’s crush on the Little Red-Haired Girl yielded many comic strips about unrequited love, but no matter how many opportunities presented themselves, Charlie Brown’s lack of confidence tended to get the best of him. When he bought a heart-shaped box of chocolates for her, he barely had the courage to give it to her in person, prompting him to stand behind a tree holding out the gift. Typically, this kind of joke would make us laugh at the character, but Schulz smartly wrote Charlie Brown as so relatable that we laugh with him at the absurd situations of life.
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“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.'” -Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown has endured countless setbacks, from romantic rejection to baseball game losses, prompting his thoughts late at night while he lies in his bed, wondering where things went wrong. It’s a sad set-up, but his follow-up line perfectly balances self-deprecating humor. It’s a sad setup, but his follow-up line perfectly balances self-deprecating humor with the kind of existential anxiety that always made him feel relatable. Schulz took a universal feeling of self-doubt which we all know and pushed it to an absurd conclusion, making it feel as laughable as it really is. Instead of offering comfort, the mysterious voice tells Charlie Brown that his problems are far too extensive to solve in a single evening. Whenever Peanuts turned a moment of despair into a punchline, it struck a perfect balance between humor and emotion, and this strip is one of Schulz’s funniest reminders that Charlie Brown’s anxieties were inseparable from the comic’s sense of charm.
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