Charlie Brown's Greatest Misses: Every 'Peanuts' Football Gag Comic
by Caleb GoellnerThere's not much you can say about Charlie Brown's quest to kick a football that Peanuts creator Charles Schulz doesn't have Chuck himself proclaim over the course of nearly 50 football gag strips in nearly as many years.
As he tries and fails repeatedly to kick a football at the mercy of Lucy (and others!), Charlie B. cycles through every single stage of grief. He projects the grandest of metaphors onto his plight, he cries out to a higher power for answers in vain - the agony even manifests as a kind of PTSD that leaves him unable to trust, nearly destroying one of the great romances of his life. It's simultaneously harrowing and hilarious. Shakespeare's ghost surely spent half a century taking notes.
To her credit, Lucy does follow through holding a football once on August 2, 1979. Really! She finally rejects her instinct to pull the football away before Charlie can kick it. Tragically, he misses and winds up kicking her instead. Even though statistically she had it coming, it was no kind of justice for the pure-hearted Charlie Brown. Two decades would pass before a final ambiguous story would mete out a kind of punishment for Lucy's habitual torment.
It's worth noting that Violet - who acted as a kind of proto-Lucy before becoming more of a background character - was the first Peanuts cast member to betray ol' Charlie B.'s kick. He's never seen playing football with her again. Maybe he learned his lesson with her, but just can't resist Lucy? Can anyone?
We invite you to experience Charlie Brown's football gag saga in full, below, and to carry your own torch of resilience in the face of adversity where you may. At least until you get sick of it. We won't judge.
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Nov 14, 1951
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Nov 16, 1952
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Dec 16, 1956
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 22, 1957
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 21, 1958
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 4, 1959
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 16, 1960
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 10, 1961
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 30, 1962
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 1, 1963
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 4, 1964
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 17, 1965
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 25, 1966
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 1, 1967
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 29, 1968
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 28, 1969
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 11, 1970
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 26, 1971
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 8, 1972
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Nov 11, 1973
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 13, 1974
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 19, 1975
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 12, 1976
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 9, 1977
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 1, 1978
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 2, 1979
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Nov 29, 1981
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 10, 1982
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 16, 1983
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 13, 1984
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 19, 1986
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 4, 1987
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 23, 1988
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 1, 1989
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Jul 31, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 1, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 2, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 3, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 4, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Aug 6, 1990
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 29, 1991
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 11, 1992
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 3, 1993
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 16, 1994
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 29, 1995
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 20, 1996
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Sep 21, 1997
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Nov 15, 1998
Peanuts by Charles Schulz Oct 24, 1999
Donnie Pitchford Premium Member almost 8 years ago
What a wonderful collection! I love the way the final strip in this series leaves us “never knowing.” Perhaps Charlie Brown DID kick it!
coffeeturtle almost 8 years ago
Great compilation and back story!
CrosswalkxStreet almost 5 years ago
I never liked the football gag in the Charlie Brown comic strips. It was always painful to look at Charlie Brown missing and throwing out his back. And there’s a book about it in stores.
Lucy is such a bully to Charlie Brown and she made the football team lose the game in the cartoon It’s Your First Kiss Charlie Brown. Which is my least favorite Charlie Brown cartoon ever.
I question the football gag Charles M. Schulz keeps showing which I don’t find funny at all. I do like the other Peanuts comic strips with Snoopy the Dog and Woodstock. But not when the other kids bully Charlie Brown and put him down.