Peanuts Begins by Charles Schulz for September 02, 2015

OK, now that Schroeder has been introduced, Lucy and Linus shouldn’t be too far behind.

The only word he knows is “Beethoven.”

Notice the fingers-on-toes posture in the final panel. He’s already priming himself for the keyboard.

so that adds to my theory that the “missing original 2” and Valerie were older than CB, and they disappeared when they became older and became the “wah wah wah speakers” J/K but this began the “soap opera syndrome” of this strip where a character initially is 15 years older than person B (18 and 3) but 5 years later suddenly that character is now only 3 years older than person B (23 and 20) and are hooking up

Quite interesting to see how fast Schroeder and Linus would grow up from their introductions. Think Sally and Rerun took the longest to be aged to what they were when the strip ended, especially Rerun.

Incidentally, Shermy, Patty and Violet all appeared in this strip which according to the copyright date was from 1968. I know that I have seen at least Patty and Violet in much later strips as well, but mostly as background characters.

http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/2015/08/08

I think the “wah-wahs” were solely used on the TV specials and for adults only. Also, Lucy was just a toddler that CB babysat when she was introduced (she liked him at first too before he became a punching bag). Linus came along as a baby not long after. I think Sally was the last core character to be brought in until Peppermint Patty about 10 years later. Schulz eventually wrote out Shermy, Patty and Violet (as well as Pigpen and 5) because he was simply bored with them.

Shermy last appeared on June15th, 1969, but he had ceased to be more than a background character long before that. Original Patty stayed until 1995 and Violet stayed until 1996. The Van Pelt siblings, Sally and Peppermint Patty pushed them into the background. A year after this strip, Schroeder would look to be as old as Charlie Brown.

And, lets face it, Peanuts wasn’t a comic known for its realistic story lines. Those poor kids couldn’t touch the tops of their heads.

Don’t forget Pigpen – a great recurring character.

The first appearance of Schroeder – as a baby.

And 5. Don’t forget 5. And his sisters, 4 and 3.

It’s amazing how the characters started out at different ages, but all evened out as the strip progressed (even Sally).

Schroeder already has as much hair as Charlie Brown……

Isn’t Schroeder and Charlie Brown supposed to be around the same age?