Peanuts by Charles Schulz for April 01, 1964

look at Charlie Brown’s ANGRY face

Ha!

Does that mean the Little Red-Haired Girl doesn’t like him?

It probably just meant she was confused and perhaps a little taken aback that someone she didn’t really know showed up to have lunch with her. Don’t forget, Charles has only ever looked from afar, and has never spoken to her. He twigged on to what Lucy did quickly and came back to confront her.

The 50th anniversary of this daily strip, as I post this comment—April 1, 2014. It just FIGURES, that someone as CRUEL as Lucy would pull such a SICK April Fool’s joke on someone as gullible, or naïve, as Charlie Brown. Knowing how much CB has always suffered from “unrequited love,” Lucy pounced RIGHT on that, and played a sick joke on him, even if for April Fools’ Day. Don’t forget, she would do something very similar, just nine years later, on April 1, 1973—April Fool’s Day was on a Sunday that year, so naturally, the cartoon was in “story” form then(you know what I mean, as was and still is typical of Sunday funnies strips.)

Whoa! Lucy really crosses the line here. Even though he would get killed, I wish CB would slap her. You don’t mock a guy’s first crush like that.

At least he finally talked with her or met her in some fashion…

It’s a cruel joke, perhaps. Or it’s a much-needed push that Charlie Brown needed. I don’t doubt that Lucy’s intentions were impure. She did this purely out of malice and without any intention of helping Charlie Brown.

On the other hand, Charlie Brown has been relentlessly complaining about how the little red-haired girl doesn’t sit with him, but he’s never even tried to speak to her. If he had tried, even once to talk to her, and she rejected him, yes, I’d feel some sympathy for him.

But he refuses to even try, and then boo-hoo-hoos about his unrequited love.

Hey, Lucy, Schroeder threw away his piano and he wants to go strolling in the park with you!

Great angry eyes.