10/02/1950
46
THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM
O
ne of Charlie Brown’s oldest friends, Shermy is
always ready to jump in and join a game of
catch, go to the movies, or enjoy a nice stroll around
the block. His even temper and affability make him
one of the most reliable kids in the neighborhood, and
you can always count on him to join your baseball
team or lend a hand.
Because of Shermy’s reserved demeanor, however,
he seems to fade into the background when new kids
like Lucy and Linus move into the neighborhood. As
Charles Schulz noted, Shermy’s role diminished over
time, and he soon appeared only when the cartoonist
“needed a character with very little personality.”
Shermy’s last official appearance was on June 15,
1969, and his expression and single word of dialogue
(“Really?”) seemed to indicate that he knew his time
was up. Lest it be forgotten, though, Shermy was
there from the beginning and was the only character
to speak in the very first strip, on October 2, 1950.
His introduction of the strip’s star set the tone for
everything that followed: “Good ol’ Charlie Brown . . .
How I hate him!”
SHERMY
first aPPearanCe
10/02/1950
47SHERMY
opposite, left: Design by Cameron + Co | opposite, right: Spot art from
strip – Charles M. Schulz
| above: Shermy model sheet – CSCA | right: Spot art
from Love is Walking Hand in Hand – Charles M. Schulz
| overleaf, left:
Style Guide art – CSCA | overleaf, right: Whatever Happened to Shermy,
Peanuts Digital Edition – CSCA
50
THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM
opposite and above: Style Guide art – CSCA
51VIOLET
VIOLET
V
iolet Gray is the second girl to move into Charlie
Brown’s neighborhood. She and Patty hit it off
right away, and the two become best friends almost imme-
diately—much to Charlie Brown’s chagrin, as he is often on
the receiving end of their criticism.
Violet comes from an affluent family and can be a
bit pretentious at times. One of her favorite activities is
organizing parties with Patty and deciding which kids
should be excluded from the festivities. All the same,
she’s happy to join her friends in all their activities,
whether playing house, making mudpies, or playing
leftfield on Charlie Brown’s baseball team.
As with her friend Patty, Violet’s role declined over
time. As new characters were introduced, she was
relegated to the background or made to deliver the
setup for other character’s punchlines. “Some characters
just don’t seem to have enough personality to carry
out ideas,” Charles Schulz observed of Violet and his
other early cast members. “They’re just almost born
straight men.”
first aPPearanCe
02/07/1951
“
(
”
52
THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM
“It’s a scientific fact that
at our age girls are
smarter than boys!”
—Violet
53VIOLET
opposite, top: Violet model sheet – CSCA | opposite, bottom: Spot art from strip
– Charles M. Schulz |
above center: Style Guide art – CSCA | above: Spot art from
Happiness is a Warm Puppy – Charles M. Schulz |
right: Mudpies Like Mother Used to
Make, Peanuts Digital Edition – CSCA
x
z
z
left and opposite: Spot art
from strips – Charles M. Schulz
55CHARLOTTE BRAUN
W
hat’s in a name? Although Charlotte Braun’s name
is strikingly similar to Charlie
