Peanutshad a hilarious storyline in February 1966 that showed Charlie Brown attempting the city-wide spelling bee, where things did not go well for him (as is expected). While there were many one-off comic strips that purely relied on the personality of the characters,Peanutsalso had a slew of stories where each comic strip played an important part in the story’s plot as well as offering more jokes for the audience to enjoy.
Charlie Brown’s spelling bee experience- as terrible as it ends up being - is one such storyline. The story plays into the charactersof thePeanutsgangand their quirks - which readers know and love - and places them into a linear plot that readers must follow to get to the side-splitting conclusion.
16"A Spelling Bee?"
February 2nd, 1966
Charlie Brown’s class is going to participate in the city-wide spelling bee, making him consider entering to help with his confidence and to give the kid a much-needed self-esteem boost.His body disagrees with his spelling bee aspirations, however, with his hand refusing to go up when he tries to raise it to volunteer for the event.
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Charlie Brown doesn’t often decide to shoot for the stars, so it is a rare show of optimism and determination from good old Charlie Brown. While Charlie Brown goes into the spelling bee with positive feelings,this is Charlie Brown, so chances are high that the storyline will not finish positively.
15"Maybe I Shouldn’t Enter…"
February 3rd, 1966
Once Charlie Brown tells Lucy that he is entering the city-wide spelling bee, she automatically goes negative (to no one’s surprise). She questions Charlie Brown’s decision and puts a damper on his enthusiasm.
Charlie Brown defends himself, demanding that he would like to at least try and see if he can do a good job.Lucy puts him on the spotand tells him to spell a very long, challenging word.The behemoth of a vocabulary word that Lucy gives him makes Charlie Brown question entering the competitiondespite his previous excitement just moments earlier.
14"One of My Many Detractors…"
February 4th, 1966
Despite Lucy’s challenge, Charlie Brown does enter the spelling bee, butViolet then steps in to make him question his decision yet again. Violet makes it clear to him that she thinks he’s crazy for entering and that he is going to make a fool out of himself. Charlie Brown, more than understandably, does not take her negativity well and yells back that he will not make a fool of himself.
Given that everyone tends to have the lowest of expectations for Charlie Brown, one would think that he could only go up from here.
Called out in class for yelling, Charlie Brown explains that he was just answering one of his many detractors, Violet. Given that everyone tends to have the lowest of expectations for Charlie Brown, one would think that he could only go up from here.
13"Every Spelling Rule in the Book…"
February 5th, 1966
Commiserating with Snoopythat everyone has very low hopes (no hopes, actually) for his chances at the spelling bee, Charlie Brown is determined to prove everyone wrong. He has studied a lot of hard words, but he also knows every single spelling rule possible.
One problem, though, is thathe has a hard time with a select spelling rule- but naming that particular spelling rule is his first hurdle, which is bound to cause some problems for him.Rules of spelling like “I before E except after C” can sometimes do more bad than good when helping people with their spelling, which proves to be the case for Charlie Brown.
12"Except…Hmmm…"
February 7th, 1966
Entering the first round of the spelling bee, Charlie Brown gives himself a pep talk to stay calm so he can be focused enough to blow everyone away. He has some humble goals: just get past the first rounds of the spelling bee to look decent. Unfortunately,he still cannot remember the spelling rule that gives him troubleright before he is supposed to start the first round.
The fact thatCharlie Brown attempts to steadyhimself with some calming self-talk is a step in the right direction for Charlie Brown, who is usually the first to be his own worst critic, which says a lot because he has a lot of harsh critics.
11"I Feel Strangely Calm"
February 8th, 1966
Feeling confident for a change, Charlie Brown reminds himself to not worry about the first round, since the words are usually easier and the kid before him got an easy one.In fact,Charlie Brown is feeling so sure of himself at this momentthat he thinks he might like to start with a hard word to intimidate the other kids with his spelling skills from the jump.
It is not at all common for Charlie Brown to ever feel calm about anything, so the fact that he feels so content at the spelling bee is a true change of pace for thetypically neuroticPeanutsstar.
10"Maze?"
February 9th, 1966
The time has come: Charlie Brown’s turn in the first round of the spelling bee.Starting off with the word “maze,” a pretty simple word, Charlie Brown even says out loud that he has been given an easy one; he will regret this claim.
He gets off to a good start before dropping a Y where there should be a Z, ending any chance that he had at being spelling bee champion - or even going past the first round.No one is more aware of his mistake than Charlie Brown himself, who is automatically upset with himself when he realizes that he has spelled his first word wrong.
9"A Comforting Word from a Friend!"
February 10th, 1966
After Charlie Brown spells the word “maze” incorrectly, he gets laughed at by the entire class. It is bad enough that he gets a word that he definitely knows how to spell wrong, but on top of it, everyone cruelly laughs him off the front of the class.Violet puts salt in the wound by reminding Charlie Brown that she predictedhe would make a fool out of himself, which he proved today.
Given Charlie Brown’s less-than-stellar frame of mind after his public humiliation, all he can retort to Violet is the sarcastic response that he has received “a comforting word from a friend.”
8"Now, I’ve Done It!"
February 11th, 1966
Down in the dumps after he blows it at the spelling bee, Charlie Brown rests his head on his desk in sadness.The teacher then callson him, asking why his head is on the desk.Charlie Brown loses his cool with the teacher, a rare and out-of-character moment for him, exclaiming that the reason is that he choked at the spelling bee.
Catching himself and his angry outburst, he regrets his words immediately. It is not at all like Charlie Brown to talk back to teachers, let alone yell at them. The spelling bee that he had such high hopes for turns out to be a disaster.
7"My Stomach Hurts!"
February 12th, 1966
After yelling at his teacher after the spelling bee loss, Charlie Brown gets sent to the principal’s office.Before he enters the principal’s office, he says a prayerto help the odds be in his favor, hoping that the consequences are not too bad for him.
This comic strip was used on aPeanuts-branded desk calendar for the date of October 16th.
That said, even with his prayer, he still feels incredibly nervous, giving himself a stomach ache at the thought of going to see the principal. Charlie Brown hardly ever gets into trouble, especially not with authority figures, so he has no idea what to expect, making his nerves even worse.
