Seventy-six years ago today, on October 2, 1950, Charles M. Schulz launched the comic strip that would become one of the most beloved in history—and opened it not with warmth and whimsy, but with a startlingly mean-spirited punchline. In that debut installment, young Shermy voiced his hatred for Charlie Brown out loud, setting a tone of childhood cruelty that fans of the modern franchise rarely associate with the gentle world they know today.
The strip introduced Shermy and Patty as its co-stars, characters who would not receive official names for another few weeks but were nonetheless present from day one. As the decades passed, Schulz refined his artistry and brought in breakout favorites like Lucy and Linus Van Pelt, gradually pushing Shermy and Patty toward the margins. By the 1970s, both had vanished entirely from the strip.
A Punchline That Surprised Everyone
In that first comic, Schulz established a surprisingly bitter note as Charlie Brown walked past. “Here comes ol’ Charlie Brown. Good ol’ Charlie Brown… How I hate him!” Shermy declared aloud. The moment stands out precisely because it contradicts the wholesome reputation the franchise eventually cultivated.
Schulz quickly dialed back that level of random cruelty over the following weeks and months, but the first two years of Peanuts remain a genuinely bizarre experience for modern readers. Anyone who grew up in North America did so surrounded by Charlie Brown and his gang as constants of pop culture—guaranteeing all-ages fun paired with great music, occasional Biblical references, and gentle morals.
The Peanuts comic strip was always a little more subversive than that, especially in its first two years. If there’s one thing driving its humor, it’s that little kids are often jerks.
Peanuts retrospective analysis
The second-ever strip drives this point home, depicting Patty decking a random kid for no particular reason. Charlie Brown, Shermy, and Patty steal from, manipulate, and occasionally hit one another—only to forget it all and reunite as friends by the next panel.
The Early Days of Snoopy
Snoopy made his first appearance in the third-ever strip, though he was barely recognizable compared to the icon he’d become. For his first couple of years, Snoopy remained simply a dog—devoid of the imaginary personae, human-like traits, and thought balloons that would later define him. It wasn’t even clear who he lived with; rather than being explicitly Charlie Brown’s pet, he seemed to merely inhabit the neighborhood, sometimes appearing with Shermy, other times with Patty, but most often simply present without further comment.
Schulz established in multiple written accounts that he came to view Shermy as a boring character. In the earlier strips, it was vaguely implied that Shermy and Patty were older than Charlie Brown—both are distinctly taller—but neither possessed a distinct hook. Later characters arrived preloaded with defining traits Schulz could build gags around, such as Linus’s precociousness or Lucy’s self-importance. Shermy and Patty had nothing comparable.
To be fair, Charlie Brown wasn’t unique during those early years either. He didn’t adopt his signature unlucky streak or philosophical self-pity for several more years. At worst, he was often the butt of a joke without taking it personally, later settling into the role of straight man once other characters joined the rotation. Because Schulz explicitly based Charlie Brown on himself, though, that central figure was never going anywhere.
Looking Ahead
In 2026, Peanuts primarily exists as a television franchise, with new specials arriving roughly annually via Apple TV. Watch those specials closely and Patty and Shermy occasionally make cameo appearances alongside other largely forgotten cast members like their fellow year-one kid Violet Gray. They still exist, but they peaked early.
Schulz’s willingness to let children be unapologetically cruel in that first strip may have faded quickly, yet it remains a fascinating window into the strip’s formative years. On the anniversary of Peanuts’ debut, Shermy and Patty deserve their proper due—they were there at the very start.
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