I did always think it was different when I finally got the book "The Art of Charles M Schulz" (by Chip Kidd, I think) and was finally able to read the 1950's strips.
Charlie Brown was not the guy we all ended up knowing in the beginning. Sure, there was the first strip in which Shermy says, "Here comes good ol' Charlie Brown. Yup, Good ol' Charlie Brown. There goes good ol' Charlie Brown. How I hate him!"
But, in the beginning he was as much the antagonist as any of the other kids are now. It was really funny to see Charlie Brown coming out on TOP of the situation for a change.
By the way, a GREAT source for VERY well researched Peanuts information is located at this link:
http://www.peanutscollectorclub.com/peantfaq.txt
Not to mention, they have the complete story of "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night" by Snoopy.
Aw, heck, I'll just re-print it here:
"As firmly established in the Holt, Rinehart & Winston
book, "Snoopy and It Was A Dark And Stormy Night"
(published in 1971), this is Snoopy's novel...in all its glory:"
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
by Snoopy
Part I
It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out!
A door slammed. The maid screamed.
Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon!
While millions of people were starving, the king lived in
luxury. Meanwhile, on a small farm in Kansas, a boy was
growing up.
Part II
A light snow was falling, and the little girl with the
tattered shawl had not sold a violet all day.
At that very moment, a young intern at City Hospital
was making an important discovery. The mysterious patient
in Room 213 had finally awakened. She moaned softly.
Could it be that she was the sister of the boy in Kansas
who loved the girl with the tattered shawl who was the
daughter of the maid who had escaped from the pirates?
The intern frowned.
"Stampede!" the foreman shouted, and forty thousand
head of cattle thundered down on the tiny camp. The two
men rolled on the ground grappling beneath the murderous
hooves. A left and a right. A left. Another left and right.
An uppercut to the jaw. The fight was over. And so the
ranch was saved.
The young intern sat by himself in one corner of the
coffee shop. he had learned about medicine, but more
importantly, he had learned something about life.
THE END
(At which point, Linus asked, "But what about the
king?" He got clonked on the head for his impertinence.)
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