I was reading in the usenet group about the comic strip peanuts and they claim Marcie has been rapidly aged so that she is now the same age as Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown.
I know there is previous precident for this. Both Lucy and Schroeder were younger than Charlie Brown when first introduced and now they are the same age. But to me Marcie clearly seems to be younger than Peppermint Patty.
True they are in the same class but Charlie Brown and Linus often are in the same class and Linus has to be younger than Charlie Brown.
If I remember my Peanuts correctly Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Violet, Patty were the slightly older kids, Peppermint Patty was a later addition brought in after they phased out characters like Violet and Patty and Franklin, but she was older. Linus and Sally were younger siblings, and although never stated, I had the impression that Marcy fell in between the two groups. Just for the record Woodstock is younger than Snoopy, and Freida had naturally curly hair.
…gad, how do I remember this stuff?
I haven’t tried to keep up with Peanuts in years, but I had pretty much the same impression. I think Linus is probably only a year or so younger than Lucy and CB (depending on exactly how this breaks down he could conceivably be in the same grade as CB, particularly since he’s probably the smartest of the kids) while Sally is considerably younger than that.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie are frequently shown in the same class. Marcie is definitely more naive; I never thought of her as being significantly younger, but it’s possible. It’s also possible, given PP’s study habits, that she’s the oldest person in her class by virtue of having failed a grade.
I just thought it was kinda weird or creepy when you shave the heads of most Peanuts characters, what did you come up with? Charlie Brown!! How many parents were in this community? We’re talking serious trailer park action here.
Although Marcie and Patty are in the same class, Peppermint Patty may have flunked a grade, perhaps owing to an inability to adjust to her lesbianism. If she can learn to accept herself, there is hope for her. Perhaps she can become a basketball referee or an auto mechanic. Marcy, on the other hand, will make it through graduate school to become a library cataloger before succumbing to schizophrenia and going on disability.
Gettting back to the original post it is MY opinion that Marcie still is younger than Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown. Schulz admits freely he rapidly ages some characters, both Schroeder and Lucy were tiny almost baby like when introduced but clearly today they are the same age as Charlie Brown.
I don’t see any evidence of Marcie being aged except she is in Peppermint Patty’s class. But in the usenet group alt.comics.peanuts they clearly believe Marcie while at one time may have been younger is now the same age as Peppermint Patty.
From the comics I read (and I’ll admit I don’t read them everyday) she doesn’t seem to have been aged by Schulz at all.
Sally definitely has. There’s a specific strip showing CB on the phone getting the news about her birth, and a whole series where he has to push her baby carriage instead of playing in a baseball game.
She’s still younger than CB and even Linus, but the difference in their ages seems to be a lot less now.