The 25 Best Snoopy Faces

Limited to the strips only, which is daunting enough of a task.  Charles Schulz worked magic with the 914.  Click on the pics for maximum enjoyment.

25.  1/23/1951

Snoopy--still in his puppy phase--concludes this delightful li'l strip with a truly pleased smile.  It's always a great feeling to have one up, after all.

24.  4/21/1951

All four panels showcase Snoopy to superb effect, but I particularly adore the third one, with Snoopy in pure "nyah-nyah" mode.

23.  11/17/1951

The exclamation point is hilarious in its superfluousness.  Have you ever seen a grumpier Gus?

22.  10/26/1953

Contentment.  As short-lived as a blink of the eyes, and every bit as vital to health. 

21.  6/18/1959

My expression after a weekend of reading Kant.

20.  1/23/1961

The opposite of a Snoopy dance--a Snoopy glare.  No fear, all loathing.  No doubt he began to viciously head-butt the ground mere seconds after his bold proclamation of rancor.

19.  1/22/1967

The Bubonic Beagle!  "Unclean!" and damn proud to play the role of leper dog.  The conventional wisdom states that the inside of a human mouth is filthier than that of a canine, but I've long been an advocate of conventional wisdom sitting down and shutting up.  If I had a choice between being bitten by either man or man's best friend, I'll (reluctantly, mind you) pick the mouth least likely to have recently been around a dead squirrel.

18.  12/13/1968

Tiger Williams?  Pussycat!  Tie Domi?  Twinkle-toes!

17.  3/9/1969

This Sunday has been featured on this blog before, as I hold it in very high esteem as one of the greatest things to ever appear in a newspaper. You could eliminate the word/thought bubbles and lose nothing.  While Snoopy is a fraught joy throughout these panels, I have to pick the very last panel as one of the best "Snoo-faces" Schulz ever drew.  Deliciously devious, and a sublime counterpoint to Charlie Brown's unsuspecting failure face.

16.  10/7/1969

Wait, did I say "devious" earlier?  That was nothing.  That was Zebra Man.  This?  Thanos:  Ears of Fate.  Run, Frieda!  Convince your fellow homo sapiens that they must adapt to their new fuzzy-eared overlords or else go the way of Panthera leo spelaea.  

15.  7/30/1971

What a fat, happy pilot!  Having set up the tent after a hard day's war, the Flying Ace is ready to relax and absorb the now-peaceful skies.  I envy him even as I yearn to tickle his dough-belly.

14.  9/3/1973

The second panel is the key here.  Look at that determination!  That is how you make telepathy work for you!  Don't blink.  Don't flinch.  Lean forward.  Concentrate so hard that every cell in your body is focused on the task at hand.

Visor optional.

13.  11/20/1978

MMM, we got some nice third and one-half wall breaking going on with this strip.  Snoopy probably kept that expression whilst biting the twine, too.

12.  12/9/1979

SQUEAK.

Cute contortions of the mouth and eyes splash the iciest of hearts with the warmest of liquid cocoa.

11.  5/3/1981

'Tis music that soothes the savage beast.  Unless it's a beagle.

Nah, 'tis music that flusters the simple mortal.  In the struggle to keep control, to elucidate our feelings, sometimes the magic fails us.  The language of the spirit comes out garbled.  Thoreau wrote, "When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe."  What to do when music itself is the foe?

10.  5/6/1981

Aw, who wouldn't be happy at seeing just a little more love in the world?  Plenty people, that's who.

9.  8/23/1981

Oh, you dog!  The enmity between squeaky-toy chasers and hairball-cougher-uppers has never produced a more lopsided battle than that between Snoopy and World War II, better known as "The Cat Next Door."  Yet, Snoopy's mischievous streak remains irrepressible...resulting in some adorable looks and deplorable decisions.

8.  9/19/1981

Yet another case in point.  I can't decide which piteous look I love more!  1981 must have been the year Charles Schulz sat at the drawing board and decided, "Let me see what I can do with this dog's face."

7.  11/24/1981

Lookit the second square.  All the li'l fella needs is a bow atop his noggin and the preciousness would be virtually intolerable.  Who would refuse Snoop the blue ribbon at a Cutest Dog competition?

6.  3/3/1982

Wide-eyed agony can be quite hilarious.  Beyond that, we have the mouth in a tight line, as though he's trying his very hardest to keep the loudest yelp ever from escaping.

5.  7/23/1983

This is Snoopy's head.  This is Snoopy's head-on.  This is Snoopy's head on drugs.  Oy vey.

4.  1/31/1984

Each panel contains a winner face, but I am definitely partial to that pleasingly toothy smile in number two.  Really makes me wish he coulda remembered the joke....

3.  8/12/1988

Rainy days leave even the best of our world feeling drained and pained.  That woeful expression in the middle is the very picture of self-pity.  The pathos is potent.  Is he right, however?  Is the beagle the breed that elicits the most emotion when seen caught in the rain?  Surely the diminutive dogs of the "toy" distinction would inspire the longest, loudest "AWWW"s.

2.  5/8/1989

Snoopy's belly-laugh is such a striking image it was eventually made into the Peanuts brand logo.

1.  11/16/1993

It's all about what you don't see.  The ear-free, crap-eatin' grin of panel three has always, and I guarantee y'all will always, light up my life.  A fresh glance, a new step for the dance, you can't be great if you won't take a chance.