Just realized I haven't mentioned this. A lot of us are about to make a large monetary commitment to Fantagraphics Books, which is about to commence publishing The Complete Peanuts. Two hardcover volumes a year, commencing in April of 2004. Each will contain two full years of Charles Schulz's wonderful strip in chronological order (the first volume will contain more than that). The books will be in a horizontal format and each page will contain either three dailies or one Sunday page, both in black-and-white.
A surprising percentage of these strips have never been reprinted anywhere, not even in those wonderful dollar paperbacks some of us used to collect as kids. Subscribers will get their books early and receive bonus stuff, as well. They haven't announced the pricetag yet but I'll be surprised if we don't all think it's worth the cost.
The early volumes should be of special interest. Most folks are unaware how many changes Charlie Brown and his friends went through before Schulz figured out what he was doing. There are strips where Snoopy talks, wears clothes and is not owned by Mr. Brown. Linus and Lucy change ages faster than a Gabor sister, only in the opposite direction. I always thought Peanuts, like a great many strips, lost a lot of its charm when you got it one-a-day in a newspaper and got it back when the strips were collected to be enjoyed in a continuous read. So I'm looking forward to this and also to seeing the evolution of the characters and of Charles Schulz, as well.