when i was a child i was never really into comic books. i would buy them occasionally, but not like some kids would buy and collect all of a certain comic. i just never got into them in that way. but i did have a love for comic strips, and one of the first that had an impact on me was the peanuts. at a young age my grandparents gave me a hardbound peanuts book that had the daily strips in black and white with the sunday larger strips in colour. the book was made all the more special since my grandparents had written a dedication to me into the book. i still have that book, but in storage at my parents.

as soon as i heard about the complete peanuts that fantagraphics is putting out, i went to eslite to have them special order it for me. it arrived last week. it's great to see the early strips and see the differences. for example charlie brown is sometimes even liked. violet seems to figure a lot more prominently than she does in later strips. snoopy also looks quite different from what he would later evolve into.

i haven't even finished reading the first volume and i'm already anticipating the second.