> Blondie and Charlie Brown come to mind. . . . In their present form, they are only just "ok." In their heydays, wow.
>
> Well.... I don't know about Blondie (I'd rate it a bit lower than "okay," but at least it's not painfully bad ala Family Circus), but I can attest that Peanuts used to be great.

Blondie was great, but you have to go back quite far. It's been going from "ok" to "slightly less than ok" within my lifetime, but my lifetime doesn't even cover half of Blondie's. Go back 40 or 50 or 60 years. The longevity of certain comic strips really amaze me. Nancy is another one of those *ancient* strips, although in Nancy's case I have no idea if it was ever good.