For those who miss Calvin and Hobbes

[Skwerl]

If anyone misses the comic Calvin and Hobbes, you should ask your paper to carry Frazz. Does anyone's paper run this one? It seems to me to be a borderline Calvin ripoff. Check these links:

http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20030817.html
http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20030803.html
http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20030725.html

for some of the more egregious examples. You've got the short, precocious, cynical little kid (Calvin). The taller, more mature mentor-ish type who tries to give some more wordly perspective (Hobbes). There's the teacher who the kid thinks is some old hag that spends the summer in a coffin when she's not feasting on blood, but she really just cares about the kids' education (Ms. Wormwood). There are plenty of bicycle jokes, since in Frazz the title character is an avid cyclist (ala Calvin's Dad). Much of the time when the kid's talking you only see his little dot eyes and the top of his head, just like in the great C&H.

Anyway, the overall humor of the strip often seems very C&H like to me. The strip's funny usually, I'll give it that, but half the time it makes me wonder "Didn't I see this strip in Yukon Ho!?" Has anyone else noticed this?

[Rainbowthief]

Is there a Suzy-type little girl to serve as his nemesis?

I'd never heard of Frazz before, but Get Fuzzy (http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/index.html) has been my Calvin & Hobbes replacement and I think it's the best comic strip being published today.

[I can't believe that's butter!]

It has to be Bill Watterson using a pseudonym. I mean, the text is even slanted in the same direction.

[Fern Forest]

It's weird that you should mention that. I've been thinking to myself that it was kind of like Calvin grown up. Especially the mouths.

[StanDup]

Dear God. Joe K is reading my mind... and Frazz DOES look like older Calvin. This whole strip just sends out very Watterson-ish vibes for me, not to mention the way the shorter kid is drawn. His facial features and general expressions are Calvin reincarnated... This is a bit scary, and yet also a bit awesome... Maybe it is Watterson under a pseudonym.

[SPOOFE]

Wait, wait... we're getting another dose of Watterson-ish vibes, and y'all are complaining?!?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?

[Short Guy]

I hope it isn't Watterson... I would have expected him to do something completely different after C&H. Still, the expression and gestures are dead on, as is the general humour. A Google search didn't yield anything useful on Mallett, other than that he's the "author of Frazz" and "illustrator of children's books".
And look at this:
http://www.bikereader.com/BikeReader/contributors/mallett/frazz.html
The bike humour is there, and even the way the bike is drawn has Watterson written all over it.

However... look at the bottom of the page Skwerl linked to: "Buy Frazz on a T-shirt, mug, and mousepad"? Watterson hates merchandising.

My opinion? Just someone who couldn't (or didn't want to) develop a style of his own and decided to rip off Watterson. That's not to say it isn't very well done.

[SparrowHawk]

I love Frazz (even better than Get Fuzzy)! Our paper just started carrying it. I had missed the Watterson vibe, but now that it's been brought up, I agree completely. The humor, the attitude and the art combined. There is no Suzy-type character, though. Hey, whether it's Ol' Bill, or whether it's simply C&H inspired (I wouldn't call it a rip-off; it's too good), I'm not gonna complain.

[that.sound.again]

Definitely inspired. This guy read C&H a lot.

But to think it's a pseudonym.. have a closer look at the line quality and color, for starters. This one's done wit a felt tip and computer colored - Watterson always used a brush for inking and watercolour.

The art of Frazz is passable. But nowhere near Bill Watterson (http://www.alloftheabove.net/cahr/art/stupendousmanbookback.htm) quality.

[I can't believe that's butter!]

Well, if it isn't him (I still think it may be; the idiosyncratic details are easily variable), then it's an extremely dedicated underling; perhaps an inker (Maybe he lied about being a one-man operation?). Plus, merch would definitely aid in the make-a-living end of things, and these guys would be a lesser evil to sell than, say, Hobbes.

[Greywolf73]

I'm suspicous as well. Looks like a grown-up Calvin to me. He's given up Hobbes but has become "Hobbes" to a kid a lot like him.
That's my theory anyway.
There's an interesting email exchange between Jeff Mallet and this guy
here (http://www.danmagnolia.com/diary/archives/2002_10_01_index.html)

(down at the bottom of the page).

[qwanderer]

That's really strange, because the thing that's been going through my head since C&H ended is that the comic Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, is exactly what Calvin and Hobbes would be if he grew up. The pen work is similar but a little more complex; they have a lot of the same kind of humor; they even have the same old tree house in one strip; but the focus on teenagerhood makes it plenty original. Either these guys are huge Watterson fans, or one of them is the real deal. Check it out.
http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/zits/about.htm

[Short Guy]

Well, Greywolf's link sorta settles it. I don't think Watterson would ever refer to himself as the Michelangelo of comics, even when he's using a pseudonym.
I like his line "if you learn from one guy you're derivative, and if you learn from a dozen you're original". I'll be forced to quote that when the next occasion arrives. :D

[qwanderer]

p.s. especially the strip for monday, july 14

[Algernon]

Interesting. Just this month a thread pointed me to a "Far Side" substitute, "Off The Mark" (http://www.offthemark.com/daily.asp). Now I have a "Calvin and Hobbes" substitute in "Frazz".

My two all time favorite comics, reborn, sort of.

There is joy in Mudville after all.

[Lux Interior]

I like his line "if you learn from one guy you're derivative, and if you learn from a dozen you're original". I'll be forced to quote that when the next occasion arrives.

I like, "If you steal from one person, it's plagiarism. If you steal from hundreds of people, it's research."

or something like that.

[Achernar]

I'm bumping this thread to point out that in today's Frazz (http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/frazz/archive/frazz-20030921.html), Bill Watterson is mentioned, and in sort of an odd way. In fact, the joke is pretty self-referential. Suspicious?! :)

[StanDup]

Very interesting, Achernar. Hmm... could it be? Could it?





Maybe not... but still...

[StanDup]

Very interesting, Achernar. Hmm... could it be? Could it?





Maybe not... but still...

[Gadarene]

JMHO, but, um...Frazz isn't in the same league as C&H. Not only is it not nearly as funny, but I disagree with several of the posters above that it has the same humor or the same feel as Calvin & Hobbes. I think the art is similar, but that's all.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there's any way in the world that's Bill Watterson under a pseudonym. If it were, the strip would be miles better.

[Chronos]

Frazz is probably my favorite current strip, and Calvin and Hobbes was my favorite strip in its day. And there are some similarities, but more differences. For instance, they both explore intellectual and philosphical ideas, but C&H did it via the ignorance of Calvin, whereas Frazz does it via the learnedness of Caulfield. And the kids in both have active imaginations, but we never see "inside" the fantasies in Frazz.

And to anyone who seriously thinks this is Watterson under a pseudonym, I'm sure it's not. I haven't yet figured out exactly where Frazz takes place (Michigan?), but it's certainly not Cleveland. Seeing as Watterson is a Cleveland native and set Calvin in Cleveland, it's probably safe to say that he would do the same for another strip he drew (write what you know, after all).

[Tygr]

Well, I ain't read them all yet, so I can't decide definitively.BUT...

...the August 24, 2003, strip explains why I frequent the Straight Dope.little girl: Are you a genius?
Frazz: Heavens, no....I just hang around people who are a lot swifter than me. And then I try like mad to keep up.

[that.sound.again]

I just wanted to repeat my former opinion - you can clearly see at first glance that Frazz isn't drawn by Watterson. Look at the line quality generally, and the perspective in panels one and four of the strip Achernar linked to.

Sure, some of the poses and facial expressions in Frazz are clearly inspired by C&H, but not nearly as well done (and frankly, that can be said about many comics today).

[Governor Quinn]

Technically, Chronos, Waterson's a product of the Cleveland suburbs, and it appears that, while Calvin's father commutes to Cleveland for his work as a patent attorney, they live out in the suburbs, and, apparently, at almost exactly the point when the Cleveland suburbs end.

Having looked at a few sample strips, the artwork is nothing like Waterson's in several eays (coloring, for instance), and the reference made to Waterson wouldn't be so obscure in the comic world, where he (and his battles with the syndicate) are legendary.

[Already in Use]

Originally posted by qwanderer
That's really strange, because the thing that's been going through my head since C&H ended is that the comic Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, is exactly what Calvin and Hobbes would be if he grew up. The pen work is similar but a little more complex; they have a lot of the same kind of humor; they even have the same old tree house in one strip; but the focus on teenagerhood makes it plenty original. Either these guys are huge Watterson fans, or one of them is the real deal. Check it out.
http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/zits/about.htm Actually, Borgman appears to have influenced Watterson from early on, which could be the reason for the similarity. Cite. (http://ignatz.brinkster.net/chonk.html) But I'm sure the inspiration has gone in the other direction as well -- how could anyone work in comics and not be influenced by Watterson?

[Achernar]

I honestly never thought it was Bill Watterson, but rather someone who was heavily influenced by him. However, the fact that there are differences between this strip and Calvin and Hobbes is not a good reason. Who said it would have to be identical? Just because the main characters have different personalities doesn't mean the strips aren't very similar.

The styles are as close as any two comics (except maybe Wizard of Id / B.C.), at least to me. Frazz looks like Calvin and carries himself like Hobbes.

[teemingONE]

But he's a janitor. I don't think Watterson would let his Calvin be a janitor. I always thought he'd grow up to be a teacher or something.

[Achernar]

He is a teacher. Just because that's not his career doesn't mean he doesn't do it.

[teemingONE]

Of course, but I didn't mean it that way. I meant teacher as the kind that give out homework and such. I also didn't mean janitor as a bad thing, just as something I couldn't imagine Calvin growing up to be.

[Yookeroo]

I think the closest thing we have to Calvin & Hobbes is Ozy & Millie. I like Frazz a lot, but I neve made any connection with C&H.

[Skwerl]

Originally posted by Governor Quinn
Technically, Chronos, Waterson's a product of the Cleveland suburbs, and it appears that, while Calvin's father commutes to Cleveland for his work as a patent attorney, they live out in the suburbs, and, apparently, at almost exactly the point when the Cleveland suburbs end.


When and where was it revealed that they live in the Cleveland area? I don't remember it coming up, so I always guessed it was sort of a "Where is Springfield?" type question.

[Already in Use]

According to this (http://www.chagrin-falls.k12.oh.us/CFHS/newspape/m02_issu/metro/metro19.html), the back cover of The Essential Calvin and Hobbes shows a giant Calvin stomping through Watterson's hometown of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The strip where Calvin finds a buckeye and decides to dent Susie's skull with it is also an Ohio reference, as it's the Buckeye State. Barring that evidence, we do know that Calvin lives somewhere near the giant E in the word "States." :D

[raizok]

Glad I downloaded every C&H comic strip and slapped it onto cd for my little sisters to enjoy. It will not die!

[Governor Quinn]

Originally posted by Skwerl
When and where was it revealed that they live in the Cleveland area? I don't remember it coming up, so I always guessed it was sort of a "Where is Springfield?" type question.

Already in Use gave a couple of examples, but here's another item:

In one strip, they live in the Eastern Time Zone, of which Ohio is a part.

In addition, seeing as how Calvin's dad has the same job Waterson's father did, and considering that Calvin's dad resembles Waterson, there's the added assumption that Waterson would set this close to home.