I’ve been a Calvin and Hobbes fan since I was ten. The strip was syndicated into a national newspaper, which then folded, so I, at twelve, would save all my money to buy Calvin and Hobbes books,the first being Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat. As time passed, I bought all the collections ( The Authoritive Calvin and Hobbes, The indespensible Calvin and Hobbes) plus the other, later collections (There’s Treasure Everywhere, It a Wonderful World). I had EVERYTHING. As I grew up, I appreciated them more and more; there’s enough humour in them to appeal to all ages, and of course, as you get older, you grow fonder and fonder of Calvins childhood summers and snow-capped winters.
Last year, Hardship bought me the complete collection for my birthday; you know the big, beautiful hardback editions? I loved them, but wanted to keep them as a collectors peice, so put it on the shelf, and stuck to my well-thumbed old copies.
Now, last night, for whatever reason, I took down the collectors edition, to leaf through it. I just wanted to see crisply printed pages containing my favourite stories. As I flicked through, I fell across a strip I was unfamiliar with; Calvin wearing his dad’s glass’s , mimicking him, which results in calvins mom CORPSING with laughter.
I’d never seen it before.
And there was more; much more, strips that I’d never read! As I soaked them up, it became clear what I was reading; Deranged Mutant Killer Snow Goons. Seemingly, the “collections” such as Authoritave, Indispensible… etc. consist of two books, which left one book (snow goons) spare, and not part of any collection, or, if anything, only partly included. I was familiar with the books title, but felt that I was BOUND to have read it, given the abundance of Snow Goons in any given C&H volume. But no; I’ve never read it, and I’m only begining to do so now. After all these years, to fall across what it, to me, all-new C&H is a dream come true.
I’ve done this in the past, intentionally, with TV shows; purposely not watched certain episodes of finished series’… When there’s going to be no more made, ever, why watch them all in one go? For example, there’s episodes of Fawlty Towers that I’ve never seen, that I’m “Saving” for a later, like a vintage bottle wine. Does anyone else do this? Although, on these occasions, I’ve known that there’s still something to be watched, with the Calvin and Hobbes, it came as a complete suprise.
I’d type more, but I’ve got reading to do.
