I’m very fanatical in my devotion to Calvin & Hobbes. You can take any one of the treasuries, open to any page, and read any one of the strips… before you’ve begun on the second panel, I’d be able to tell you how the strip ends, verbatim. It’s really scary.
To that end, I’ll tell you of my favorite C&H strip… it’s the one that depicts Calvin’s day, waking up for the bus, going to school, having to answer questions on the board that he doesn’t know, getting beat up by the bully, having to take a bath… finally, his mother tucks him into bed…
Mom: “Good night. Tomorrow’s another big day.”
Calvin: “Siiiiigggghhhh…”
Sigh. Calvin & Hobbes certainly was a shining spot on the comics page. I miss it too.
Does anyone else get just a little angry when you see those car window decals of Calvin pissing on one logo or another? I know Bill Watterson would never approve anything like that, so they’re obviously counterfeits. And it just seems like such a negative way for Calvin to live on. Am I over-reacting?
No, you’re not. Of course, that is something Calvin would probably THINK of doing…but he’d never do it without getting caught.
I always loved the one where he lost Hobbes…and then Hobbes was found… sigh
Best comic strip ever. I loved that Bill W. never answered dopey questions like “Does Hobbes actually come to life when the parents aren’t around?”. I’m also glad he never gave in to doing an animated special for TV, I would have hated it if Calvin and Hobbes had been given voices. I already know what they sound like, I don’t want someone else screwing that up.
There’s a worse one floating around. Die-hard religious-types have taken one of the pictures of Calvin praying (there’re a couple), and put a cross in front of him. While an act of vulgar rebellion is annoying, this “Calvin was a good Christian boy!” thing just pisses me off. How would THEY like it if I made a picture of an unwashed, stinky Jesus sitting in front of the TV, drinking beer and eating chips, with a big pot-belly, wife-beater shirt and jeans? There are just some things you DON’T desecrate, people, and Calvin is one of them!
I have stuck to my refrigerator the strip where Calvin’s spacecraft is being chased by the awful bug beings of Zartron-9, and he can’t shoot them down because he can’t get his death ray blaster to boot up properly.
Don’t forget Dad: making a peace sign without looking up from his book “Marvy. Fab. Far out.”
I liked Dad’s rants in the last years of the strip, and his St. Augustine lifestyle, and his uphill-both-ways stories, and the lies he told Calvin, like saying the whole world was black and white until 1965, and the way he blew gaskets when Calvin screwed up. I liked Dad. I once had a professor that was a dead ringer for him.
C: Do you love me, Dad?
D: Of course, I do, Calvin.
C: Would you still love me if I did something bad?
Also, Mr. Rilch and I have a ritual we got from C&H. The tenth anniversary collection is dedicated “To Melissa” (Mrs. W.) and there’s a sketch of Hobbes forming a heart with his paws. Mr. Rilch and I noticed this on the way home from the store, and immediately adopted it for our signal.
Also also, in the first or second Sunday edition of Fox Trot after C&H finished, Bill Amend honored the strip. The scene is Andy Fox in one of those mega-bookstores, and Calvin is in the middleground, walking past her table in the cafe.
I think I was alway jelous of Calvin’s imagination. I would always crack up at the snowmen. I’ve also adapted Calvin’s attitude toward school. It made junior high alot easier to get through.
Nope. This is one of my favorite things to bitch about. Whenever I see one of those decals or a t-shirt, I tell anyone who’s nearby that the stuff is illegal. People assume that because it’s a comic strip, merchandising is automatic and the natural next step. It’s not.
I always liked his bug collection and leaf collection storylines best. They remind me of me and my approach to big homework assignments.
What were those little aliens’ names? “Galaxoid” and “Nebular” or something like that? They showed up in two of the storylines, and damn, were they funny. Calvin gave them his Christmas stockings to keep them warm.
And, yes, I am getting teary-eyed. But… uh… that’s just from my anthromorphizing… yeah, that’s it…
I always assumed he had a video camera in my home taping my son. One day he ran a cartoon about Calvin calling his dad at work, his dad saying ‘unless this is an emergency, please call me later, I’m very busy’ and the last panel show Calvin & Hobbes sitting on kitchen counter with the water flowing over the edge and Calvin saying “this should qualify in about 20 minutes”. THAT night, my son called out to me from the bathroom “mom, I can’t get the water to turn off…” and of course, it was on full tilt overflowing and cascading down the hall…
I’ve got another one in my wallet - Calvin calling out to his mom from the porch, she calls back, “come HERE and talk to me”, so Calvin does, and says “I’ve got dog do-do on my shoes, what should I do?”
Sigh.
I, too, get really angry at the rip off marketing.
Calvin:This is a job for Stupendous Man!!!
Susie:Nice underpants, Calvin
or
Calvin: Dad, where do the sun go when it sets?
Dad: The sun sets in Arizona.
C: Really?
D: Yep, near Flagstaff.
C: Mom! I hope I’m as smart as Dad when I grow up!
Mom: Why? What has he been telling you!
Boy I hope I’m that cool with the Chancling when the time comes. Fillinf kids heads with disinformation is one of the big perks of parenthood!
