# Calvin's snowmen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992 "2014-02-10T17:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/21 "2014-02-11T23:57:40Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > C&H was great, but there are several that are higher on my list. But comics are my life. > > _Peanuts_, definitely. Milton Caniff’s _Terry and the Pirates_ and _Steve Canyon_. _Krazy Kat_. Probably _Li’l Abner_ and _Pogo_, and maybe _On Stage_. _The Far Side_ and early _Dick Tracy_ and _Thimble Theatre_ (_Popeye_) are up there, too. Buzz Sawyer ain’t bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/22 "2014-02-12T01:33:16Z")
I don’t know what year the “killer snow goons” came out, but here in Topeka we had a really heavy snowfall while the strip series was going on. I built a snow goon in my parent’s back yard. Along one side of the yard there’s a sidewalk leading to a nearby elementary school. So the snow goon was right out there in full view. Two heads, three arms, an awful scowl on it’s face. A young woman leading a young kid came by, stopped and looked at my creation, and actually recognized it for what it was. “Oh! You’re building a snow goon!” It made my day. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/23 "2014-02-12T01:47:15Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > _Peanuts_, definitely. Milton Caniff’s _Terry and the Pirates_ and _Steve Canyon_. _Krazy Kat_. Probably _Li’l Abner_ and _Pogo_, and maybe _On Stage_. _The Far Side_ and early _Dick Tracy_ and _Thimble Theatre_ (_Popeye_) are up there, too. You left out _ **Beetle Bailey** _, _ **Hagar the Horrible** _, _ **BC** _, _ **Sad Sack** _ (in _ **Yank** _), and _ **The Wizard if Id** _. Not to mention _ **Prince Valiant** _. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/24 "2014-02-12T02:53:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You left out _ **Beetle Bailey** _, _ **Hagar the Horrible** _, _ **BC** _, _ **Sad Sack** _ (in _ **Yank** _), and _ **The Wizard if Id** _. Not to mention _ **Prince Valiant** _. Meh. Prince Valiant is cool. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/25 "2014-02-12T17:55:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You left out _ **Beetle Bailey** _, _ **Hagar the Horrible** _, _ **BC** _, _ **Sad Sack** _ (in _ **Yank** _), and _ **The Wizard if Id** _. Not to mention _ **Prince Valiant** _. All great strips, though not as good as _Calvin and Hobbes_ in my book – except for _Prince Valiant_, but I’ve always had a hard time thinking of \*PV \*as a comic strip. It’s an illustrated story. To me, that’s an entirely different medium. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/26 "2014-02-12T17:57:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Buzz Sawyer ain’t bad. 🙂 Agreed, but I’ve read very few _Buz Sawyer_ strips, so I can’t judge it fairly. I’ve only seen individual strips in books on comics history. I’ve never read a full story arc. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/27 "2014-02-12T18:22:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” > 🙂 Truly one of the best lines in literature (possibly the one most applicable to my daily life), and from probably the best comic ever. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/28 "2014-02-12T18:42:11Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Agreed, but I’ve read very few _Buz Sawyer_ strips, so I can’t judge it fairly. I’ve only seen individual strips in books on comics history. I’ve never read a full story arc. comics kingdom has reruns. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/29 "2014-02-12T20:26:40Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > comics kingdom has reruns. 🙂 Thanks! I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/30 "2014-02-12T20:31:22Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Thanks! I’ll check it out. I found the drawings of WWII aircraft cool when I was a child. 🙂 He is working for an oil company in the currently run strips, later founds “Troubleshooters, Inc.” and in the 1950s or early 60s is called back into the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/31 "2014-02-12T20:38:14Z")
Snow goons were terrific! I may still have that volume on the shelf somewhere, too. The link was horrid, unfortunately. The images were too tiny to see or read well, and add to that a distracting background, ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/32 "2014-02-12T23:19:58Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > The link was horrid, unfortunately. The images were too tiny to see or read well, and add to that a distracting background, ugh. [Try this one.](http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/33 "2014-02-12T23:35:44Z")
Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/34 "2014-02-13T00:11:29Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > [Try this one.](http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html) Wow! Thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/35 "2014-02-13T00:51:48Z")
If we’re allowed to include “The Far Side” in a list of best comic strips, I’d have to say “Willie & Joe” was the best. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/36 "2014-02-13T01:10:20Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > [Calvin was a copycat.](http://cartoonacy.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html) Hard to call that “copy cat”,imho. All of those Linus snowmen bits seem to be a way to play out some “ruler of men” fantasy, unlike the twisted scenarios of Calvin. I am surprised anyone could put Peanuts near the top of there list of fav strips, personally. So preachy and when I accidentally read about the origins and ongoing feelings behind the story of the little Red Head Girl, it always felt quite sour. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/37 "2014-02-13T01:19:34Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > If we’re allowed to include “The Far Side” in a list of best comic strips, I’d have to say “Willie & Joe” was the best. “I’m tryin’ to get down, Joe, but my buttons is gettin’ in the way.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/38 "2015-06-19T20:25:36Z")
Bumped. I just got the illustrated catalog to last year’s C&H exhibition at OSU, which includes a long new interview with Bill Watterson. Highly recommended: [http://budsartbooks.com/prod.cfm/pc/EXCHO/cid/38](http://budsartbooks.com/prod.cfm/pc/EXCHO/cid/38) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992/39 "2015-06-20T12:05:49Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Hard to call that “copy cat”,imho. All of those Linus snowmen bits seem to be a way to play out some “ruler of men” fantasy, unlike the twisted scenarios of Calvin. I am surprised anyone could put Peanuts near the top of there list of fav strips, personally. So preachy and when I accidentally read about the origins and ongoing feelings behind the story of the little Red Head Girl, it always felt quite sour. I seem to remember that _Peanuts_ was really refreshing when it was new. Perhaps it dragged on too long. _ **Calvin & Hobbs** _ did not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvins-snowmen/680992.md?page=1)