# Poll: Is Frazz a rip-off of Calvin and Hobbes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [September 24, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504 "2011-09-24T22:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/21 "2011-09-25T14:46:03Z")
I don’t know the background of the characters in Frazz (paper just started carrying it) but I would have hoped Calvin had grown up to get a more creative job - engineer? artist? inventor? than school janitor, having been a clever kid with a great imagination. I say that not to disparage custodians, because I actually know a school janitor. Not only does he love the job and gets great benefits, he says a fat lot of good his degree in English Literature previously did him in the job market. So if Frazz is Calvin, maybe he’s doing inventing at home at night. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/22 "2011-09-25T15:02:10Z")
The premise of Frazz is that he is a successful songwriter, he originally took the custodian job to make ends meet, and now he continues with it because the kids inspire him. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/23 "2011-09-25T17:07:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Which is fine, but that’s not what “ripping off” means. I note that, at this moment, 79% of people who have replied to the poll in this thread (including myself) disagree that Frazz is a rip-off of C&H. We’ve noted that, while there are some similarities in art style, that doesn’t constitute a “rip-off”, in our eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/24 "2011-09-25T17:16:47Z")
Another difference that just occurred to me: Calvin is (overtly, at least) disgusted with both romance and with girls. Caulfield, though he’s never shown any romantic interest himself, has no more problem with girls than with anyone else, and is in fact the one who played matchmaker between Frazz and Miss Plainwell. The strongest similarity I see between the two strips is that they’re both just really good comic strips. But that’s hardly something to criticize. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/25 "2011-09-25T18:38:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The strongest similarity I see between the two strips is that they’re both just really good comic strips. They aren’t even in the same league. I read Frazz daily, but it has never been anywhere close to the quality of C&H. It wouldn’t matter all that much to me if Frazz ended, while I still miss new C&H. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/26 "2011-09-25T18:50:54Z")
Compared to C&H, Frazz isn’t great, but then, what is? Compared to almost any other comic strip, though, Frazz is one of the best. I don’t think there are any currently-running strips that are better. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/27 "2011-09-25T19:19:03Z")
Ok. I guess I have to admit it’s not a rip off. Nobody\* else seems to see what I see, then maybe I’m the one seeing things askew. \*well, not _nobody_, but the poll numbers are pretty much a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/28 "2011-09-25T19:22:55Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Ok. I guess I have to admit it’s not a rip off. Nobody\* else seems to see what I see, then maybe I’m the one seeing things askew. > > \*well, not _nobody_, but the poll numbers are pretty much a landslide. I don’t think it’s that we’re not seeing what you’re seeing, it could just be that your line between homage and rip-off is drawn more restrictively than most. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/29 "2011-09-25T19:38:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Compared to C&H, Frazz isn’t great, but then, what is? Compared to almost any other comic strip, though, Frazz is one of the best. I don’t think there are any currently-running strips that are better. Zits, Baby Blues, Barney & Clyde, and Pearls Before Swine are better, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/30 "2011-09-25T19:43:18Z")
Hmm. You may be right about that, Bosstone. Growing up in the hip hop community, “biting” was a big deal. You could pay homage to another artist, and you could record a tribute (giving full credit by ‘shouting out’ the rapper you wished to pay homage to) but one thing you couldn’t do was take someone’s _style._ I look at those two linked comics in the OP and I see Watterson’s style being ‘bit’. I’m hearing that some others don’t even see a resemblance. So, my perception is starting to feel just like a childish holdover from my days as a chubby free-styling 10 year old standing in a circle with my friends, trying my hardest to come up with the most original rhyme style I could muster. Sigh. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/31 "2011-09-25T19:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Zits, Baby Blues, Barney & Clyde, and Pearls Before Swine are better, IMHO. Zits I’ll agree is a strong contender. Baby Blues and Pearls Before Swine both have their great moments, but I wouldn’t say they’re _consistently_ as great (I’d also put Non Sequitur in this category). Barney and Clyde I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/32 "2011-09-25T20:11:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Barney and Clyde I don’t know. Enjoy > **[Barney & Clyde by Gene Weingarten; Dan Weingarten & David Clark for...](https://www.gocomics.com/barneyandclyde/2010/06/07)** > > Read Barney & Clyde—a comic strip by creator Gene Weingarten; Dan Weingarten & David Clark—for today, June 7, 2010, and check out other great comics, too! ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/33 "2011-09-25T20:24:08Z")
FWIW, **Nzinga** , I would agree with you — or rather, I’ve always seen _Frazz_ as a failed attempt to rip of _Calvin and Hobbes_. Then again, maybe it’s improved in the last couple years —since that’s how I feel about it, I don’t read it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/34 "2011-09-26T02:27:51Z")
I’m another one who doesn’t see Frazz as a grown Calvin. Not sure why so many do. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Zits, Baby Blues, Barney & Clyde, and Pearls Before Swine are better, IMHO. Zits & Baby Blues? Very mediocre. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/35 "2011-09-26T03:42:09Z")
[quote=“straight\_man, post:33, topic:597504”] FWIW, **Nzinga** , I would agree with you ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/36 "2011-09-26T03:49:10Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/37 "2011-09-26T03:55:03Z")
WTF?! I was trying to quote **straight man** and my post got fucked up both times. I’m posting using Tapatalk for iPhone, if that means anything. I’ve never had any problems before. I was trying to say that the author of Frazz was obviously going for a grown up Calvin, but came up short. By the drawing style, he was going for an homage, at the very least. I don’t think Frazz is bad, but it ain’t no Calvin and Hobbes. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/38 "2011-09-26T11:23:24Z")
They just started running Frazz in our local paper, The GR PRess. I don’t know what took them so long to run this comic. For Og’s sake they are still carry on w/that p.o.s. beetle bailey. Anyway I love the Michigan references - Ms Plainwell, There really is a Plainwell Mi (My first Michigan home, small town, historic neighborhoods, with a great place to eat, The London Grille) Frazz is cool, very funny imo. But now that it is mentioned, it does remind just a bit of C&H. But no, not a rip off. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/39 "2011-09-26T23:47:29Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I don’t know the background of the characters in Frazz (paper just started carrying it) but I would have hoped Calvin had grown up to get a more creative job - engineer? artist? inventor? than school janitor, having been a clever kid with a great imagination. Frazz is a professional songwriter who makes good money writing hits (country music, I think). He donates the money to the school and works as a janitor because it is so fulfilling. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/40 "2011-09-26T23:48:26Z")
I’d never heard of Frazz but this thread prompted me to read all of the ones that are on gocomics, and really liked them. Is there anywhere with an archive longer than June? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504.md?page=3)