# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/61 "2020-10-15T23:29:46Z")
Think about it as Frazz being Hobbes not Calvin. He is in the background of the story guiding invention but within boundaries for the kids and grown ups. He even has the same lanky curved body as the tiger. And like the tiger he doesn’t really appear to the adults. I like the strip but IRL janitors like him would be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/62 "2020-10-15T23:39:30Z")
> [@Beesnest](#): > > And like the tiger he doesn’t really appear to the adults. Say what??? When has that _ever_ happened? He was their former student. He is summoned, by name, by adults when there is a spill or other disaster. He plays basketball with one teacher, harasses another, dates a third and how he and the others relate is shown any time necessary. Frazz is very real to everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/63 "2020-10-16T02:11:31Z")
First time I saw Frazz I thought Watterson had come out of retirement. Don’t think I’d call it a rip-off tho. An homage? ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/64 "2020-10-16T03:43:07Z")
good slapdown. I am humbled. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/65 "2020-10-16T10:34:29Z")
I’m glad this was revivified, as it’s introduced me to a nice new comic strip. Oh, and count me in the “not a rip-off” camp. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/66 "2020-10-16T11:03:14Z")
These kind of discussions are always weird to me, because if I like an artist, I’m generally going to like people who make art in a similar style. It’s weird to say that someone is ‘ripping off’ a comic strip that stopped being made a quarter century ago because they use some similar techniques that aren’t even unique to the strip (eyes that are sometimes oval dots and other times have whites, spiky hair) but not a lot of other techniques used in the strip (more realistic proportions vs Calvin’s caricature shape), and that some minor elements are similar (main character has light hair) but not the major elements (one strip primarily focuses on adults and has a focus kid who often says adult things, other strip is focused on a child who acts childlike and mostly shows adults as foils). Generally if I like an artist, I enjoy seeing people inspired by them. A strip with good writing and high quality art that borrows some basic elements from another one that I like is great, as is a band that plays music similar to another band that I like. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/67 "2021-02-28T20:20:43Z")
Calvin and Hobbes is my all-time favorite. I hope Watterson doesn’t mind me posting this link: > **[Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 09, 1986 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/02/09)** > > Calvin: Man the harpoons! Thar she blows!! Can Hobbes take a both too? Mom: No, Hobbes doesn't need one. Hold still. Calvin: By golly, what if I drown because nobody was here to rescue me?? Hobbes! C'mere! Mom can't kknow you're in here, okay? ... ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/68 "2021-02-28T20:31:00Z")
The first time I saw Frazz I wondered if the artist for Calvin and Hobbes was resurrecting Calvin under pseudonym. The character’s face is absolutely Calvin, with the forehead stretched out a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/69 "2021-02-28T21:17:58Z")
> [@sploosher](#): > > I guess there’s no way for me to convince your eyes that frazz looks exactly like watterson’s style. I’m convinced. I clicked on the link in the (very old) OP, and before I leaned closed enough to the monitor to really focus on detail, and read the bubbles, I thought it _was_ Calvin & Hobbes. There’s far too much of a similarity in visual style for it to be coincidence. It’s not just the frizzy hair, as one poster said above, it’s the faces and the bodies and the way moving characters are drawn. I cannot believe the Frazz artist is not consciously drawing in Watterson’s style. I just don’t believe it. Whether that’s homage, or a rip-off, I can’t say. And I can’t say whether the writing is similar or not, since I never heard of the Frazz strip before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/70 "2021-02-28T21:26:48Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Whether that’s homage, or a rip-off, I can’t say. And I can’t say whether the writing is similar or not, since I never heard of the Frazz strip before this thread. - Homage, it’s _way_ too obvious to be a rip-off. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/71 "2021-03-01T14:40:16Z")
I’d go with homage, the same as Jeff Smith’s _Bone_ being an homage to Walt Kelly’s _Pogo_. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/72 "2021-03-01T16:52:15Z")
Frazz isn’t a bad strip but the obvious similarities in the main character design are enough to make me say: this is riding on Calvin’s coattails. And that puts me off. There was no reason to make Frazz look like a grown-up Calvin. Design your own characters. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504/73 "2021-03-01T19:10:12Z")
I stand by my position from 7 years ago. No resemblance whatsoever other than in the fevered imaginations of people who don’t have enough fiber in their diet. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-frazz-a-rip-off-of-calvin-and-hobbes/597504.md?page=3)