Anyone who can tell me the date of the C+H strip where they comment on how comics nowadays consist of two unmoving characters with speech bubbles? If I have the date I can look it up on the net. Of course anyone geeky enough to know the date of it probably has a link for me too bats eyelids
I dont know the exact date… but I can tell you that in the book Watterson released for the 10th year anniversary of C&H, that strip is in the introduction section. I guess Watterson was trying to point out that most strips are exactly that, talking heads, and he tried to do something more, and turned cartooning into an art.
I’m not sure when they published it, but, contentually, I’d suspect that this comes from the late 1980’s, when Waterson was in a major fight with his syndicate.
Well, all I can say is that it’s from “Yukon Ho!” page 79. Unfortunately Watterson removed the dates
Well, my copy of the 10th Anniversery Book doesn’t give a date for that strip, but judging by the art style, I’d say it’s one of Watterson’s early works…you’d probably find it in either The Essential Calvin and Hobbes or perhaps The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes collection.
…Unless it’s one of the strips “cut out” from the larger collections, in which case it’d be in one of the small books—probably somewhere between Calvin and Hobbes and Yukon ho!
If you have Yukon Ho! you can go to page 60. That sunday appeared Sept 27, 1987. The strip appears 37 strips after that. So go to Nov 10, 1987 and work backwards and you should find it. Of course realize that the books are printed slightly out of order.
I have the 10th anniversery boook myself, that’s where I know it from 
late '80s narrows it town, I will start looking there, but this being SDMB I imagine somone will be along shortly with a date!
Well, I’ve got an illegal link here so I wont link to it. Plus it’s in Portugese but it has the strip dated Dec 3. It was apparantly published there Dec 5, 1997.
Anyway that’s the best I can do. Try 1987 first.
I don’t know dates but if you mention a strip I can guess it within 2 books and know in which position it appears in the book. In this case lower right in “Yukon Ho!”
God, I hate strips that are “cut and paste” same image every frame. Why even bother? Why not just print the “joke” (and they are rarely funny) on a gum wrapper?
Don’t know the date, by the way, but then you knew that.
A Gay Bishop? Can’t beat that!
Lazy or spent cartoonists who are obligated to fill space are the reason, I guess.
Sounds like gatopescado would despise Red Meat.
Very close. It’s November 11, 1987.
Wow, that’s rather impressive. You were able to find this comic with nothing more then a general description from the OP. It’s nice to know there are some hardcore C&H fans here. 
Not just jmizzou either. Many other people were at least able to pinpoint the correct year and book. I love this forum!
So that is what a god in human form looks like!
Fantastic, thank you all, especially Fern Forest and jmizzou, the SDMB strikes again!
You know, I remember that strip (well, I remember knowing it, as I reread it now), but I don’t remember it being four duplicated panels. I could have sworn the strip I saw with that dialog was of C+H running/playing in the woods.
Am I imagining things, or was there a Peanuts strip that made essentially the same joke?
No, I think that those Peanut’s strips were part of the normal run. I would imagine that there were many many many Peanuts strips that followed that formula. And Garfield as well.
It’s the 4 duplicated panels that make the joke!