# Today is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Calvin and Hobbes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [November 18, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955 "2025-11-18T15:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/41 "2025-11-19T14:48:30Z")
The one I think of all the time and still laugh about is the one where he’s getting his school pictures taken. He put Crisco in his hair and told Susie, “Hobbes fixed me up a little at the bus stop”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/42 "2025-11-19T16:15:46Z")
My fave arc is the good duplicate one (Watterson would never admit it but certainly the Trek ep. “Enemy Within” must have been an influence). Here “Calvin” is suddenly acting super-nice to everyone (Gallant to normal Calvin’s Goofus)–and everybody in his life simply cannot handle it, refuse to believe he’s actually being sincere. [OK Ms. Wormwood took it in stride] When he finally evaporates due to an “evil thought”, the best line in the entire history of the strip is uttered by Hobbes: “Another casualty of applied metaphysics.” Heck, if you are looking for academic cred, you could probably pen an entire dissertation on that one arc and what it says about the persistence and stability of personal identity and the Jungian shadow and such and so forth. 2nd place just for the yuk factor would be the “Snow Goons” arc: **Suzie** : Oh, is THAT what all those ugly things you made in the front yard are? **Calvin** : What do you mean, _“all those”_? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/43 "2025-11-19T16:24:00Z")
Oh, no. The best line in the history of the strip was, “How existential can you get?” It was also uttered by Hobbes. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/44 "2025-11-19T16:26:35Z")
How about towards the end of the strip when he finally had peace with Rosalyn when she agreed to play Calvinball with him? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/45 "2025-11-19T16:35:49Z")
It is a brilliant comic, and I have all the books somewhere though have not read them recently. The other comics mentioned are also very good, not as favourite, but no reason to slag the artists. Watterson also refused to merchandise his creations, a high minded gesture that seems unlikely today (see Osnos on “Selling Out” in his book “The Haves and Have Yachts”.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/46 "2025-11-19T17:03:08Z")
My favorite was _Mom once said she loved me_ _Just the way I am_ _But I wonder what would happen_ _If I became a clam?_ I used to adapt that poem to ask my husband. He referenced it in a college love letter to me. “I would love you if you became a clam, an amoeba, a sea slug, or anything else.” He has since amended: “_platonically_” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/47 "2025-11-19T17:13:13Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > He has since amended: “_platonically_” Ha!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/48 "2025-11-19T17:25:35Z")
That’s still better than saying his love would be gastronomical. Even if he had stars in his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/49 "2025-11-19T20:18:57Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Oh, no. The best line in the history of the strip was, “How existential can you get?” > > It was also uttered by Hobbes. In the very previous strip as the 2 Calvins wrestled, almost mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/50 "2025-11-19T20:24:14Z")
He is _not_ allowed to go to the beach by himself, got it? ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/51 "2025-11-19T21:17:55Z")
nyahh…I have the babysitter flag…or words to that effect 8] `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![FMera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fmera/32/9857_2.png) [@FMera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FMera)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/52 "2025-11-19T22:15:12Z")
Thank you for this thread, i got to go back and read some favourites from long ago. If y’all will indulge me: [this is framed and hanging in my bathroom](https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/f4710a90784d01302116001dd8b71c47?optimizer=image&width=2400&quality=85) (from 30 July 1995 Sunday). Not sure whether it makes me feel better or worse, but here you go. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/53 "2025-11-20T00:41:20Z")
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/54 "2025-11-20T00:47:48Z")
He was a cerebral kid, huh? I think that’s why I loved that strip so much. I was the questioning type, minus the mayhem. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/55 "2025-11-20T00:52:35Z")
There was a discussion on Bluesky earlier this year about how Tracer Bullet is the best noir ever written. > I keep two magnums in my desk. One’s a gun and I keep it loaded. The other is a bottle and it keeps _ **me** _ loaded. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/56 "2025-11-20T01:17:00Z")
“It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/57 "2025-11-20T01:36:38Z")
Feeling that more than ever these days. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/58 "2025-11-20T01:54:01Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > There was a discussion on Bluesky earlier this year about how Tracer Bullet is the best noir ever written. Fully agree. One of my favourites (might be paraphrased): > [@](#): > > I’ve got six slugs in me. One is lead. The rest are bourbon. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/59 "2025-11-20T12:35:50Z")
> [@icon](#): > > I also am one of those annoying people that point out to others that whatever merch they have that looks like Calvin and Hobbes is fake, but because no such items were authorized Most of them are real reprints, they just weren’t authorized, and Watterson didn’t get anything from it. It’s not that hard to copy a cartoon strip. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955/60 "2025-11-20T12:49:37Z")
Eight is enough. [![](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/4/3/863943.jpg) ](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/4/3/863943.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-launch-of-calvin-and-hobbes/1024955.md?page=4)