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'Calvin and Hobbes' at 40
- WillAdams 1y agoI can still remember choosing between the morning or evening paper based on which included _Calvin and Hobbes_, so it certainly worked to sell papers. The boxed collection is wonderful, and one of my favourites. For folks who want a bit more, there have been a couple of homages: "Hobbes and Bacon": https://imgur.com/gallery/all-hobbes-bacon-by-pants-are-overrated-tUzAL https://imgur.com/gallery/all-hobbes-bacon-by-pants-are-over... --- a bit too on-the-nose for my taste, which doesn't really add anything "Calvin and Company" by DomNX, wherein Calvin and Susie have twins named after Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir --- art not fully realized/up to the task, and again, all a bit too obvious There was also one simply heart-breaking one, where Calvin has cancer, gets a decrepit Hobbes out of storage, and gifts him to a troubled grandchild, but not finding it on searching.... The thing is, laughing at problems, while cathartic, isn't actually inspiring folks to actually understand/solve problems/make the world a better place.... I'm reminded of a comic from childhood where a child sees duck hunters as part of the reason why a forest is clearcut for a development, instead of the reason why such land is preserved (the Pa. State Game Commission manages over 1.5 million acres) or, maybe I'm just overly pessimistic this morning because of intractable problems where people choose wrongly, mostly through not understanding the problem/ignorance/lack of sympathy for others --- classic example, drivers in cars who get upset because following a cyclist causes them slow down on their way to a red light --- rather a shame that the strips featuring Calvin's father as a cyclist weren't didactic so as to show/discuss that sort of thing, rather than going for the laugh.
- SanjayMehta 1y ago> There was also one simply heart-breaking one, where Calvin has cancer, gets a decrepit Hobbes out of storage, and gifts him to a troubled grandchild, but not finding it on searching.... Are you sure this was a comic? It's a story someone wrote, available on Scribd.
- WillAdams 1y agoMaybe that's what I'm recalling. This one? https://www.scribd.com/document/848787362/Calvin https://www.scribd.com/document/848787362/Calvin
- SanjayMehta 1y agoProbably. Can't see the full thing without jumping through hoops but it looks like it.
- WillAdams 1y agoThe weird thing is, I distinctly remember art to go with it.... maybe I was conflating the other homages which I found. Drat that uncertain organic memory.
- SanjayMehta 1y agoWhen I used to read fiction, I would visualise the story as a movie. I don't know if there's a name for this effect. Sometimes I can rewind the story in my head as a movie. Maybe that's whats going on? I don't know. Found a non-scribd link: https://www.coachmyrna.org/blog/in-the-final-moments-of-his-life-calvin-has-one-last-talk-with-hobbes https://www.coachmyrna.org/blog/in-the-final-moments-of-his-...
- adolph 1y ago> The boxed collection is wonderful, and one of my favourites. And it still holds up for kids of today. My son is a second gen Calvin and Hobbes kid.
- minihat 1y agoI think the comic achieves something deeper than a lecture. The humor might reconnect us with a sense of awe we often lose as adults.
- shagie 1y ago> For folks who want a bit more, there have been a couple of homages: I believe the Zen Pencils one is one of the better ones... it's not Calvin and Hobbes, but rather about Watterson himself. http://www.zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists-advice/ http://www.zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoon...
- RhysU 1y agoMuch, but not all, of 'Phoebe and Her Unicorn' has just-enough echoes of C&H while doing its own thing. https://www.gocomics.com/phoebe-and-her-unicorn https://www.gocomics.com/phoebe-and-her-unicorn
- TACD 1y agoA couple of other comics with their own distinct personalities but an unmistakable C&H vibe: Cul de Sac (https://www.gocomics.com/culdesac https://www.gocomics.com/culdesac) Wallace the Brave (https://www.gocomics.com/wallace-the-brave https://www.gocomics.com/wallace-the-brave)
- svat 1y agoThe comic "Frazz" is also often compared to Calvin and Hobbes (as if Frazz the janitor is an adult Calvin), there's a long section on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazz
- RunSet 1y agoGene Wolfe wrote a story titled Petting Zoo, and here is the introduction he wrote for it: > Petting Zoo is a favorite story of David Hartwell's, the master editor who edited this book and most of my others. Do you like dinosaurs? I loved them when I was a kid, and I've noticed that Hobbes' buddy Calvin loves them at least as much. Perhaps David feels the same way. Petting Zoo can be read here: https://archive.org/details/yearsbestsf30000unse/page/n9/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/yearsbestsf30000unse/page/n9/mod... Bill Watterson also guest-drew a few precious strips for Pearls Before Swine. https://slate.com/culture/2014/06/bill-watterson-does-pearls-before-swine-the-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-emerged-from-retirement-to-work-with-stephan-pastis.html https://slate.com/culture/2014/06/bill-watterson-does-pearls...
- WillAdams 1y agoIt wounds me that I missed that latter, and that the commentary on it at: https://toostupidtotravel.org/2014/06/07/ever-wished-that-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-would-return-to-the-comics-page-well-he-just-did/ https://toostupidtotravel.org/2014/06/07/ever-wished-that-ca... is 404.
- elicash 1y agoMy own personal favorites: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XryL7duzj_WZEy0dtdDO48_sUP6ZsRA3GZaGWuHwATo/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XryL7duzj_WZEy0dtdDO48_s...
- olau 1y agoThe ones about Calvin having an awful day due to what's demanded of him are honestly heartbreaking.
- losvedir 1y agoI was actually just thinking of that "cow milk" one the other day. I remember when I read C&H as a kid thinking that one was absolutely hilarious and oh so true. Then I realized, now that I'm older and more experienced in the world, and have had kids, that the idea of drinking cow milk is not actually that far-fetched. Udders look weird, sure, but you know what they are. In other words, it's kind of amazing that Watterson was able to put himself in the mind of a child so well for that strip.
- andix 1y agoMy favorite Calvin and Hobbes reference: https://xkcd.com/409/ https://xkcd.com/409/ There are even more on xkcd: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Calvin_and_Hobbes https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Calvin_a...
- conartist6 1y agosmbc-comics has done a whole slew of C+H inspired strips with two kids out having a deep but strage philosophical conversation. It's very difficult to actually find anything you're looking for in the SMBC archives though... E.g. https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/qualia https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/qualia
- thunderbong 1y agoMobile view - https://m.xkcd.com/409/ https://m.xkcd.com/409/
- HeinzStuckeIt 1y agoIMO, Watterson stopped at just the right time to preserve his legacy and keep the strip associated with childlike wonder and innocence. In the last years of C&H there was a certain curmudgeonliness creeping in, as Waterson started to mock modern commerce and art. I think the cartoonist was naturally growing older and more disillusioned, and his strip faintly started to sound like Calvin’s dad instead of Calvin.
- dbatten 1y agoAt least based on some of the things he's written in some of the anthologies, it seems like a lot of that disillusionment was not just because of age, but rather because of his battles with the publishers and what not that were pushing him to make changes that he felt would compromise the integrity of the strip. A lot of the comics include subtle jabs about corporate greed, artistic integrity, etc. because he was actively fighting with the corporations that distributed his strip over such matters... Still, 100% agreed that he stopped at the right time, both because of the creeping cynicism, but also simply because he was running out of fresh ideas...
- andix 1y agoI had to look up what curmudgeonliness means, Wiktionary was extremely helpful: curmudgeonliness: The state or condition of being curmudgeonly. okay, let's look up curmudgeonly: curmudgeonly: Characteristic of a curmudgeon; churlish nearly there: curmudgeon: An ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.
- dmoy 1y agoYea English be like that sometimes Look up some crazy sounding 20+ character word, takes three steps, and then you get a definition of the sub-sub-sub word and it says ".... blah blah, derived from the Greek base <abc>- and then also the Latin base -<xyz>", and you realize you had no chance at getting it from any kind of first principles or anything.
- andix 1y ago
- avalys 1y ago[flagged]
- h2zizzle 1y agoGrowing up, we had collected volumes of Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and The Boondocks. Surprisingly good bedfellows. Covered the bases, so to speak.
- cons0le 1y agoThe Boondocks is probably the most witty cartoon ever made. It still holds up because we've largely not advanced as a society
- h2zizzle 1y agoI break out Black Power Revolutionary Jar Jar Binks whenever possible. I'm sad that whatever went on with McGruder and the media gatekeepers prevented him from Schultzing it up through to the present day. We need him.
- lylejohnson 1y agoI also tend to associate "Bloom County" with "Calvin and Hobbes". I think I was reading both of them around the same time.
- buildbot 1y agoSame here, though I started bloom county a lot later. Almost all of my 80s cultural knowledge stems from that comic haha…
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- jmclnx 1y ago1985, I thought they were around a lot longer. I remember people at work talking about that comic and loving it. But the my City Newspaper did not carry it :( I can see it now in gocomics and it is great.
- JKCalhoun 1y agoMandela.
- fruitplants 1y agoCalvin's dad was quite a character, wasn't he?
- dhosek 1y agoMy role model as a parent. I had the why are old pictures in black and white conversation with my kids almost word for word. It wasn’t until they were in fourth grade that they learned that the world didn’t used to be black and white. I think they still believe what I told them about how they determine weight limits for bridges though.
- andrepd 1y agoYou should show then the linear velocity vs angular velocity thing, to keep them awake until 3am
- megaloblasto 1y agoI hope this is a joke. Calvin's dad lying to him wasn't supposed to be idealized.
- dheerajvs 1y ago"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
- briandrum 1y agoWe just finished rebuilding the bridge in the center of Mr. Watterson’s hometown, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to reference that one! https://councilmandrum.net/notes/bridge-closure/ https://councilmandrum.net/notes/bridge-closure/
- irrational 1y agoAs a child I identified with Calvin. Now as a 50+ year old I find I identify much more with the dad.
- Pinus 1y agoIf you want something to hang on your wall, an original strip is coming up for auction in Stockholm more or less as I write. The bid is currently at over 1 MSEK (100kUSD)... https://auctionet.com/sv/events/891-the-modern-art-design-sale/1205-bill-watterson-kalle-och-hobbe-seriestripp-original https://auctionet.com/sv/events/891-the-modern-art-design-sa...
- danishSuri1994 1y agoOne thing that always struck me about Calvin & Hobbes is how well it ages. The humor lands when you’re a kid, but the subtext only becomes clear as an adult. Watterson managed to keep that dual perspective without letting the strip drift into cynicism, which is rare for long-running comics.
- NiloCK 1y agoThat is just two years after I burst onto the page. Calvin and Hobbes was a major part of my childhood - I loved it. For something casually consumed on the daily at the breakfast table, it was so earnestly, so obviously, smarter than the median cultural offering. Smarter also then the local nightly news broadcasts. Smarter also than the median educational intervention I experienced through elementary and middle school. It had finished by the time I was in high school. I still love it, but my feelings now are mixed as well. Calvin wasn't exactly a pro-social role model for me. He was the hero of the smartest media I was acquainted with - the sharpest mouthpiece for what was going on around me and how to be alive. It was vitally important for me to live up to his disdain for schooling, his aloofness, his contrarianism. Nothing horrified eight or ten or fifteen or twenty-two year old me so much as conforming (gross) to a Susie Perkins mode of existence - smart, but seemingly oblivious or indifferent to life's contradictions and hypocrisies. Some thirty years later I understand that a person can move pragmatically, without self-harm or self-righteousness, through life's contradictions and hypocrisies without being oblivious or indifferent. Who knew?
- complianceowl 1y agoYou know, your comment reminds me of something my wife and I were talking about. We have been starting to let our child have a little more screen time and choose what he wants to watch (within the parameters we set). Some shows and movies seem harmless, initially, but then we noticed in so many kids movies (e.g., Zootopia, Sing), they're always yelling at each other, expressing anger, frustration, and hostility towards one another. Then we wonder why kids adopt those attitudes. It's simply because mimic what they see. And worse yet, when they see it in movie/show form, they think those attitudes are cool and relatable.
- robertlagrant 1y ago> Some shows and movies seem harmless, initially, but then we noticed in so many kids movies (e.g., Zootopia, Sing), they're always yelling at each other, expressing anger, frustration, and hostility towards one another. My kids are similar. Years ago I actually just unplugged the TV and put it behind some furniture for 3 months because I was so fed up. It calmed them down a lot (this was after Covid lockdowns, when we'd just given them too much TV) but still - it flares up. I do think a lot of kids tv is either straight addictive (e.g. Cocomelon) or depicts how kids would like to behave, e.g. in how they talk to adults rudely (e.g. how they talk to the dad in Peppa Pig), or they're always right and the adults are wrong (too may examples to name). Bluey is the saving grace there, as it depicts healthy and respectful relationships, but it's very unusual.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoI love that comic. Watterson, famously, never sold out. He is sort of an idealized, godlike figure, to many cartoonists. Reminds me of this Onion story: https://theonion.com/peeing-calvin-decals-now-recognized-as-vital-channel-of-1819565534/ https://theonion.com/peeing-calvin-decals-now-recognized-as-...
- danaris 1y agoMy wife and I will actually be going to an exhibition of Watterson's work this weekend—we're lucky enough to live not too far from Cooperstown, NY, where the Fenimore House Art Museum has the exhibition running all this fall. As an '80s kid, Calvin and Hobbes ran for almost my entire childhood, and we have a number of the collections. I never fail to be impressed either by Watterson's talent, both in the art and in choosing the right words to say, nor by his integrity and restraint, both in refusing to allow his work to be merchandised and in choosing to stop when he did—when he felt he had said all he came to say. Many more artists of all types could take so many lessons from him. Even some that are already great. He is a very humble man, but he stands among the legends of our time. Edit: realized it would be good to add a link to the exhibition: https://fenimoreartmuseum.org/future-exhibitions/calvin-and-hobbes https://fenimoreartmuseum.org/future-exhibitions/calvin-and-...
- elicash 1y agoA painting of a comic strip panel. Sophisticated irony. Philosophically challenging... "high" art. https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/318702d0df960131725e005056a9545d?optimizer=image&width=2400&quality=85 https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/318702d0df96013172... (I am genuinely considering a trip to Cooperstown now.)
- matthiaswh 1y agoWe were there a few weekends ago. The C&H exhibit had quite the crowd! It is largely a collection of original strips. You won't see anything new or original, that is not in one or more of the books. But it is interesting to see his process, to note where he made mistakes, to listen to everyone chuckle at one strip or another, and to see the progression of the characters and artist as you walk through the lifetime of the comic. Well worth the trip!
- alsetmusic 1y agoWhat a profound and beautiful comic. The art. The storytelling. The expanse of Calvin's vivid imagination. Every day, I have a reminder to think of three things for which I'm grateful. I was just trying to find the third for today when I saw this headline. I am grateful that I love my tattoos (and have no regret, which is the risk of tattoos), one of which is Stupendous Man. He was the first and it's because CnH holds such a special place in my heart. The comic largely shaped my childhood. Bill Waterson had the integrity not to license his work, preferring that the reader not have the characters spoiled. He opted not to make boatloads of money in making this decision (cough, garfield, snoopy). He also declared that Sunday papers could print his comic unbroken or they could drop him and this allowed for truly magnificent art pieces where stories could be told in new ways. His integrity is legendary in the field. Check out his recent work, The Mysteries. https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-bill-watterson-returns-with-the-mysteries/ https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-bill-watters...
- TheAmazingRace 1y agoBill also ended the strip exactly ten years after he started. Frankly, I appreciated his honesty and integrity around the strip. The comic stuck around just long enough to leave a lasting impression but never too long to overstay its welcome.
- irrational 1y agoAs a kid, I had no idea they would someday print books, so each day I cut out the strip from the newspaper and paste it into a book. I’m sure my mom threw it away decades ago, but I wish I still had it.
- khy 1y agoWatterson serves as one of the symbols of an era when selling out was considered a great sin. It makes me laugh how thoroughly that idea - that selling out is bad - has been defeated. That being said, I'm sure he would've done it the same way today.
- jwineinger 1y agoCalvin and Hobbes was the only comic I ever truly loved and collected. All of the books are well-worn from my childhood. They sat on a shelf for a couple of decades, and now I get to enjoy watching my kids fall in love with them too. I don’t think I fully appreciated the range of humor and topics Bill Watterson explored when I was young. Plenty of strips are perfect for my 9 year old; she was in fits of laughter just yesterday at Hobbes’s physical comedy and the elementary school drama with Susie and Mrs Wormwood. But other strips are much more intellectual, touching on politics, life, and morality. I appreciate these more now as well, because they often spark deeper conversations with my kids when they ask me to explain them. I doubt he’ll ever see it, but thank you, Bill, for giving multiple generations so much laughter.
- dcchambers 1y agoI was born in 92 and thus didn't start reading them until after the original run of Calvin and Hobbes, but I discovered these comics via book collections at the library and became OBSESSED. I am so incredibly happy that Watterson never "sold out" and gave away film/animation rights to his characters. They are perfect the way they are.
- takinola 1y agoC&H was the first time that I realized how authenticity resonates with people. I think people love C&H because they recognize Calvin, Hobbes, Suzie, Biff, the parents (or even Rosalyn) in themselves. Calvin often said the things that we thought only ourselves were thinking (remember the strip where Calvin is selling swift kicks in the pants for 10c because the world clearly needs it?). Now, I see this technique work so well for business and political leaders, comics, social commentators, etc. It is a very effective technique to capture the hearts of your audience.
- JadeNB 1y agoThe title got mangled from the grammatically correct "40 years ago, Calvin and Hobbes' raucous adventures burst onto the comics page" (though some of us learned "Hobbes's" in elementary school) to "40 years ago, Calvin and Hobbes' burst onto the page" (the ' definitely doesn't belong).
- dingaling 1y agoIt's curious that of all the famous American syndicated strips, only The Far Side, and maybe Garfield, seem to have bridged the Atlantic divide to the UK. Maybe C&H and Peanuts were just too rooted in US suburban family culture. Dilbert had a niche following here and beyond that I struggle to even name another strip.
- rullelito 1y agoI think it was quite big in Sweden.
- hocuspocus 1y agoWhen I was a kid, C&H strips were translated and published by the main newspaper in Geneva. The "complete" box set is the first thing I ordered from Amazon US as a teenager, in 2000 or 2001 iirc.
- HeinzStuckeIt 1y agoStrangely, The Far Side is even known here and there on the European continent in translation, even though so many of the jokes depend on English puns that the translators don’t even attempt to work with. The result is weird and inexplicable, but that creates a humor of its own, even if it is different from what Gary Larson intended.
- detritus 1y agoNot my experience - my father had questionable taste in newspapers, but the daily express ran C&H and we had all of the compendia.
- thunderbong 1y agoA bit off-topic, but it's been increasingly tough to view Calvin and Hobbes on the internet. Gocomics seems to go after everyone who posts these comic strips on a regular basis. The C&H sub-reddit stopped posting some time ago. [0] The only C&H Search out there is not allowed to show the strips and instead redirects to Gocomics. [1] Here's a blog post by S. Anand detailing some background on the takedown notice he received, although he doesn't mention who sent it. [2] I feel saddened that the one comic strip that resisted commercialization has to have its fans face this. But I suppose that's the nature of the web now. [0]: https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/1m8j09a/the_post_i_hoped_to_avoid_the_end_of_ch_subreddit/ https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/1m8j09a/th... [1]: https://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/ https://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/ [2]: https://www.s-anand.net/blog/the-calvin-and-hobbes-search-takedown/ https://www.s-anand.net/blog/the-calvin-and-hobbes-search-ta...
- mikkupikku 1y agoYou might as well torrent/etc the books, no sense with using web middlemen who get takedowns because they don't have the rights either. Direct piracy gives you a better experience than indirect piracy. (You should also buy real copies if you still can, because they're great.)
- Sohcahtoa82 1y ago> (You should also buy real copies if you still can, because they're great.) https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Calvin-Hobbes-Box-Set/dp/0740748475 https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Calvin-Hobbes-Box-Set/dp/074... I got this when it came out. It's absolutely amazing, filled with commentary from Bill Watterson. I've read the whole set twice, but it's been at least 15 years. I should read it again.
- thunderbong 1y agoYes, I have this too, but like I said, seeing C&H suddenly always brightens up my day.
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- dan-bailey 1y agoThirty-two years ago, I got them tattooed onto my leg, the day after I arrived at Ft. Bragg, NC. It's faded and blurred out from the waxing and waning of muscle tone in my calf, and sunlight, and the occasional scrape from crashing the bike. But it's been part of me for so long, the only real option left is to get it lasered-down and redone.
- kstrauser 1y agoSomeone wrote drew a one-off followup cartoon that nearly broke me: https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/6vwll2/is_this_a_real_calvin_and_hobbes_comic_strip_i/ https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/6vwll2/is_...
- lghh 1y agoIt nearly breaks me, too. It breaks me because it stigmatizes medication that has helped make me function in a world not designed for me. It breaks me because it stigmatizes medication that on average is going to let me enjoy being on this earth ~7 more years than I otherwise would be.
- kstrauser 1y agoI'm there with you on that, but... there's a time and place for it. I hate that our schools are designed around "sit down, shut up, and toil in silence for a few hours straight", and treat those of us with ADHD as mutants which have to be medicated to fit in.
- Balgair 1y agoMontessori Method schools, my friend. Or Waldorf. There's likely a school near you that is public and uses these methods. If not, there are scholarships too. It's not for everyone, but for all the Calvins it's a godsend.
- kstrauser 1y agoWe sent our kids through Montessori. Unfortunately, in the city where we lived when they were elementary school age, Montessori went through 4th grade before the kids had to go back to regular or religious schools. That was a rough transition. But I still think that's a sucky situation for the 95% of kids who go to the nearest public school. Their days shouldn't be awful just because their parents didn't have the time, money, or awareness to consider non-default options.
- stack_framer 1y agoI always loved that Bill Watterson gave Calvin an extensive vocabulary. He didn't dumb it down. Instead, he allowed young readers like me to learn new words as I read along.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoWe didn't have C&H in France when I was a kid in the 80s. I discovered it at the university through a German girlfriend who said that she's kniwn it for some time already. It is interesting how some random things from far away just used to catch in a country, but not in the neighbour one. Our nr 1 hero at that time was Goldorak - everyone who is in their 50s today can sing the intro song (at least the first line) and knows a few of the attacks. Girls had Candy but we were absolutely watching it as well (I actually don't know if girls were watching Goldorak, I need to ask)
- drob518 1y agoMy personal favorite and my grandfather’s personal favorite (“What’s that boy and his tiger going to do next?”). My son learned to read at age 5 using Calvin and Hobbes books (lots of funny conversations of the form, “Dad, what does X mean?” where X was a rather grown-up concept of some sort because Watterson had a great vocabulary and wasn’t afraid to use it). Good times. I wish it still ran.
- adidoit 1y agoThe older i get the more I see watterson's comics as a form of philsophical commentary on the state and evolution of the world it's art and meaning and entertainment all in one if it's been a while you should read them again with fresh eyes.