Calvin and Hobbes

[Oscarfan]

When my mom got me a Calvin and Hobbes book several years ago (I was on a big comic strip kick), I got hooked on 'em. I have semi-fond memories of dragging out the complete collection books from my local library in large paper grocery bags.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

My dad was a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan so my mom got my dad some of the collection books (which went poof when we moved...had the anniversary book. Would love to get that one again) and I was sick one day, so my dad told me to read them, it might make me feel better. Well, it did, and I was hooked.

Right now, I have the first 4 collection books, but would love to get the complete collection at some point (probably won't, kinda expensive)

 

[charlietheowl]

Love this strip! My favorite storyline was one of the ones that MinorMuppetz mentioned, when Calvin goes into the future so he doesn't have to do his homework, and it completely backfires until all the Hobbeses get together and do his work for him. The plot where Calvin tries to make his bug diorama on the way to school the morning that it's due was classic too. "If any bugs fly into your open mouth can I have them?"

Bill Watterson did sometimes get a bit heavy-handed towards the end of the strip. There were a lot of strips that had Calvin and Hobbes discussing art or society in some dense terms. It didn't exactly ruin things, but it was a different sort of humor from the Spaceman Spiff type gags.

 

[minor muppetz]

Now see? If people are going to bump a really old thread, at least do so with the intentions of actually adding some actual input into the conversation that would make the thread worth discussion again. Thank you minor muppetz, your post in this thread was very refreshing.

With all the talk about Calvin and Hobbes in the Family Circus movie thread I thought it'd be good to see if there was an actual Calvin and Hobbes thread here (or to start one if there wasn't).

The first time I saw Calvin was on one of those unlicensed images where it appeared Calvin was peeing on a rival sports team. Didn't know he was a comic book character at the time. I started reading the comic within months before it ended. At that time I had suddenly become a bigger fan of Garfield and Peanuts than I had been previously, and started reading newspaper comics.

Does anybody know if the old Calvin and Hobbes book collections were like the various Garfield books, where all of the comics are included in order if you have all of them? I'm not talking about The Complete Calvin and Hobbes books (though I guess if somebody has all the old books and those "Complete" collections they could easily check).

I remember a long time ago I purchased a Calvin and Hobbes book showcasing sunday comics and the original pencil sketches, and I incorrectly assumed it was all of the sunday strips (I should have known better, considering how thin the book was and due to the fact that the sketches were on the opposite pages of the finished strips).

I thought it was odd that so many Calvin and Hobbes books were made considering how Bill Watterson was agaisnt licensing. I don't know if he had any controll over whether the strips could be reprinted in book collections, but it seems he supported those. He wrote liner notes to the 10th anniversary book (at one point he mentioned he was thankful for those collections because his local newspaper didn't carry the strip when it premiered) and the aforementioned sunday comics book, I assume he had something to do with the Complete collections, and he wrote special original material for some of the books.

 

[minor muppetz]

A few more of my personal favorite strips:

• Calvin smells dinner and complains about it, stating "whatever it is, I'm not gonna eat it!" But when his mom says it's monkey heads, he happily eats it... Only for the dad to complain and even quote Calvin's earlier "whatever it is I'm not gonna eat it" comment.
• Calvin has his dad read a bedtime story that Hobbes wrote, about a father (resemblign Calvin's dad) who had his son do what he didn't want to do and therefore got locked in the basement for years. The ending is funny (Calvin: "You know how a lot of stories have morals?" Dad (annoyed): "I GET IT! GET IT!")
• Calvin asks when dinner will be ready, and Dad gives a lecture on how life goes by fast and sometimes it's just as fun to anticipate. Calvin misses the point and asks if they should order out, to which dad says "I know, you think you're gonna be six-years-old forever" (being a comic strip character he was six forever).
• Calvin complains that the first time he put toast in the toaster it wasn't warm enough, and on the second try it burnt. Dad calmy says, "and somehow life goes on", to which Calvin comments that his dad doesn't want to spring for a new toaster.
• Dad: "You know when I was your age kids went outside to play on sunny days like this". Calvin: (watching TV) "Times sure have changed, huh?" (Dad throws Calvin outside) Calvin: (to Hobbes) "You ever notice how dad likes to bring up subjects he doesn't want to talk about?"
• Calvin asks his dad where he came from, dad says that most babies come from WalMart, and when Calvin reacts with horror, Dad says that he actually bought him at Kmart ("it was just as good and much cheaper").
• Calvin tells dad that the results of polls from all six-year-olds regarding dad's role as head of the household are not good, and he shows dad a picture of his prom date, asking "who's this bimbo you're with in this photo?" Dad respons, "That bimbo is your mother!", and mom asks "WHO'S a bimbo???"

Wow, didn't realise so many of my favorite one-shot strips involved Calvin's dad.