Calvin and Hobbes

  • 🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Wallace said:
Also, does anyone else think that Calvin's parents are kind of shit? They have next to no interactions with him except to yell at him to get up, eat dinner, do your homework, or go to bed. He's six, play with your goddamn kid! He acts out because he wants attention, and he learned that causing chaos is how to get it. I don't buy the ADHD diagnosis.
Click to expand...
I think that's really unfair. They're just portrayed realistically. They clearly love their son and try their best to deal with his outlandish behaviour.

I think it's best summed up with that comic where it's snowing outside and Calvin goes to his dad but he's working. Initially he tells him he can't play (as you would), but ultimately dad decides that playing is more important in the moment and goes to build a snowman with him, catching up on the work later. (and it's a beautifully done strip with no dialogue, all conveyed through the expressions - one of my favourite strips).

As a parent, I can tell you that's not what a "shit" parent would do. Of course Watterson could have written them to be perfect parents, but the comic is so much better because the parents are portrayed as imperfect, with flaws, but trying their best. It makes it feel a lot more real.

Eta:

Also, their grounded portrayal makes moments like that - where their love for Calvin shines through - feel more genuine and "earned". Of course a lot of the time they're annoyed by him, exasperated, irritated, or just too busy to deal with him. That's normal, that's life. But every now and them there will be a moment that makes it clear that they love the little bugger really.
 
Last edited:
Can we talk about what the hell was up with some of Miss Wormwood’s lesson and project plans for first graders? Some bits are already a bit eyebrow raising, like teaching them about the Byzantine Empire. But the collection projects are particularly bad. Collecting and labeling 50 leaves? Collecting 50 bugs and naming them all scientifically? I’ve seen people say they’ve only had projects like that in high school or college, and she’s having a bunch of six year olds do that?
 
Wallace said:
As much as I enjoyed C&H when I was younger, I soured on it the more I read about Watterson. The constant fights with the syndicates made him come off as a prima donna, and in one of the forwards to the books he compares himself to Charles Schultz, which... fuck you, Charles Schultz is God.
Click to expand...
I disagree wholeheartedly. Not only is Peanuts highly overrated, but it's not even funny.

Not to mention that over the decades, it became as commercialized as Garfield.

Turning down untold tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue is something that only a true artist would do.

Yes, it's a supremely autistic thing to do, but the result speaks for itself. Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest comic strip ever and the only one to earn the title of true art.

Everything else is glorified toilet paper and the only one who comes anywhere close is Pearls Before Swine.

Bill Watterson may be a reclusive sperg with a heavy dose of the 'tism, but he's the greatest comic strip artist ever.

Edit: I also really like Foxtrot.
 
Last edited:
ChampFantana said:
I disagree wholeheartedly. Not only is Peanuts highly overrated, but it's not even funny.

Not to mention that over the decades, it became as commercialized as Garfield.

Turning down untold tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue is something that only a true artist would do.

Yes, it's a supremely autistic thing to do, but the result speaks for itself. Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest comic strip ever and the only one to earn the title of true art.

Everything else is glorified toilet paper and the only one who comes anywhere close is Pearls Before Swine.

Bill Watterson may be a reclusive sperg with a heavy dose of the 'tism, but he's the greatest comic strip artist ever.
Click to expand...
That's a good point. You can say, with certainty, that there will never be a Calvin and Hobbes animated series. Purely because Watterson would not sign off on it, and he owns the rights. And yet if he wanted to, he could literally do that tomorrow, media companies would be lining up.

It makes him really unique. Most artists would be delighted that one of their comics became such a valuable IP. And a lot of people wouldn't even begrudge an artist needing to "cash it in" in tough financial circumstances.

But he's stuck it out for decades now. In my opinion it really does make the comic more special. You know he's pored over every single strip, and striven for a very high level of quality and cohesion.

Of course as a fan I'd like more. But I also understand why he stopped when he did, and I really respect him for it.
 
ChampFantana said:
I disagree wholeheartedly. Not only is Peanuts highly overrated, but it's not even funny.

Not to mention that over the decades, it became as commercialized as Garfield.

Turning down untold tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue is something that only a true artist would do.

Yes, it's a supremely autistic thing to do, but the result speaks for itself. Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest comic strip ever and the only one to earn the title of true art.

Everything else is glorified toilet paper and the only one who comes anywhere close is Pearls Before Swine.

Bill Watterson may be a reclusive sperg with a heavy dose of the 'tism, but he's the greatest comic strip artist ever.
Click to expand...
I wasn't going to get into this since taste is subjective but since you went for it: nah, you're crazy and wrong. Peanuts is a sophisticated and original work that came completely from the soul. It's had decades worth of essays and books published interpreting it, because it rewards engagement. Calvin and Hobbes doesn't have that. It has a bunch of Reddit upvotes, because it's basically optimised for Redditors. Every comic, the reader goes 'oh, I see what he did there! A quirky and relatable little observation, cutely expressed with a wink and hint of melancholy! Kids do say the darndest things' etc. Maybe you'll subconsciously feel clever for getting it, but it's designed so you'll always get it, immediately. To me that's admirable, but never really interesting or challenging the way Peanuts is.

Schulz never had to explain what he was doing or posture as a 'pure artist' because he didn't have to - it came completely naturally. He was just as refined as Watterson at his peak, which lasted decades. Then he couldn't stop drawing and releasing the strips even as his hands shook and the art degraded, and the stories became random streams of consciousness as his mind wound down at the end of his life, because he never stopped thinking and processing through his comic and characters. THAT'S an artist to me. Schulz created the template for Watterson's entire career just by creating his work, not caring about the reception or respect. Watterson was able to analyse and pick through elements of what worked for Schulz, build his own (worse, but admirable) creation, then act all fussy and pretentious about it to signal that he was smarter than everyone else, like some kind of comic strip nlog

Also, Peanuts is very funny, and you're wrong for saying it's not funny, because it is, and that's that, unless it's about Snoopy doing a dance
 
ChampFantana said:
I disagree wholeheartedly. Not only is Peanuts highly overrated, but it's not even funny.

Not to mention that over the decades, it became as commercialized as Garfield.

Everything else is glorified toilet paper and the only one who comes anywhere close is Pearls Before Swine.

Bill Watterson may be a reclusive sperg with a heavy dose of the 'tism, but he's the greatest comic strip artist ever.
Click to expand...

I've got a special spot in my heart for Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot and Pearls, but you're right - Watterson was in a different league.

Peanuts is complicated for me, I don't "get it", or find it entertaining, but Watterson was inspired by Schultz and said as much. I think part of its a generational thing. Imagine growing up watching Star Wars and then going back to watching the Flash Gordon serials. One inspired the other, but they're in leagues of their own and if you compare the latter to the former, I think it's reductive and diminishes the appeal of both of them.

Now if you want to talk about comic artists that crawled too far up their own ass, let's talk about Berkeley Breathed
 
Oh Darn said:
Peanuts is complicated for me, I don't "get it", or find it entertaining, but Watterson was inspired by Schultz and said as much. I think part of its a generational thing. Imagine growing up watching Star Wars and then going back to watching the Flash Gordon serials. One inspired the other, but they're in leagues of their own and if you compare the latter to the former, I think it's reductive and diminishes the appeal of both of them.
Click to expand...
I think going back and looking at the very, very early Peanuts strips (and the very early Charlie Brown TV specials), you can see those notes of brilliance that drew people in. Schulz definitely should have retired long before he did, though.

Oh Darn said:
Now if you want to talk about comic artists that crawled too far up their own ass, let's talk about Berkeley Breathed
Click to expand...
Breathed has at least acknowledged and paid tribute to Watterson's genius. Garry Trudeau, that guy has been living inside a stillsuit of his own farts for decades.
 
Grand Duke Snowfall said:
Calvin and Hobbes was before my time, but I was exposed to it after my uncle got me the Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat compilation for Christmas. Loved it ever since, got all the compilations besides the complete edition. Anyways, here’s one of my favorites.
View attachment 8191699
Click to expand...
This is my favorite one. Calvin’s mom has some great interactions with him and even entertaining his bs. His Dad bullshitting him about how everything used to be black and white is my favorite.

Wallace said:
Same here. I seem to recall Watterson saying that the Tracer Bullet strips were a lot harder to draw.

View attachment 8191825

As much as I enjoyed C&H when I was younger, I soured on it the more I read about Watterson. The constant fights with the syndicates made him come off as a prima donna, and in one of the forwards to the books he compares himself to Charles Schultz, which... fuck you, Charles Schultz is God. Schultz drew for almost 50 years every single day until his physically couldn't anymore from cancer, you quit when you couldn't do things your way. You're not worthy to hold his pencil.

Also, does anyone else think that Calvin's parents are kind of shit? They have next to no interactions with him except to yell at him to get up, eat dinner, do your homework, or go to bed. He's six, play with your goddamn kid! He acts out because he wants attention, and he learned that causing chaos is how to get it. I don't buy the ADHD diagnosis.
Click to expand...
Nah, the robbery and dead bird one cement them as good parents. They are honestly a very good portrayal of good parents. They both are their own people and it’s a genuinely loving relationship. Very Midwestern in how to the point stuff is.

Edit: corrected on the raccoon, but iirc the robbery happens after the camping trip without Hobbes.
 
Last edited:
HodgePodgeRogerDodger said:
This is my favorite one. Calvin’s mom has some great interactions with him and even entertaining his bs. His Dad bullshitting him about how everything used to be black and white is my favorite.


Nah, the robbery and dead bird one cement them as good parents. They are honestly a very good portrayal of good parents. They both are their own people and it’s a genuinely loving relationship. Very Midwestern in how to the point stuff is.
Click to expand...
Slight correction, it was a dying baby raccoon. But other than that you’re right.
 
HodgePodgeRogerDodger said:
This is my favorite one. Calvin’s mom has some great interactions with him and even entertaining his bs. His Dad bullshitting him about how everything used to be black and white is my favorite.


Nah, the robbery and dead bird one cement them as good parents. They are honestly a very good portrayal of good parents. They both are their own people and it’s a genuinely loving relationship. Very Midwestern in how to the point stuff is.
Click to expand...
You mean the little raccoon story arc? *sniffle* Yeah, Calvin had decent, loving parents. And remember, most of the strips are from his six-year-old point of view.

I will say in the last couple of years of the strip's run, Calvin did get rather darkly cynical a lot of the time, serving as an author insert for Watterson's increasing disillusionment with the way the world was heading, I suspect. All the more reason for him to have ended it while it still held its little-kid charm and innocence.
 
Grand Duke Snowfall said:
Slight correction, it was a dying baby raccoon. But other than that you’re right.
Click to expand...
obsdj said:
You mean the little raccoon story arc? *sniffle* Yeah, Calvin had decent, loving parents. And remember, most of the strips are from his six-year-old point of view.

I will say in the last couple of years of the strip's run, Calvin did get rather darkly cynical a lot of the time, serving as an author insert for Watterson's increasing disillusionment with the way the world was heading, I suspect. All the more reason for him to have ended it while it still held its little-kid charm and innocence.
Click to expand...
I mixed up the raccoon and the realistic drawing of a bird hitting the glass and Calvin commenting that he hopes he can understand why when he gets older.

To the person crashing out about how Calvin and Hobbes isn’t the Peanuts or whatever. They are both distinct and I prefer Watterson on a technical level as an artist and his humor is much more to my liking. I really don’t hate Charlie Brown.
Calvin and Hobbes can get rather long winded, but I do like when Watterson inserts as Calvin’s dad to rant and Calvin is effectively the kid reading it. Very meta in the best way.
 
C&H had dark humor, which was extreme for its time. A lot of readers were used to saccharine strips like the Family Circus, and got upset about a strip where Calvin pretends to burn his school off the map.
IMG_2605.png
 
Last edited:
I could just post this guys entire works, he's like a modern/better Gary Larson in my eyes.
1000012683.jpg 1000012684.jpg
On the topic of Calvin and Hobbes, the writer/artist worked at a book store in Alberta as I've heard. We used to have the old collections but i got rid of them (bad associations with them makes them hard to enjoy now) but i know a few people who had met him in person. Apparently he never signed things for people.
 
Oh man, this was my favorite thing ever as a kid. I pressured my parents for months and months for us to go see snow for the first time just because of the books.
 
Kari Kamiya said:
They attended a wedding out of town and Calvin legit forgot Hobbes because they had to ride his ass on getting ready for the trip.
Click to expand...
It’s been a while.

Here are some fun strips. I don’t like the 4koma/ 4 panel edits because for some it runs the flow.

IMG_2640.webp IMG_2641.webp IMG_2642.webp IMG_2643.webp IMG_2644.webp
God I love when the parents would explain some concept because Watterson is so inherently stingy/ hates consumerism. It tickles me in the right way rather than being too on the nose.
 
Speaking of the robbery story arc, this strip has aged perfectly.
1763679306340.png

And here's a cute memory someone shared:
calvin & hobbes.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom