Calvin and Hobbes
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Calvin and Hobbes is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was syndicated from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At the height of its popularity, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. In 2010, reruns of the strip appeared in more than 50 countries, and nearly 45 million copies of the Calvin and Hobbes books had been sold worldwide.
Plot
The series follows a young boy named Calvin and his plush tiger Hobbes (who he sees as a physical being) playing and getting up to antics, or just living their normal lives.
Why It's Adventurous
- Lots of likable characters, such as Calvin, Hobbes, Calvin's Parents, Susie, Rosalyn, Calvin's alter-egos (Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer Bullet), etc.
- It deals with dark themes, such as death, loss, getting robbed, existentialism and deforestation well.
- It has a lot of memorable comic stories, such as the story where Calvin and Hobbes travel to Mars (in Weirdos from Another Planet!), or the story where Calvin and Hobbes run away after accidentally wrecking the car (in Revenge of the Babysat).
- Unlike most comic strip characters such as Garfield that have often one personality, Calvin and Hobbes are, to quote The Guardian, "A hyper-imaginative kid and his pet tiger who may or may not be real, depending on who's looking at him. But that's just the surface".
- Excellent artwork, especially for the Tracer Bullet strips. Most strips are surprisingly detailed, especially for such a time crunch.
- Tons of memorable or funny quotes, such as:
- "You've taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations."
- "Physical Education is what you learn from having your face in someone's armpit right before lunch."
- "If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently."
- "It's funny how day by day, nothing changes. But when you look back, everything is different."
- "Life is full of surprises, but never when you need one."
- "Verbing weird language."
- "The world isn't so bad if you can just get out in it."
- "If people could put rainbows in zoos, they'd do it."
- "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
- ”People seem to forget that others of us have to live on this planet too.”
- The final comic was a decent way to end Calvin & Hobbes, even if it didn't act like a finale.
- Since Bill Watterson never licensed his characters, it means Calvin & Hobbes will not become stale that quickly or get milked to death, unlike other comics that let themselves get milked.
- It tackles the issue of consumer identity frequently, and when it does, it deals with it pretty good.
- Relatable situations for both kids and parents.
Bad Qualities
- While Calvin is a likable character for the most part, he can get annoying sometimes.
- The same thing can be said with Hobbes and even Calvin's Parents at times, and Moe is always unlikable.
- While this is also a good quality, Calvin & Hobbes were never licensed, which means there will never be any official content for the strip, such as a movie or television series.
- There's actually a strip where Calvin's mom lets him smoke just to teach him a lesson. If you don't want your son smoking, just say no!
- It's a bit odd that Calvin, a 6-year-old, gives philosophical pondering about the universe, yet can't solve a simple math question, which is hypocrisy.
Reception
Calvin and Hobbes received a 4.59 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, making it one of the highest-rated books on the site. The strip is highly regarded as one of the best and most influential newspaper comics of all times.
Trivia
- A novel titled Calvin by CLA Young Adult Book Award–winning author Martine Leavitt was published in 2015, and is based on the comics.
- There is a Robot Chicken skit based on the strip.
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