Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for June 28, 2012

please remember that these were originally ran back in the eighty’s and nineties

so but isn’t C&H pop-art though? it gives us more of the children comic strip characters which we know we like from Peanuts… plus it borrows it’s premise from Winnie the Pooh… not that I don’t love this strip but Watterson can be a little hypocritical on this particular theme of his in my opinion. thoughts anyone?

discussion: is true originality impossible? maybe a work of art HAS to form itself from previous ideas because everyone’s taste in a particular type of art comes from what we’ve all seen together. One of Watterson’s earlier ideas was a strip called Critters that was all about bugs. Aside from the fact that bigs are not the most relatable characters, there has never been a successful comic strip about bugs. Jim Davis tried it too before Garfield and it didn’t work for him either. But Krazy Kat had existed before and so maybe that’s why Garfield works for us. Personally I think the best characters are kids. They are hands down the most relatable charaters in comic strips. Cul de Sac is a comic strip about kids (like Peanuts and C&H) and it also borrows it’s premise from “ALICE” in Wonderland…. not that I dislike these strips but I find the topic interesting. And since Watterson frequently brings this up…

also Calvin is like Dennis the Menace… just saying

Art is in the eye of the beholder.

You can walk under that dang rock, but I won’t.

If a child were to produce some of what passes for “art” here in Spain, they would be packed off post-haste to a psychologist. In fact, at an elegant “art show” in Madrid someone hung a bunch of scribbles made by a preschool group in crayon, pencil and fingerpaint mixed and then filmed the reactions of the viewers. You would not believe the “interpretations” that were flying around!! The most popular one seemed to be that the scribbles and blotches represented the "artist"’s struggle to come to terms with his or her sexuality.

Ah yes. Grease 2. A classic.

Dennis the Menace (American version) is a poor cousin of Calvin. There is, by the way, a British Dennis the Menace who’s nothing like the American one.

The eighties and nineties, eh? I’ll have to remember that when I see “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Madea’s Witness Protection,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “Step Up Revolution,” “The Bourne Legacy” and “The Expendables 2” in the next two months. (Yes, I’m aware “The Amazing Spider-Man” is a “reboot,” which Watterson failed to forecast becoming the next big thing in Hollywood.)

In the first panel I would put some sugar and sweets in the shirtbags on Hobbeses backside!!

If Hobbes likes the word “smock” he’d probably love to say “pocket” all day too.

Has Hollywood even had an original thought of late?

Smock Smock Smock Smock Smock Smock

@ simpsonfan2

Was it, maybe, some politicians’ pet?

Originally may be irrelevant in art. I think the most powerful art on Earth today may be the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial ("the “Wall”) based on the droves of men and women it draws every day regardless of weather and makes them cry. Yet there is nothing original in a list of war dead or in erecting a monument to the fallen. If the originality is in calling the list a memorial that escapes me.

What I wouldn’t give to pay $5 to see a movie again!

MagicFan said, yesterday:Nighthawks? That was the name of a club me and three friends formed last year. It isn’t active at the moment..In my case, I adopted the super cool name from the famous Edward Hopper painting of the same name.Tom Waits put out a pretty good album titled ‘Nighthawks at the Diner’ alluding, in some of the songs, to the lives of people frequenting an all-night diner

Mark my words. Calvin is destined to be a political leader some day. A force to be reckoned with. Yes. you may quote me.

I think the best definition I ever heard for what is “good” art is anything that triggers a strong emotional reaction. Whether people hate it or love it is irrelevant – it’s better than people having no reaction to it at all.

This discussion is proof that C&H is as relevant today as it was originally. Not necessarily purely original – but elegantly novel. You can laugh at its face value – or dig deeply into a more profound meaning. In the context of the human experience – it has a special place… which is one of many reasons we’re all such loyal fans.

In my opinion they are not “attacks”, but simply “calling a spade a spade”. By the way, if you don’t like Kinkade’s work, that’s one thing, but are you intentionally misspelling his name? Margueritem nailed it: It’s in the eye of the beholder.

True originality is rare anymore. It’s out there, but it’s harder to find nowadays.

Rather than hypocrisy, perhaps Watterson is making a point about demands put on him and his artwork. He has worked hard to maintain & defend the integrity of the Calvin &Hobbes strip – he has avoided turning it into a brand, (just for one example).

Sequels I can handle…..remakes? No! Someone has to write new plots!

“Reality TV” ? or Editorial cartoons?

Calvin would love all the remakes Hollywood is doing then…

Is that why I keep reading Calvin and Hobbes,and like it more and more as the years go by?

Spoken like an adult.

I can’t understand why Calvin gets bad grades at school. Well apart from that ‘A’ a few weeks ago.

With the help of his very nice friend Hobbes.

xxx

A sequel once was a ‘new plot’! If nobody likes originality and truth (original truths), how would a new plot inspire a sequel, not to mention that the sequel seldom measures up to the original, imo!

I’ve noticed the inclination for most strip artists to use their media as a means for venting public concensus. Watterson uses his strip like a personal handgun with a license to carry.

Five bucks for a movie sounds like a looong time ago.

wow you peeple read a lot of comics…LOl

IMHO, everything we state is an opinion based on our own person experiences and what we choose to believe as ‘fact’, so writing ‘in my opinion’ is redundant. Even science is an opinion, as is faith.

So, what is original? Depends. Art uses lines, shapes, mediums, colors (etc.) and each artist uses them as they see fit. Music uses the same notes, tones, vibrations (etc.) and arranges them uniquely. The same goes for dance, authors… All human creators are influenced by something or someone. And new ideas are usually based on building on something old.

I have the same opinion as Dogsniff re: Kinkade, but he obviously appealed to many other people. So what? It made him happy and other people happy to purchase – no matter their reasons.

I enjoy the comments almost as much as the comics. I get a kick out of others’ versions of truth – especially when it comes to politics. Thanks, All, for the entertainment!

Johnny Diego: The “Big Gun” opposite Steve Allen was Ed Sullivan. This resulted in Sullivan having a clause in the contract prohibiting an artist appearing on any other show for a month after his own. Many artists therefore were on the Steve Allen show before Sullivan. The mass media pretended that Sullivan was first to have some stars when they had already be on Allen’s. No one has documented a reason for this, but Allen being a progressive and Sullivan a reactionary, and this was during the twilight of McCarthyism has been hypothesized.

Thanks for the Frog Applause info. I liked the two sailors the most. If you want red cedar, come to Oklahoma. It is classified as a pest tree, and is cut and burned when possible. It is really getting out of hand here. Was surprised at all the talent in our commenters.

come on Spiderman!

$5! Long live the 80’s! :-)

I remember taking one of my dad’s shirts to school as a “smock” for art class…of course it was an old one, and he knew I’d taken it…which isn’t the case here, if I’m not mistaken.

Smocksmocksmocksmocksmocksmocksmocksmock

But surely he has $5!

Basic premise stated in first panel: “Fine art is supposed to express original truths.” False.

@Sandy Shore: Moderation is not Rogue53’s strong suit, and you are correct that most of his opinions are disparaging, but I believe that there is basically a good guy somewhere underneath the negative words.

Wasn’t aware that Calvin had that kind of money. He’ll have to sneak in Hobbes under a smock…..

Calvin: “Mammy! Mammy! Me got gweat big owwy booboo on me knee!”Mom: “Go wash it in soap and water and put some ointment on it, and a band-aid if it still hurts; and stop being silly.”Calvin: “Fact: You don’t get a whole lot of sympathy for making all your bumps and bruises sound cute!”