Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 05, 2013

Thats a lot of if,s

What means “I’m ON to him.”?

Poor Calvin, hope you’ll come clear with your Dad again!!

Hobbes has got a point – as usual.

Well, on time today.

@watmiwori: As someone who lost many, many cousins in concentration camps, I don’t think your remark is funny.

I think Calvin’s parents should spend more time with him. Maybe they should teach him a thing or two as well. Like, the world doesn’t revolve around you, so you can stop being conceded, and think of others for a change.

And now the world is on to Calvin. He’s afraid to learn how to ride.

Today’s Calvin and Hobbes is from 1993. It seems like Bill Watterson is making a reference to the following Peanuts strip from 1966:Click here: Peanuts (June 17, 1966)Bill Watterson’s cartooning was strongly inspired by the comic strips Krazy Kat, Pogo, and Peanuts. Here is an excerpt from a 1989 interview with him:Krazy Kat is a completely unique strip. I think it’s the best comic strip ever drawn. Ultimately, though, it’s such a peculiar and idiosyncratic vision that it has little to say to me directly. I marvel at it because it’s beyond duplication. It’s like trying to paint a sunrise – you’re better off not even trying. Peanuts and Pogo have been inspirations, too, but these strips are much more down to earth, and are much closer to my own way of thinking, and have had much more direct influence. Even so, I try to keep the instances of blatant plagiarism to a minimum.

Here is a more recent strip from 2003: Brian Basset’s Red and Rover. Perhaps this one was inspired by today’s Calvin and Hobbes from ten years ealier.Click here: Red and Rover (March 22, 2003)

Here is Bill Amend’s FoxTrot from 1997:Click here: FoxTrot (1997)

It’s good to have you back, Hobbes.

You’re taking chances with Hobbes’ idea, but I do like that concept.

I think that many parents hate their children and are sorry they had them. This is a big secret, too shameful to admit for most but it’s there and it explains a lot of the dysfunction and pain in our world. For regular readers of this strip, how would you answer this question: Would Calvin’s father be happier if he were childless?

It’s good to see Hobbes back.

Calvin’s logic is rock solid once again!

So when are you going to plot your revenge, Calvin?Don’t keep us in suspense!xxx

Actually I am an equal-opportunity misanthrope,tending to detest humanity in general regardlessof race, creed, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or just about anycriterion you care to name.

Rx cum grano salis.

Get a chain and lock the bike to a tree!

@StCleve72: How about this: If this were real life, Calvin and his parents wouldn’t be the way that they are, because real life isn’t as funny. Bill Watterson created them to be different from real life, in order to maximize the humor. Hobbes, on the other hand, is real.

@StCleve72: You make some good points, but Bill Watterson emphasizes the negatives in his characters to find the humor. Reading about perfect parents and a perfect Calvin day after day would be boring and not funny. What I see in the postings here is that many people project their own childhood experiences onto the strip, and they interpret the strip to be about their own experience more than they should. Those who had happy childhoods tend to see Calvin’s parents as examples of good parenting, and those who were abused as children tend to see his parents as abusers. We all see the world through the lens of our own experience and can never fully escape that, even when we try to be objective.