Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 30, 2023

Like Dad said, Calvin….

And they found Dad’s body by the side of the road with a bell wrapped around his neck.

Gee Dad, help a kid out, will ya?

The kid is fantasizing, again!!!

Well, Dad, that bell could serve both purposes, warning passersby if ever Calvin learns to ride it and warning Calvin while he’s struggling with the bike demon.

Attack of the mutant bicycle from Mars!

Signs on a local trail say “Use bell or voice when passing.” I’m too shy to raise my voice, so thank goodness I have a bell.

Just put baseball cards on the spokes to make the bicycle make noise.

It tolls for thee.

Learning to ride a bike should be a father-son affair, not something Calvin should be expected to learn by himself.

No, being snuck up on by a bike builds character…

More cow bell please.

It brings back memories of the summer when I started learning to ride my first bicycle…Holy Richard Speck! I had the training wheels on for one whole month before I had them taken off.

Not unlike belling the cat…

He never should have named his bicycle Christine. Rookie move, Calvin.

Cal’s always on about something.

I’m a big guy (No, I am not 6 foot 3 inches and 215 pounds, but close). I never was a ninja. Yet I manage to sneak up on my wife often without really trying. She wants to put a bell on me.

Learning to ride gives us important life lessons.

1. When it seems a crash is imminent, look for soft place to land.

2. After a crash, take a minute, then give it another go.

3. You will succeed, just don’t quit.

Jeez, I sound like everyone’s Dad. I can still remember the exact moment I got my balance. 5 Years old, on the street in front of my house. Stamped into my memory.

And Mom wonders why Dad wanted a dachshund?

Well, I suppose that sounds like a good idea. Here’s one for you.

When I was a kid and after the training wheels came off, my bike launched me into the curb breaking one of my front teeth. I spit out the broken part walked over to the garage, grabbed the wiffle bat and then returned to beat the crap out of the bike. It never did that to me ever again. Funny thing is my sister never messed with me again either after witnessing that.

Okay that’s hilarious

a bike named Christine

Someone should put a bell on Calvin…

That won’t work with my hearing. I’d need an ahooga horn

Did Calvin’s dad just escape from a 1930s prison? Where did he get that shirt?

Maybe a train horn would be better.

Most of the cartoonist seem to have some things which they are petrified of. Some have kites, some bicycles.

Calvin assumes it will work like “belling a cat”. Unfortunately, that does not work either. Prey do not understand what the sound means. In my experience, other territorial cats DID figure out what the bell meant and zeroed in for attack pretty soon after I began the ill-fated experiment.

Not a bell. Not good enough.

Insist on shackles! You need that bike locked down. Put a U-lock through each wheel.

Surprising that Dad doesn’t make Calvin “build character” by forcing him to wash the car!!

Hallucinations are a sign of schizophrenia.

Fair enough dad. Somebody has to bell the cat.. I mean the bicycle.

Calvin’s Dad looks like a prison escapee.

Call the shrink, dad.