Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 21, 2010

A big snicker…

Way to go Susie, pound him!

I think the look she puts on Calvin’s face will be worth the lump of coal.

somebodyshort said, 12 minutes ago

time to go outside and watch the eclipse

It’s so cloudy here. I hope we can catch a small glimpse.

In Bella Coola, the sky is clear, ‘cause there’s no light pollution here; Bring on the eclipse, and the Solstice, too – I’m laid back, in my room with a view.

I don’t believe Susie’s zapping Calvin would carry a penalty. Just think, if Calvin was 7 in 1985, that means he’s 32 now, and probably married to Susie, with a little wierdo of thier own.

OMG Scott! That’s scary! REALLY!!!

He should have married Suzie….then she could mold him.

If so, he’s a goner.

I believe Calvin just got that ‘uh, oh’ feeling.

Get him Susie!

Way to blow your cover, Calvin. The element of surprise is now Susie’s

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠

Tomorrow Susie is Dead@@@

And you are going to hear some more things !

**Good morning Marg! Good morning Fran and Kizzzy! Good Morning L’Wolf! Good Morning Grog!**

Santa’s load will now be lighter!

Uh, Chovil, no comment today ???

And thus began the conflict betwen the Hatfields and McCoys….

Good Morning, everyone. Lots more action here today than over at Vagabond Village.

This strip pretty well proves my theory. Hobbes does not exist in the physical world. He is only a figment of Calvin’s imagination. Here you have Calvin carrying on a conversation with Hobbes, but a third party is seen listening to the conversation. The third party not only sees nothing but a stuffed toy but only hears Calvin’s voice. Susie neither sees nor hears Hobbes.

There are 5 human senses that help us integrate with the physical world, namely hearing, seeing feeling, smelling and tasting. We can ignore tasting for pragmatic reasons in this case and explore the others. Susie cannot hear or see Hobbes in this strip. That’s 2 senses out of 5. But there is a stuffed toy on the ground that we can pretty well suppose that if she touched it, it would feel like a stuffed toy. That’s 3 senses. And if there were a real tiger present, Susie should be able to smell it. Since she does not, that’s 4 out of 5. We therefore conclude that Hobbes does not exist in the physical world. He is only a figment of Calvin’s imagination.

Yeah, that’s what I used to think about Santa Claus…

Susie’s been waiting for years to have “that look” on her face.

My apologies for my comment yesterday. I was experiencing PTSD and read far too much into the strip.

Does Susie rely on a fat balance in the good girl column? Or Calvin’s lack of Santa standing?

Ahhh,chill out everybody! It’s a comic strip for Pete’s sake (whoever Pete is)! !

davidf42 - Your analysis ‘proves’ nothing, except that it is possible to analyze all the fun and pleasure out of any experience. Why do you even bother to read this strip?

Whatever the true nature of Hobbes may be (and I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that you can’t prove it), we know that no one else can see or hear Hobbes the way that Calvin can. That’s just how it is in Calvin’s universe, and the fun lies in visiting that universe for a few minutes every day – without analyzing it to death!

@Davidf42 Good morning, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is a flaw in your argument: Suzie’s a girl. This whole “girlness” issue means that of course she can’t hear Hobbes (there is another flaw with your argument that she couldn’t “smell” Hobbes … considering the amount of time he and Calvin spend running around and mucking about in the dirt (and the general quality of Calvin’s cleanliness), Hobbes smell carries for miles.

Hope you all are having a great day!

My question is … Will Susie aim high or low? The way Calvin is positioned, an up-the-jacket shot with the slushball would be most effective! However, given that the head-shot is so traditional, it will be interesting which IF ANY shot will be taken. I do not recall the original so I am looking forward to how this will turn out with Susie having a momentary armed advantage!

If she throws hard enough then it will be a straight shot into the ear with little parabolic effect! That should sting! And I would imagine she’s got a second slush ball in her other hand for the old 1,2! Susie is the avenging angel of Ol’ Saint Nick.

Someone else won’t be getting presents this year!

It’s not just Calvin that can see Hobbes, he is visible to those with the imagination to see him and with that imagination a whole new universe is opened up, one no less real than this.

I think therefore I am, I imagine therefore you are!

chovil good to hear you’re feeling better today :)

margueritem said

A big snicker…

Yes, followed by a big splat!

Go get him Susie followed with another one in the other hand. Tomorrows strip will be good.

Susie is my kind of woman !!

David!!! Duh!! If you are just realizing this “fact” I am so sorry for you!!! Next you will tell me that Snoopy is not really a “World War I flying Ace!!”

davidf42, You’d think names like Calvin and Hobbes would clue people in that there are deeper issues hinted at.

The old German scientists figured that if you can’t see it, touch it, or measure it, it might as well not exist, and so they dispensed with the idea of God. The concept of the “ether” was similarly dismissed. When light propagates thru space, it waves; what’s waving? But all experiments to detect the ether failed. So bye-bye ether. Instead we now use terms like “electromagnetic fields”, “curvature of space”, and so forth. Much more erudite. Same holds for God. The evidence is there but many people cannot see it because of obstacles in their thinking.

YMMV with hearing Hobbes talk, but the slushball ought to feel real enough

Hobbes exists in my world. If you want to analyze him out of your world, that’s your loss.

Dead on twypsi

Aren’t Snickers barred? Hobbes thinks Susie is eye candy!

He should have just whacked her with the slushball. He’s right. It’s not just someone, it’s DEVIOUS Susie!” Lawyers are so overrated.

I am sure I heard a snicker.

The look on Suzie’s face demonstrates that there is far more to her than meets the eye. Calvin, being 6, is, of course clueless with respect to this, although it appears that he is going to have a rude awakening momentarily…

Susie is about to do something to deserve a shoeful of coal–which will be enough to finish her snowman…

Calvin is about to be good, despite himself. Does it count?

We couldn’t see the eclipse last night here–cloud cover, high winds and blowing snow, so too cold and too obscured to see. All I could see was that the sky was dark, when the moon should have been full. Hard to tell why, though.

Seeing is believing … and since I see Hobbes the way Calvin does … then I definitely believe!!!!!

Since Calvin had no compunction about nailing Susie with a slushball when she wasn’t looking (and Santa be damned!), then she should definitely return the favor and nail him first! Hey! All’s fair in war just as much as it is in love!

The slushball fights are funny but my winter favorite is Calvin’s snowmen.

I couldn’t have seen the eclipse even if I had been awake because of the snowstorm looming over New England. This “snowstorm” hasn’t even produced enough snow for it to stick for more than a couple hours.

I preferred it when Snickers used to be called Marathons lol (i used to be able to say that i finished a Marathon a day)

Calvin’s going to be sleeping with a very soggy tiger tonight!

Again, fighting a stuffed tiger, and losing.

Just before the eclipse began, the clouds moved in, and stayed around the entire day Tuesday, in Columbia SC.

We were socked in all last night, I only got to watch the eclipse on an internet feed.

The eclipse was a little hazy here, until after totality when it was completely obscured.

The dictionary defines compunction as a sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing.

However the pang of doubt arose does not matter. There is evidence that the conscience was there. Stuffed or otherwise.

And d*mn Santa ??? Indeed.

Calvin will be seeing all kinds of stars – more than any of us – any second now!!

too bad Susie can only hear one side of the conversation. hehe

Wiseguy411 said: The dictionary defines compunction as a sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing.

However the pang of doubt arose does not matter. There is evidence that the conscience was there. Stuffed or otherwise.

And d*mn Santa ??? Indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wiseguy411: I believe you read my entire statement completely wrong.

According to your definition, if compunction is defined as “a sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing” but Calvin was going to go ahead and nail Susie with a slushball anyhow, wasn’t he then showing absolutely *no* compunction???!!!

And I didn’t say “damn Santa” either. If you’re going to quote me, then at least get it right! I said “Santa be damed” … as in, “It doesn’t matter that we’re just days away from Christmas and if Santa sees me being bad by throwing this slushball at Susie, he won’t bring me any toys! But I don’t care! I’m going to risk everything and throw it at her anyhow because it would be worth it!!!!!”

Indeed is quite right … indeed!

Since Calvin had no compunction about nailing Susie with a slushball when she wasn’t looking (and Santa be damned!), then she should definitely return the favor and nail him first! Hey! All’s fair in war just as much as it is in love!

cut & paste.

To my eyes, it appears that Calvin did not throw a slushball. Rather, he wrestled with his conscience (literally in the form of Hobbes).

This is the first Calvin & Hobbes strip I’ve seen where another person overhears them talking to each other. I’m surprised Calvin doesn’t say Hobbes’s responses out loud. Whenever I talk to my imaginary squirrel friend, I always say his parts out loud. And my parts too of course.

if calvin did that hed lose 0 presents, but if susie does it she will lose all her presents. But anyway, calvin wont have any presents