Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 07, 2020

Nobody ever found the answer in a bottl… eh… water fountain.

By “gorilla”, does Calvin mean a slang term for a big thug, or a literal gorilla? I assumed the latter as a kid.

Hey, Flat foot = copper. Gumshoe = private eye

Actually, a flatfoot is a cop. A private eye is a gumshoe.

I don’t usually associate Polka with violence.

When you get warned off the case before you have even found your first clue, you know that there is something very big going on.

If you knew Suzie like I know Suzie…

I figure it must be difficult to narrate your own life as it’s happening when you’re being beaten up

Come on Tracer, you have the numbers, do the math or let your gun do the talking.

Edit time youse guys. To go for the flow, I would’ve switched panels three and four.

Love the comment in panel one….

The Scooby Doo gang could solve this before Calvin even came close.

Ok, here’s my guess. The Wormwood dame tricked the two guys into driving to the same place. She or her goon whacked them. Then she hired Tacer to set him up for it. When he wakes up from the working over he’ll find she’s planted evidence on him. Just a hunch.

I love the artwork in panel 2, with the buildings folding in on each other in the distance.

Mrs. Thugwood strikes from out of NOWHERE!

I really enjoy this “noir” arc, but wonder how Calvin would have been familiar with the Sam Spade/Mike Hammer genre?

Shades of Nick Danger…

Calvin’s always getting grabbed the shirt collar!

Wrong kind of drink, Calvin. I guess we’ve all had times when we felt like we needed the other kind.

The “noir” angle reminds me of “Bladerunner.”

“The last thing I remember before blacking out was the smell of decaying lilacs – like some dime store cheap perfume…”

Human fist. Not Gorilla Grood.

Whooeee, ride him high, he ain’t goin’ nowhere.

Being a detective is hard work. He should take lessons from Dick Tracy.

I love this arc.

I’m really not nitpicking, but I think panels 3 and 4 should be reversed.

Don’t keep using the same excuse Calvin, they’ll be on to you

As a fan of classic radio shows like Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, this is great stuff. FWIW, I try to never use the term “old-time radio” because (to me) that’s like calling Monet or Cezanne “old-time painters.” A well-crafted radio program written and produced by the likes of Arch Oboler, Orson Welles or Carlton Morse could be considered a work of art in its own way.