Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for June 22, 2024

How to get away with a car mishap.

Calvin, where do you keep the live worms?…..

That’s the way my Dad was. Cops brought me home in handcuffs for underage drinking and taking a swing at a cop, all he did was laugh. Let him come home from work and the sidewalk not shoveled, you would have thought I kidnapped the Lindbergh baby.

Hat, shoe, briefcase, something else?

inscrutable

that’s an impressive vocabulary for a six year old

Calvin got off easy, it could have been worse

As I have mentioned twice before, we did not see Dad in this story arc although we do hear about him. In today’s conclusion, we hear from Calvin about how surprisingly reasonable Dad was. Hobbes is quick to remind Calvin of a time when Dad was much more angry.

There are times when we see Dad being affectionate towards Calvin. One example was a Sunday strip in which Calvin wanted Dad to come and build snowmen with him. Dad pointed to the work he had to do but soon relented and went to play with Calvin. One reader commented, “This is one of the sweetest C&H strips ever!”

Another example was from earlier in 1989 than this arc was. As I have said before, 1989 is my favourite Calvin and Hobbes year as it contains six of my favourite arcs. During the propeller beanie arc, Calvin broke the propeller while trying to assemble the beanie. He took it to Dad who fixed it for him. A reader commented, “Dad being nice! This is a Kodak moment!”

i think watterson is the master of drawing fuzzy mouths.

Worm abuse is a totally different matter!

Thoughts of the possible outcomes far outweigh the frustration at Cal’s antics.

Did I missed something here? So, wrecking the car is just a slap on the wrist? And yet throwing water balloons at a girl, daydreaming in class, or making grotesque snowmen and than hose them down so they become frozen statues are treated as a federal case?!

Ear?

Inscrutable?

You dad’s desk? Your dad’s .. ear? You dad’s ……. ?

I’m always amazed at Calvin’s vocabulary. He’s a six-year-old who knows the word “inscrutable”.

Inscrutability has its limits, Calvin.

I remember ‘inscrutable’ being on my vocabulary list in second grade. NOT!

Where did you put the worms, Calvin?

Not to mention ’the noodle incident ’.

It never ends

My Dad was the same. The amount of yelling was inversely proportional to the offense. Spill your milk, there is lots of yelling. When I wrecked the car all I got was a calm “I’ll call the insurance company don’t worry about it.”

I’m betting Hobbes was about to say Calvin had kept live worms in his dad’s shoes as laces!

And so ends the longest story arc in “Calvin and Hobbes”’s run.

worms? LOL…

I can’t believe he lived through that- wait until next time.

Funny how they didn’t raise their voices. They just gave a lecture instead. Parents are so mysterious.

Parents have no equals. They make a mess on smaller things, where is is no risk of harm to the child. But they thank heavens when bigger things happen when there is real danger to the child.

Calvin should be grateful for his parents’ restraint. This time.

Yeah, so what can we get away with next?

Get a lot more than a lecture when I was a kid, and all I did was drive it on a flat for two miles.

I feel like live worms and the noodle incident are connected somehow.

Is the word that got cut off " . . . noodles"? Is this an elusive hint to the nature of the infamous Noodle Incident?

I know exactly what Hobbes is gonna say