Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 28, 2010

Hobbes bailed on him this time!

Discretion is the better part of valour.

Hobbes did the right thing, Calvin.

So is Hobbes the one that said that “These things should come with air bags?” Why else would he say “I told you.”

Good morning, Marg!

Smart tiger.

Looks like it was a wild ride. Did you enjoy that, Calvin?

’ Morning, Grog!

Hobbes ain’t no sissy. He’s a smart tiger. He’s smart enough not to let the “stuffing” get knocked out of him. LOL

Looks like me when I was sledding with my cousin and neighbors. I borrowed a friend’s sled and it was alot quicker than mine. I whizzed down the huge hill and over several little hills picking up speed and flew up in the air and landed in the neighbor’s hedge. She saw me coming through her window and came out to unfurl me from the hedge and bring me in for first aid. I was pulling twigs out of my nose and face and the snow was white no more!

Calvin seems to be a testosterone junkie, as evidenced by his tendency to seek dangerous sledding hills or get tackled by Hobbes.

And you were any different? Hmm!

Oh Hobbes! Did you let Calvin allone drop into sticks and thorns?

it ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.

Now, who will have had the more fun?

Calvin having the wildest, longest ride of his life (as evidenced by the 5 panels Hobbes is watching him with different degrees of pity), or Hobbes watching Calvin?

I´ll bet Calvin did.

I bet Calvin will do it again as soon as the sled is functional again, present injuries notwithstanding.

Calvin reminds me of my wild infancy.

By the age of twelve, I have had about 12 visits to the ER, ending up with stitches in 6 places of my head and face (Upper lip, covered with a mustache since age 18, one stitched place per visit only), one broken bone (right forearm), no surgeries, and a 3 day comma with a total of 14 days of hospitalization due to a bike accident.

P.S. There was no snow in my town. If there had been, the tally would have been probably bigger…or I wouldn´t be here to tell you!.

Grog (AKA BC13) I agree it looks like it was meant to be Hobbes that said that in panel 2

Personally I’m with Hobbes here, staying alive is too important ;)

mexdr1958, you sound like you had fun. If any kid these days shows up in the ER as often as you did, child services would be called out…. that’s one change I dont; appreciate…let the kids play and learn to use their imaginations

Hobbs did make it through without injury, but Calvin got to experience the thrill of the ride. It’s not a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of personality.

What do you expect, Hobbes is a pussy.

The way Hobbes looked up in the 9th panel, Calvin must have started up above the snow/ice loop they constructed;-)

Hobbes may be a sissy. But he’s also relatively warm and dry.

at rshive thats true, i mean the second part

i don’t want to go sledding anymore,they alwas crash!

calvin made the statement he wished these things came with air bags,hobbes was listening,made a wise decision to get off.

LOL!—love the bottom “WOW” panel….so telling.

Also like how today’s comic flushed confessions out of you kids.

Grog (AKA BC13) I’ve been thinking about your observation and I wondered the samething… We all know whatever Hobbes says is truly the thoughts of Calvin so I guess this time we get to see that in action… Should have listened to that little voice in his head this time for sure!

From what I know about how Watterson does these, the unstated back story is that the planned route had already been constructed/layed out to assure an interesting ride.

Calvin made the airbag comment in the second panel (which often gets left off of pages trying to conserve space) as foreshadowing. Hobbes had pretty much already judged that he wasn’t going to take the ride, but rather get his enjoyment watching how well it worked.

As with other strips, including some references to the “noodle incident”, what’s off-panel expands the story considerably.

Hobbes is OK He is not ready for the Olympics yet thats all

Love C&H. My 14 yr old niece broke 10 ribs in a sledding accident recently, some in multiple places. Doesn’t seem possible.

I think the correct term for that piece of equipment is tobaggan, not sled. But, whatevs.

Ditto Kittenpah! Bingo.

Calvin is getting some excellent training for a future Olympic gold medal!

bullwinkle56–I have a 14 year old, too. All I can say is OUCH!

Such events these days are preceded with the comment,”Hold my beer and watch this.”

People were tougher in the old days. When my mother was little (around 1920), she lived on an awesome hill in Wisconsin. At the bottom, the street ended. The kids would all sled down the street, but when you got to the bottom, you had to throw the sled sideways so the runner would catch the trolley tracks and flip you over into the ditch. If you didn’t stop, you went head-first into a barbed-wire fence. Tough times!

Toboggan? Taboggan? Tobaggin? Toboggon? It’s easier just to say sled…isn’t it?

OPHELIA, did you tell them their dog was at a farm upstate, too?

We didn’t have snow where I lived growing up, but we did have hills and skateboards and injuries related thereto.

Well, Calvin is still alive, so Hobbes IS a SISSY.

Its GOLD

Ophelia – with sleds the method of steering is more obvious, but you can steer toboggans by twisting the front of it, with ropes attached to the corners, or directly. Some toboggans actually give you more control than sleds this way (the ideal design is easy to twist but hard to bend).

This won’t help riders who steer toward danger, of course, but one can appreciate the results from a safe distance (as illustrated above).

Calvin is alive because he must be part cat too. I swear he’s outlived his 9 lives!

It’s 14 GOLD

Must’ve been that 50/50 turn …

I’ve been so preoccupied by local concerns that I didn’t get to see ANY of the Olympics. Alas.

I know you Canadians are proud right now, but remember, the last time I encountered Americans with that degree and kind of pride (right before the “Bay Bridge World Series”), we had an earthquake on the opening day of the event!

Rejoice, but remember, it’s only a perishable crown.

Calvin’s experience with his toboggan reminds me of where our present administration, especially that of California’s, is headed. Should be interesting to see if the politicians are stupid enough to go back up the hill and try again. Never mind, I just thought about that…they will….

i absoultuely love hobbes’ dryness. he is my favorite.

Hobbes’s face as he watches the sled tells the story in the best possible way.