Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 24, 2012

It certainly is, but not quite as thrill packed.

Yesterday, adubman said: “Great Peanuts strips. I’m noticing Bill Watterson had many similar storylines to Charles Schulz and wonder if that was an influence or something else. Any thoughts?Hi adubman. Also please see Grog’s reply from last night, which includes some information that I didn’t know. I’ll try to elaborate here briefly. :>)

Bill Watterson said that Peanuts was the main comic strip that had influenced him as he was growing up. That is why I like to find parallels between his work and Peanuts, and share them with other Calvin and Hobbes fans here. But even when Watterson used something that was similar to Charles Schulz’s work, it seems like he always tried to give it an original twist.One thing to keep in mind is that Charles Schulz drew Peanuts for nearly 50 years – a huge output of about 18,000 strips – and he was breaking new ground by having kids and a dog do a lot of things they had never done before in comic strips. This made it difficult for cartoonists who came after him to seem as original as Schulz (especially if they were drawing strips about kids and animals), because Schulz had already “used up” so many ideas and themes over so many years.So, there is a sense in which Schulz’s originality was easier because he was first. At the same time, it was harder because it required so much insight for him to envision the comics themselves in a radically new way, and to keep transforming them further as time went on. Bill Watterson benefited from Schulz’s genius, but he also added his own brand of genius to the mix.Like Charles Schulz, and unlike so many other cartoonists, Bill Watterson drew every line of every comic strip himself, without using any assistants. But unlike Schulz, he also used very complex artwork for some of his backgrounds.Watterson’s daily strips had a taller format than Peanuts, giving him more room for backgrounds. And following his first sabbatical (the end of which we are hopefully approaching), the syndicate began allowing him to have total freedom with modifying the shapes and sizes of the individual panels in his Sunday strips.In Peanuts, Snoopy is a mixture of fantasy and “reality” (more reality in the earlier years). But in Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson takes the interplay of fantasy and reality to an entirely new level.Like Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson grew up in the Midwest, and his comic strips include the four seasons.Unlike Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson allowed almost no marketing of Calvin and Hobbes items, despite repeated pleas from the syndicate and his readers, who especially wanted a stuffed Hobbes.Like Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson was highly introverted and wanted to avoid the public spotlight – even more so than Schulz.Unlike Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson’s last name did not begin with an “S.”I could go on…….In 1999, Bill Watterson said, “Charles M. Schulz is in a league all his own. He was a hero to me as a kid and his influence on my work and life is long and deep. I suspect most cartoonists would say something similar.”Nevertheless, I think that most of us would agree that Bill Watterson is also in a class by himself. He was standing on the shoulders of a giant, but he was also a giant.(This concludes part 1 of 17)

Hobbes, I agree about Schultz’ influence. What a sad and brilliant man. But don’t neglect the great Walt Kelly (Pogo), whose masterful brushwork and in-depth characterization set the stage for some of C&H’s most subtle and evocative effects.

@Pteranodon: Yes, that’s a good point. Bill Watterson said that, other than Peanuts, Pogo and Krazy Kat were the most influential strips for him. As a kid, he discovered Peanuts first, and then Pogo.

And so begins the new line of study aids, “Hobbes’ Notes”…

Yeah, this is going to go over well…

Youll regret not doing it yourself, Calvin.

Work is hidden behind pleasure, where is only pleasure for Hobbes?

I caught a student of mine copying homework from his schoolmate today. He blushed and put his notebook away. He admitted he had not done it at all. I wonder what would Calvin do in his place.

My mother taught me to read long before kindergarten and I especially liked readers digest. My teachers were amazed but I thought of reading like breathing, not extraordinary but only one of the natural things in life..People who don’t read are missing one of the best experiences of the senses. Unexplainable to the non-reader is the thrill of getting “INTO” a book and losing ones self there.

I’ve always loved reading, but never enjoyed writing book reports or interpreting characters. I just like getting lost in the plot and characters.

Thanks @bluskies. Actually, I chuckled when I read Destiny’s comment, because I thought it was in response to my joke about “Part 1 of 17.” And it struck me that the comment could be read with a double meaning, also applying to today’s strip. It’s coincidence that Calvin is asking Hobbes to write two pages on the day that I happened to write about two pages.I like how Hobbes is so tall in the last panel, so that Calvin has to look way up to him, and Hobbes has to look down at a 45-degree angle. It’s like Calvin is asking an adult to do his homework for him. Also, this is one of those strips that makes you want to see the fifth panel, in order to find out how Hobbes reacted.

IMHO the aspect that brings Calvin and Hobbs far above most comic strips is the profound idea Watterson had of Hobbs being real and alive when Calvin is alone and just a stuffed animal when he is in the presents of other “humans” … of course Watterson’s VERY clever writing … his day to day gags are better than most cartoonist. His flights of fantasy are the best. Little Nemo’s dreams aren’t even close.- I don’t know if he is still writing … can’t imagine him just stopping cold. I suspect he is still writing … perhaps someday we will even see a Calvin and Hobbs graphic novel? WOW … I would love that. - If you are reading this Mr. Watterson …?

@Hobbes… In one of his collections, Watterson spent more than a little time praising the luxuries of space that were afforded comic strips in the first half of the (20th) century. Who (other than advertisers) would have ever thought that space in a newspaper would one day come at such a premium? I got the sense that Watterson felt he may have been born fifty years too late. In our opinion, of course, he was born right on time….

On a different note, check this.. http://www.gocomics.com/comic/explore/1463364/0

“Here comes the judge.” Throw the book at him!

In other words, Hobbes, throw the book at Calvin!

Worth a try, Calvin!

Nabuq: So true, alas! Watterson described it very well when Calvin said he didn’t like school because of reading. His father asked, “You have read every book on dinosaurs, why don’t you like school?” “Because we don’t read about dinosaurs.”

fwiw, Pogo is still no.1 on my list of all-time favorite strips. i’d also like to see it re-run, especially the I Go Pogo sequences where he runs for president.btw — Calvin gets together with Lio today — check out the Lio strip.

Thank God for flyleaves in books – I relied on them extensively in order to do book reports. I had too much insanity in my house to really sit down and read stuff. Latest book I have read these days is: “Unveiling Islam” by the Caner brothers. Fascinating analysis – much worth reading….

I’ve always loved Watterson’s Sunday strips, if you want to call them such. To me, they border on poster art! What Lynn Johnston did to “story line writing” with For Better or For Worse, Watterson did to “art for all ages” with Calvin and Hobbes. Besides the sheer genius that is six year old Calvin.

Friends, another poster has been ‘banned’, for supposedly using the occasional ‘blue’ word here and there. He never received an email telling him that he was banned. Gweedo has been posting as long as I have, if not longer, and he’s a good guy. If you wish to write to GoComics on his behalf, he would sincerely appreciate it.Thank you for your time.

Gweedo should come back. I Comics.com must censor, do it only to the offending words, not to the contributor. I never use such words, having sufficient invective vocabulary without them. But I twice had a posting censored today on the origin of “featherbedding” blanked out without being posted and finally got it on by posting each couple of lines separately. (It was management’s term for union demands for a pad to prevent elbow damage to engineers.)

It’s really too bad. I imagine Calvin would be one of those kids who enjoys reading.

Someone commented about teaching kids to read. I showed my son, age four, the Far Side cartoon of the man trying to catch the squirrel in his wooden leg with a rope. He lost his mind once and for all and learned to read so he could read the Far Side.

I should try that trick! Book reports are boring!

@ Hobbs: YOU, Sir, ARE a Comic Maistro!I feel like I should be paying remittance for your time & incredible comic knowledge …. “Toon Talent” … “Comic Genius” …. all of the above!!!In fact, I seem to recall an earlier post of yours, Hobbes, where you discussed the similarities between the two cartoonists & their respective comic strips. And yet, with the lifetime of creativity and humor provided by these Men of Imagination, it is interesting to reminisce and remember their works anew!

@ Grog: (re your comment yesterday), that is interesting reading the “story” behind the creation of C&H. Never knew the reasons behind the development of the characters. Hand of Fate definitely stepped in. Either that or some seasoned print news syndicator!! Thanks!

Advice…

Delete the comments Gweedo and come back. We miss you.

Thank you. He can no longer post nor read comments. GoComics has already seen his last comments, which he posted, thinking that no one could read them anyway. From what I understand, his comments no longer appear on this site, including the ones that you refer to.

@Dahawk, Thirdguy,Billdi, and Shikamua-moo:Much as I would love to see “POGO” repeats, it is highly unlikely at best. While many of the themes are as on-point today as they were originally (shows how far we’ve come in over half a century), far too much of the dialogue was written in a backwoods rural “swamp-speak” that was considered kind of down-home and folky back then; today the phrases and mannerisms could and would be considered racially offensive and inappropriate. It’s kind of a shame how political correctness has trumped moral correctness in our society. Oh, and political wing-nuts and religious zealots need not reply. You will be ignored.