OK……. So……. Apparently GoComics has skipped the final strip and returned to the beginning of the first full year of Calvin and Hobbes. Yesterday we were at the end of 1995, and today’s strip is from January 5, 1986. Besides that, today’s first panel says 1995, but this has been added to the 1986 strip. The original was marked 1986, not 1995. Here is the original strip, with no 1995 in the first panel, and with 1986 in the space between the two middle panels in the bottom row:Click here for archive, or stretch image below: Calvin and Hobbes (January 5, 1986)
Since the series has come to an end, I think that we should take today to pay tribute to Bill Watterson. Here is the final Calvin and Hobbes strip, from the last day of 1995:Click here for archive, or stretch image below: Calvin and Hobbes (December 31, 1995)And so, Calvin has the final word from Bill Watterson, as Calvin and Hobbes race downhill together and levitate above the ground one more time.And the final comment by Calvin’s ol’ buddy Hobbes, comparing the snow-covered ground to a big white sheet of paper, reminds us that this incredibly real world has been an imaginary one, in the form of an amazing comic strip.Thank you, Bill. We are all richer for having known you through Calvin and Hobbes. Thank you for the way in which you have touched our lives by transforming more than 3000 big white sheets of paper into a truly magical world.— “Hobbes”
Today is the second time that Bill Watterson has said goodbye to his readers in a Calvin and Hobbes strip, but it was temporary the first time. Here is Bill’s final strip before his first 9-month sabbatical, in which he seems to be advising his readers to read comic books while they wait for his return:Click here: Calvin and Hobbes (May 4, 1991)
Today we read Bill Watterson’s final daily strip, which appeared Saturday, December 30th, 1995. It was published the day before Bill’s final strip, which was a Sunday strip on the last day of the year.In today’s strip we see Calvin and Hobbes leaving us, the readers, behind, as the two of them walk off toward new adventures, about to make fresh tracks in the snow.
Today’s strip is from two weeks before the end of Calvin and Hobbes. It contains some of Bill Watterson’s thoughts on pursuing a new path, accepting new challenges, etc. It also looks like Bill’s new horizons and fresh challenge are up in the air.
Suddenly, we have jumped back two weeks, to a rerun from December 11, 1995. Now it is unclear when GoComics will publish the final two strips of Calvin and Hobbes. I’m guessing it will be next Saturday and Sunday, coinciding with the new year.
Hobbes planned ahead with his gift for Calvin, just in case Calvin should decide to return the favor.
To view the following strips in the archive and help GoComics generate revenue, please click on the blue archive links below. To view the strips directly, click on the images below or stretch them.Peanuts (December 28, 1967)Possibly inspired by Peanuts:Calvin and Hobbes (March 3, 1994)Peanuts (December 20, 1965)Possibly inspired by Peanuts:Calvin and Hobbes (December 20, 1993)Possibly inspired by Peanuts and by Calvin and Hobbes:Ziggy (March 30, 1997)
So, a snowman walks into another snowman’s ice cream shop, and he says, “I’d like a snow cone, please.” The snowman behind the counter doesn’t hear him because he’s too busy singing, “There’s No Business Like Snow Business.”
OK……. So……. Apparently GoComics has skipped the final strip and returned to the beginning of the first full year of Calvin and Hobbes. Yesterday we were at the end of 1995, and today’s strip is from January 5, 1986. Besides that, today’s first panel says 1995, but this has been added to the 1986 strip. The original was marked 1986, not 1995. Here is the original strip, with no 1995 in the first panel, and with 1986 in the space between the two middle panels in the bottom row:Click here for archive, or stretch image below: Calvin and Hobbes (January 5, 1986)
Since the series has come to an end, I think that we should take today to pay tribute to Bill Watterson. Here is the final Calvin and Hobbes strip, from the last day of 1995:Click here for archive, or stretch image below: Calvin and Hobbes (December 31, 1995)And so, Calvin has the final word from Bill Watterson, as Calvin and Hobbes race downhill together and levitate above the ground one more time.And the final comment by Calvin’s ol’ buddy Hobbes, comparing the snow-covered ground to a big white sheet of paper, reminds us that this incredibly real world has been an imaginary one, in the form of an amazing comic strip.Thank you, Bill. We are all richer for having known you through Calvin and Hobbes. Thank you for the way in which you have touched our lives by transforming more than 3000 big white sheets of paper into a truly magical world.— “Hobbes”