Calvin and Hobbes is a daily American comic strip created by Bill Watterson and was syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995.
Both Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed their popularity worldwide, and in my opinion, are still enjoying it. The comic strip was also called as “The last great newspaper comic”.
Characters:
Calvin and Hobbes
This comic mainly revolves around Calvin and his inner world. Calvin has spiky blond hair and wears a striped red and black t-shirt with black pants and sneakers.
Calvin is a mischievous, sarcastic, outlandish and at the same time a very philosophical. He has an extraordinary vocabulary for his age. Watterson dubbed Calvin as “too intelligent for his age”.
Hobbes is an anthropomorphic tiger for Calvin. Whenever there is another human around other than Calvin, Hobbes will become a stuffed tiger. The friendship between Calvin and Hobbes is the core of this comic strip.
Other than these two characters there are many supporting characters like Calvin’s parents, his babysitter Rosalyn, his homeroom teacher Mrs.Wormwood, his school bully Moe and more importantly his classmate Susie Derkins.
Calvin’s Parents
Calvin’s parents are unnamed in the comic strip and his father is working as a patent attorney while his mother is a stay-at-home mom. Their character-building attitude serves as a foil for Calvin. Watterson described them as “ With a kid like Calvin they are doing a better job than me”.
Susie Derkins
She is the only character who has both the first and last names and she is the exact opposite of Calvin in some aspects.
Hobbes is an anthropomorphic tiger for Calvin. Whenever there is another human around other than Calvin, Hobbes will become a stuffed tiger. The friendship between Calvin and Hobbes is the core of this comic strip.
Other than these two characters there are many supporting characters like Calvin’s parents, his babysitter Rosalyn, his homeroom teacher Mrs.Wormwood, his school bully Moe and more importantly his classmate Susie Derkins.
Calvin’s Parents
Calvin’s parents are unnamed in the comic strip and his father is working as a patent attorney while his mother is a stay-at-home mom. Their character-building attitude serves as a foil for Calvin. Watterson described them as “ With a kid like Calvin they are doing a better job than me”.
Susie Derkins
She is the only character who has both the first and last names and she is the exact opposite of Calvin in some aspects.
She is polite, studious and likes to play tea party with her stuffed animal “Mr.Bun”. Susie has some mischievous streak as well. For example when feeding the wrong answers to Calvin when he tries to cheat in the maths test.
Hobbes expresses his romantic interests to Susie which makes Calvin form a club that he called G.R.O.S.S(Get Rid Of Slimy girlS).
Calvin’s imagination skills are exceptional and he always includes Hobbes in his imagination. Here are some of the best strips:
1. Transmogrifier
There is a strip where Calvin shows his imaginary invention “Transmogrifier” he made using a cardboard box which turns him into a creature he wants. Hobbes dubbed it as “It's amazing what they do with corrugated cardboard these days.”
2. Duplicator
Calvin can invent another machine by changing the cardboard upside down or by rewriting the label. He invented the duplicator and started duplicating himself and ordered the other Calvins to do his work while he and Hobbes play which got him into trouble with his mom.
The cardboard also took the role of a time machine onetime. He even made it at the secret place to conduct a meeting for his club G.R.O.S.S.
3. Calvin Ball
The one permanent rule in playing the Calvin ball, “You make up the rules as you go and don’t play the same rules twice”. He started playing Calvin ball with Hobbes because he didn’t like his school baseball team.
4. Snow Men
Hobbes expresses his romantic interests to Susie which makes Calvin form a club that he called G.R.O.S.S(Get Rid Of Slimy girlS).
Calvin’s imagination skills are exceptional and he always includes Hobbes in his imagination. Here are some of the best strips:
1. Transmogrifier
There is a strip where Calvin shows his imaginary invention “Transmogrifier” he made using a cardboard box which turns him into a creature he wants. Hobbes dubbed it as “It's amazing what they do with corrugated cardboard these days.”
2. Duplicator
Calvin can invent another machine by changing the cardboard upside down or by rewriting the label. He invented the duplicator and started duplicating himself and ordered the other Calvins to do his work while he and Hobbes play which got him into trouble with his mom.
The cardboard also took the role of a time machine onetime. He even made it at the secret place to conduct a meeting for his club G.R.O.S.S.
3. Calvin Ball
The one permanent rule in playing the Calvin ball, “You make up the rules as you go and don’t play the same rules twice”. He started playing Calvin ball with Hobbes because he didn’t like his school baseball team.
4. Snow Men
Calvin’s snowmen are as creative as it gets. He often creates horrifying scenes. There was an occasion where the snowmen he created came alive to form an army of ‘deranged mutant killer monster snow goons’ and started targeting him and Hobbes.
5. Sled Rides
Calvin and Hobbes often go sledding downhill where Calvin shares his viewpoint of the world, God, death, and many more. Their trip of exploring both the physical world and the mental abilities always ends up in spectacular crashes. The final strip also included them going on an exploring trip in the sled.
6. Grown-Up Calvin
Watterson did a comic strip that depicted Calvin as a grown-up and being married to Susie Derkins in a Sunday format with the story continuing until Calvin wakes up from his daydream. Other unofficial comic strips include Calvin giving Hobbes to his daughter.
Precious Experience
Bill Watterson called it quits on November 9, 1995. He mentioned in his letter to the newspapers that he was leaving with some sadness after Calvin and Hobbes. I can assure you he was not the only one who was sad that Calvin and Hobbes was ending after 10 years.
In quarantine having Calvin and Hobbes by your side will be a stress-free and funny experience. It will be a precious adventure that will show you the fun and struggles of childhood.
Written by - Jaime A
Edited by - Rudransh Khurana
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