Bill Watterson wrote a total of nineteen[a] official Calvin and Hobbes books that have been published in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing; the first, eponymously titled Calvin and Hobbes, was released April 1987, and the most recent, Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue, was released February 2015.
A twentieth official title, the textbook Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes, was published under license in 1993 by Playground Publishing in Fargo, North Dakota.
Before the 2005 release of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, all the extant newspaper strips were collected across eight distinct titles:[1]
- The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, 1988
- The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, 1990
- The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes, 1992
- Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons, 1992
- The Days Are Just Packed, 1993
- Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, 1994
- There's Treasure Everywhere, 1996
- It's a Magical World, 1996
| Title | Date | ISBN | Format | Strips | Original content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin and Hobbes | April 1987 | ISBN 0-8362-2088-9 | black and white | November 18, 1985 (first strip) to August 17, 1986 | Foreword by Garry Trudeau; original black-and-white artwork scattered throughout book |
| Something Under the Bed Is Drooling | April 1988 | ISBN 0-8362-1825-6 | black and white | August 18, 1986 to May 23, 1987 | Foreword by Pat Oliphant; original black-and-white artwork scattered throughout book |
| The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury | September 1988 | ISBN 0-8362-1805-1 | color Sundays/Black and White | All strips from Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under the Bed Is Drooling | Foreword by Charles M. Schulz; an illustrated poem, "A Nauseous Nocturne" |
| Yukon Ho! | March 1989 | ISBN 0-8362-1835-3 | black and white | May 24, 1987 to February 21, 1988 | The "Yukon Song"; original black-and-white artwork scattered throughout book |
| The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book: A Collection of Sunday Calvin and Hobbes Cartoons | September 1989 | ISBN 0-8362-1852-3 | All color Sundays | May 24, 1987 to July 30, 1989 (Sunday strips only) | Ten-page story "Spaceman Spiff: Interplanetary Explorer Extraordinaire!"; afterword by Bill Watterson; and a specially redrawn version of the August 28, 1988 strip |
| Weirdos from Another Planet! | March 1990 | ISBN 0-8362-1862-0 | black and white | February 22, 1988 to December 4, 1988 (some strips from November are also found in The Revenge of the Baby-Sat) | Original black-and-white artwork scattered throughout book |
| The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury | October 1990 | ISBN 0-8362-1822-1 | color Sundays/Black and white | All strips from Yukon Ho! and Weirdos from Another Planet! | Seven-page story in which Calvin becomes an elephant |
| The Revenge of the Baby-Sat | April 1991 | ISBN 0-8362-1866-3 | black and white | December 5, 1988 to September 10, 1989 | |
| Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" | October 1991 | ISBN 0-8362-1878-7 | black and white | September 11, 1989 to July 15, 1990 (some strips from June and July are also found in Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons) | |
| Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons | April 1992 | ISBN 0-8362-1883-3 | black and white | June 11, 1990 to April 10, 1991 | |
| The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury | October 1992 | ISBN 0-8362-1898-1 | color Sundays / black and white | All strips from The Revenge of the Baby-Sat and Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" | Several illustrated poems |
| Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes | 1993 | ISBN 1-8788-4915-8 | black and white | 57 strips comprising five stories: "The Binoculars," "The Find," "The Christmas Story," "The Bug Collection," and "The Report" | Lesson units by Linda Holmen and Mary Santella-Johnson based on the strips |
| The Days Are Just Packed | October 1993 | ISBN 0-8362-1735-7 | color Sundays | April 11, 1991 to November 1, 1992 excluding May 5, 1991 to Feb 1, 1992 due to repeats | |
| Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat | October 1994 | ISBN 0-8362-1769-1 | color Sundays/ black and white | November 2, 1992 to August 29, 1993 | |
| The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book | October 1995 | ISBN 0-8362-0438-7 | color Sundays | Collection of strips chosen by the author | Commentary by Watterson and annotations on individual strips |
| There's Treasure Everywhere | March 1996 | ISBN 0-8362-1312-2 | color Sundays | August 30, 1993 to April 8, 1995 excluding April 3 to December 31, 1994 due to repeats (some strips from March and April 1995 are also found in It's a Magical World) | |
| It's a Magical World | October 1996 | ISBN 0-8362-2136-2 | color Sundays | March 20, 1995 to December 31, 1995 (final strip) (some strips from March and April are also found in There's Treasure Everywhere) | |
| Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages, 1985-1995: An Exhibition Catalogue | September 2001 | ISBN 0-7407-2135-6 | color Sundays | Collection of Sunday strips chosen by the author | Original sketches and commentary by Watterson |
| The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (hardcover) | October 2005 | ISBN 0-7407-4847-5 | color Sundays / black and white | Three-volume set containing all strips; 22.5 lb./10.2 kg; includes Spiff feature, the illustrated poems, and color prints of other cover art | Introduction and commentary |
| The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (paperback) | November 2012 | ISBN 1-4494-3325-1 | color Sundays / black and white | Four-volume set containing all strips; 14.3 lb./6.5 kg; includes Spiff feature, the illustrated poems, and color prints of other cover art | Introduction and commentary |
| Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue | February 2015 | ISBN 978-1-4494-6036-5 | Catalogue for the exhibit by the same name at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University | Original art and commentary by Watterson |
Notes
edit- ^ Counting the hardcover and paperback editions of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes as one title (despite being released seven years apart and consisting of a different number of volumes).