Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes was a daily comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. Syndicated from November 18, 1985 until December 31, 1995, at its height Calvin and Hobbes was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed. However, Watterson has mentioned that Calvin and Hobbes never appeared in his own newspaper, making his job somewhat abstract.

Calvin and Hobbes took many wagon rides over the years—this one showed up on the cover of the first collection of comic strips.

The strip is vaguely set in the contemporary Midwestern United States, in the outskirts of suburbia. In one strip, it was revealed that a map of Montana was in the house, but it is unknown if the strip takes place anywhere nearby or not. In another strip, Calvin recalls that his house is near the letter "E" in the word "STATES" on a map of the U.S. Calvin and Hobbes themselves appear in most of the strips, though several have focused instead upon Calvin's family. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif; Calvin sees Hobbes as alive, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal, a point discussed more fully below. Unlike political strips such as Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, the series doesn't mention specific political figures, but it does examine broad issues like environmentalism and the flaws of opinion polls.

Because of Watterson's strong anti-merchandising sentiments and his reluctance to return to the spotlight, almost no legitimate Calvin and Hobbes licensed material exists outside of the book collections, but collectors do collect items that were officially approved for marketing purposes. Two notable exceptions to the licensing embargo were the publication of two 16-month wall calendars and the textbook Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes.

However, the strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various "bootleg" items, including T-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers, and window decals, often including obscene language or references wholly uncharacteristic of the whimsical spirit of Watterson's work.

History

Calvin and Hobbes was first conceived when Watterson, having worked in an advertising job he detested, began devoting his spare time to cartooning, his true love. He explored various strip ideas but all were rejected by the syndicates to which he sent them. However, he did receive a positive response on one strip, which featured a side character (the main character's little brother) who had a stuffed tiger. Told that these characters were the strongest, Watterson began a new strip centered around them. The syndicate (United Features Syndicate) which gave him this advice actually rejected the new strip, and Watterson endured a few more rejections before Universal Press Syndicate decided to take it.

The first strip was published on November 18, 1985 and the series quickly became a hit. Within a year of syndication, the strip was published in roughly 250 newspapers. By April 1 1987, only sixteen months after the strip began, Watterson and his work were featured in an article by the Los Angeles Times, one of the nation's major newspapers. Calvin and Hobbes twice earned Watterson the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, in the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year category, first in 1986 and again in 1988. (He was nominated again in 1992.) Also, the Society awarded him the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988.

Before long, the strip was in wide circulation outside the United States; for more information on publication in various countries and languages, see Calvin and Hobbes in translation.

Watterson took two extended breaks from writing new strips—from May 1991 to February 1992, and from April through December of 1994.

In 1995, Watterson sent a letter via his syndicate to all editors whose newspapers carried his strip. It contained the following:

I will be stopping Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year. This was not a recent or an easy decision, and I leave with some sadness. My interests have shifted however, and I believe I've done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises. I have not yet decided on future projects, but my relationship with Universal Press Syndicate will continue.

That so many newspapers would carry Calvin and Hobbes is an honor I'll long be proud of, and I've greatly appreciated your support and indulgence over the last decade. Drawing this comic strip has been a privilege and a pleasure, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity.

The 3150th and final strip ran on Sunday, December 31, 1995. It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly-fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy!" Calvin exclaims in the last panel. "Let's go exploring!"

Syndication and Watterson's artistic standards

From the outset, Watterson found himself at odds with the syndicate, which urged him to begin merchandising the characters and touring the country to promote the first collections of comic strips. Watterson refused. To him, the integrity of the strip and its artist would be undermined by commercialization, which he saw as a major negative influence in the world of cartoon art.

Watterson also grew increasingly frustrated by the gradual shrinking of available space for comics in the newspapers. He lamented that without space for anything more than simple dialogue or spare artwork, comics as an art form were becoming dilute, bland, and unoriginal. Watterson strove for a full-page version of his strip (as opposed to the few cells allocated for most strips). He longed for the artistic freedom allotted classic strips such as Little Nemo and Krazy Kat, and he gave a sample of what could be accomplished with such liberty in the opening pages of the Sunday strip compilation, The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book.

During Watterson's first sabbatical from the strip, Universal Press Syndicate continued to charge newspapers full price to re-run old Calvin and Hobbes strips. Few editors approved of the move, but the strip was so popular that they had little choice but to continue to run it for fear that competing newspapers might pick it up and draw its fans away. Then, upon Watterson's return, Universal Press announced that Watterson had demanded that his Sunday strip be guaranteed half of a newspaper or tabloid page for its space allotment. Many editors and even a few cartoonists, such as Bil Keane (The Family Circus), criticized him for what they perceived as arrogance and an unwillingness to abide by the normal practices of the cartoon business—a charge that Watterson ignored. Watterson had negotiated the deal to allow himself more creative freedom in the Sunday comics. Prior to the switch, he had to have a certain number of panels with little freedom as to layout (due to the fact that in different newspapers the strip would appear at a different width); afterwards, he was free to go with whatever graphic layout he wanted, however unorthodox. His frustration with the standard space division requirements is evident in strips before the change; for example, a 1988 Sunday strip published before the deal is one large panel, but with all the action and dialogue in the bottom part of the panel so editors could crop the top part if they wanted to fit the strip into a smaller space. Watterson's explanation for the switch:

I took a sabbatical after resolving a long and emotionally draining fight to prevent Calvin and Hobbes from being merchandised. Looking for a way to rekindle my enthusiasm for the duration of a new contract term, I proposed a redesigned Sunday format that would permit more panel flexibility. To my surprise and delight, Universal responded with an offer to market the strip as an unbreakable half page (more space than I'd dared to ask for), despite the expected resistance of editors.

To this day, my syndicate assures me that some editors liked the new format, appreciated the difference, and were happy to run the larger strip, but I think it's fair to say that this was not the most common reaction. The syndicate had warned me to prepare for numerous cancellations of the Sunday feature, but after a few weeks of dealing with howling, purple-faced editors, the syndicate suggested that papers could reduce the strip to the size tabloid newspapers used for their smaller sheets of paper. … I focused on the bright side: I had complete freedom of design and there were virtually no cancellations.

For all the yelling and screaming by outraged editors, I remain convinced that the larger Sunday strip gave newspapers a better product and made the comics section more fun for readers. Comics are a visual medium. A strip with a lot of drawing can be exciting and add some variety. Proud as I am that I was able to draw a larger strip, I don't expect to see it happen again any time soon. In the newspaper business, space is money, and I suspect most editors would still say that the difference is not worth the cost. Sadly, the situation is a vicious circle: because there's no room for better artwork, the comics are simply drawn; because they're simply drawn, why should they have more room?

Despite the change, Calvin and Hobbes remained extremely popular and thus Watterson was able to expand his style and technique for the more spacious Sunday strips without losing carriers.

Since ending the strip, Watterson has kept aloof from the public eye and has given no indication of resuming the strip or creating new works based on the characters. He refuses to sign autographs or license his characters, staying true to his stated principles. In previous years, he was known to sneak autographed copies of his books onto the shelves of a family-owned bookstore near his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. However, after discovering that some people were selling the autographed books on eBay for high prices, he ended this practice as well.

Merchandising

Bill Watterson is notable for his insistence that cartoon strips should stand on their own as an art form, and he has resisted the use of Calvin and Hobbes in merchandising of any sort. This insistence stuck despite what was probably a cost of millions of dollars per year in additional personal income. Watterson explains in a 2005 press release:

Actually, I wasn't against all merchandising when I started the strip, but each product I considered seemed to violate the spirit of the strip, contradict its message, and take me away from the work I loved. If my syndicate had let it go at that, the decision would have taken maybe 30 seconds of my life.

Watterson did ponder animating Calvin and Hobbes, and has expressed admiration for the art form. In a 1989 interview in The Comics Journal, Watterson states:

If you look at the old cartoons by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, you’ll see that there are a lot of things single drawings just can’t do. Animators can get away with incredible distortion and exaggeration [...] because the animator can control the length of time you see something. The bizarre exaggeration barely has time to register, and the viewer doesn’t ponder the incredible license he's witnessed.

In a comic strip, you just show the highlights of action - you can’t show the buildup and release... or at least not without slowing down the pace of everything to the point where it’s like looking at individual frames of a movie, in which case you’ve probably lost the effect you were trying to achieve. In a comic strip, you can suggest motion and time, but it’s very crude compared to what an animator can do. I have a real awe for good animation.

After this he was asked if it was "a little scary to think of hearing Calvin's voice." He responded that it was "very scary," and although he loved the visual possibilities animation had, the thought of casting voice actors to play his characters was something he felt uncomfortable doing. Plus, he wasn't sure he wanted to work with an animation team, as he'd done all previous work by himself. Ultimately, Calvin and Hobbes was never made into an animated series.

Except for the books, two 16-month calendars (1988–1989 and 1989–1990), and a children's textbook, virtually all Calvin and Hobbes merchandise, including T-shirts as well as the ubiquitous stickers for automobile rear windows which depict Calvin urinating on a company's or sports team's name or logo, are unauthorized. After threat of a lawsuit alleging infringement of copyright and trademark, some of the sticker makers replaced Calvin with a different boy, while other makers ignored the issue. Watterson wryly commented "I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo." Some legitimate special items were produced, such as promotional packages to sell the strip to newspapers, but these were never sold outright.

Popular culture

Comedian David Spade has a tattoo of Calvin on his left bicep. It was given to him by actor Sean Penn during an interview on Saturday Night Live.

Style and Influences

Calvin and Hobbes strips are characterized by sparse but careful draftsmanship, intelligent humor, poignant observations, witty social and political commentary, and well-developed characters that are full of personality. Precedents to Calvin's fantasy world can be found in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Percy Crosby's Skippy, Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County, and George Herriman's Krazy Kat, while Watterson's use of comics as sociopolitical commentary reaches back to Walt Kelly's Pogo. Schulz and Kelly in particular influenced Watterson's outlook on comics during his formative years.

Notable elements of Watterson's artistic style are his characters' diverse and often exaggerated expressions (particularly those of Calvin), elaborate and bizarre backgrounds for Calvin's flights of imagination, well-captured kinetics, and frequent visual jokes and metaphors. In the later years of the strip, with more space available for his use, Watterson experimented more freely with different panel layouts, stories without dialogue, and greater use of whitespace.

Watterson's technique started with minimal pencil sketches (though the larger Sunday strips often required more elaborate work); he then would use a small sable brush and India ink to complete most of the remaining drawing. He was careful in his use of color, often spending a great deal of time in choosing the right colors to employ for the weekly Sunday strip.

Art and academia

Watterson has used the strip to criticize the artistic world, principally through Calvin's unconventional creations of snowmen. When Miss Wormwood complains that he is wasting class time drawing incomprehensible things (a stegosaurus in a rocket ship, in fact), Calvin proclaims himself "on the cutting edge of the avant-garde". He begins exploring the medium of snow when a warm day melts his snowman. His next sculpture "speaks to the horror of our own mortality", inviting the viewer to contemplate the fleeting nature of life, much in the vein of Ecclesiastes. Over the years, Calvin's creative instincts diversify into sidewalk drawings ("suburban postmodernism").

Watterson also directed criticism toward the academic world. Calvin writes a "revisionist autobiography", giving himself a flame thrower; he carefully crafts an "artist's statement", knowing that such essays convey more messages than artworks themselves ever do. ("You misspelled Weltanschauung," Hobbes notes.) He indulges in what Watterson calls "pop psychobabble" to justify his destructive rampages and shift blame to his parents, citing "toxic codependency." Once, he pens a book report entitled, "The dynamics of interbeing and monological imperatives in Dick and Jane: a study in psychic transrelational gender modes." Displaying his creation to Hobbes, he remarks, "Academia, here I come!" Watterson explains that he adapted this jargon (and similar examples from several other strips) from an actual book of art criticism.

Overall, Watterson's satirical essays serve to attack both sides, criticizing both the commercial mainstream and the artists who are supposed to be "outside" it. Walking contemplatively through the woods, not long after he began drawing his "Dinosaurs in Rocket Ships Series", Calvin tells Hobbes,

The hard part for us avant-garde post-modern artists is deciding whether or not to embrace commercialism. Do we allow our work to be hyped and exploited by a market that's simply hungry for the next new thing? Do we participate in a system that turns high art into low art so it's better suited for mass consumption?

Of course, when an artist goes commercial, he makes a mockery of his status as an outsider and free thinker. He buys into the crass and shallow values art should transcend. He trades the integrity of his art for riches and fame.

Oh, what the heck. I'll do it.

Such sentiments echo Watterson's own struggles with his Syndicate over merchandising issues.

Distorted reality

Upon several occasions, Watterson began a strip with a distorted view of reality: inverted colors, all objects turning "neo-Cubist", or the world turning to black-and-white, for example. Only Calvin is able to perceive these changes, which the reader can interpret as Calvin's way of seeing certain situations, issues and subjects which he has difficulty understanding or accepting.

In the Tenth Anniversary Book, Watterson indicates that some of these strips were metaphors for his own conflicts, typically against his Syndicate's desire to produce Calvin and Hobbes merchandise. Accused of only seeing issues in "black and white"—e.g., crass commercialism versus artistic integrity, with nothing in between—Watterson chose to illustrate the situation literally, dropping Calvin into a world where everything had lost shades of grey. Conversely, the "neo-Cubist" strip emerged from the way Watterson found himself "paralyzed by being able to see all sides of an issue".

Passage of time

When the strips were originally published, Calvin's settings were seasonally appropriate for the Northern hemisphere. Calvin would be seen building snowmen or sledding during the wintertime, and outside activities such as water balloon fights would replace school during the summer. Christmas and Halloween strips were run during those approximate times of year.

Although Watterson depicts several years' worth of holidays, school years, summer vacations, and camping trips, Calvin is never shown to age nor have any birthday celebrations (the only shown birthday was that of Susie Derkins). This is fairly common among comic strips; consider the children in Charles Schulz's Peanuts, most of whom existed without aging for decades. Likewise, the characters in George Herriman's Krazy Kat celebrate the New Year but never grow old, and young characters like Ignatz Mouse's offspring never seem to grow up. Since this is such a common phenomenon, readers are likely to suspend disbelief, as most of them do about Calvin's precocious vocabulary, accepting that he "was never a literal six-year-old"..

Social criticisms

In addition to his criticisms of art and academia, Watterson often used the strip to comment on American culture and society. As the strip avoids reference to actual people or events, Watterson's commentary is necessarily generalized. He expresses frustration with public decadence and apathy, with commercialism, and the pandering nature of the mass media. Calvin is often seen "glued" to the television, while his father speaks with the voice of the author, struggling to impart his values on Calvin.

Hobbes also speaks on Calvin's unwholesome habits, but from a more cynical perspective; he is more likely to make a wry observation than actually intervene. Sometimes he merely looks on as Calvin inadvertently makes the point himself. In one instance, Calvin tells Hobbes about a story in which machines turn humans into zombie slaves. He then exclaims "Hey! What time is it?? My TV show is on!"

Calvin's taste in films is another way in which Watterson criticizes American culture. Films which Calvin has attempted to watch include Attack of the Coed Cannibals, Cannibal Stewardess Vixens Unchained, Killer Prom Queen, Vampire Sorority Babes, and Venusian Vampire Vixens.

Calvin, as a whole, often appears to be obsessed with the less desirable aspects of pop culture, whereas Hobbes seems to serve as a mouth piece for the author.

The main characters

Calvin

Main articles: Calvin (character) and Calvin

Calvin

Calvin

Named after 16th century theologian John Calvin (founder of Calvinism and a strong believer in predestination), Calvin is an impulsive, imaginative, energetic, curious, intelligent, self-centered, and often selfish six-year-old, whose last name the strip never gives. Despite his low grades, Calvin has a wide vocabulary range that rivals that of an adult as well as an emerging philosophical mind. He commonly wears his distinctive striped shirt. Watterson has described Calvin thus:

• "Calvin is pretty easy to do because he is outgoing and rambunctious and there's not much of a filter between his brain and his mouth".

• "I guess he's a little too intelligent for his age. The thing that I really enjoy about him is that he has no sense of restraint, he doesn't have the experience yet to know the things that you shouldn't do".
• "The socialization that we all go through to become adults teaches you not to say certain things because you later suffer the consequences. Calvin doesn't know that rule of thumb yet".

Calvinistic predestination as a philosophical position basically entails the idea that human action plays no part in affecting a person's ultimate salvation or damnation. Calvin's consistent gripe is that the troublesome acts he commits are outside of his control: he is simply a product of his environment, a victim of circumstances.

Hobbes

Hobbes

Hobbes

Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger who, from Calvin's perspective, is as alive and real as anyone in the strip. He is named after 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who had what Watterson described as "a dim view of human nature." He is famous for his claim that humans' natural state is a state of war, where "the life of man [is], solitary, poore [sic], nasty, brutish, and short." Hobbes is much more rational and aware of consequences than Calvin, but seldom interferes with Calvin's troublemaking beyond a few oblique warnings—after all, Calvin will be the one to get in trouble for it, not Hobbes.

For the most part, Calvin and Hobbes converse and play together, reveling in what is ultimately a deep friendship. They also frequently argue or even fight with each other, though their disagreements are generally short-lived. Often Hobbes ambushes Calvin with an energetic pounce-and-tackle attack, which leaves Calvin bruised and scraped up but not seriously harmed. Hobbes takes great pleasure in his demonstrations of feline prowess, while Calvin expresses keen frustration at his inability to stop the attacks or explain his injuries to his skeptical parents.

Watterson based some of Hobbes's characteristics, especially his playfulness and attack instinct, on his own pet cat, Sprite. Hobbes takes great pride in being a feline and frequently makes wry or even disparaging comments about human nature, declaring his good fortune to lead a tiger's life. In Calvin's philosophical ramblings, it is evident that Hobbes is usually Bill Watterson's voice on the subject, whereas Calvin usually seems to echo the sentiments (or lack thereof) of modern America. It may otherwise be asserted that Calvin rather portrays an alter-ego of Watterson.

Interestingly, Hobbes almost never calls Calvin by his name. Instead, he simply uses pronouns when speaking to his human counterpart.

One frequently recurring theme is Hobbes' love affair with tuna, which borders on obsessive addiction.

Hobbes' reality

From Calvin's point of view, Hobbes is a walking, talking, bipedal tiger, much larger than Calvin and full of his own attitudes and ideas. But when the perspective shifts to any other character, readers see merely a little stuffed tiger. This is, of course, an odd dichotomy, and Watterson explains it thus:

When Hobbes is a stuffed toy in one panel and alive in the next, I'm juxtaposing the "grown-up" version of reality with Calvin's version, and inviting the reader to decide which is truer.

Many readers assume that Hobbes is either a product of Calvin's imagination, or a doll that comes to life when Calvin is the only one around. However, both of these theories are incorrect. As Watterson explains in the Tenth Anniversary Book, "Hobbes is more about the subjective nature of reality than dolls coming to life": thus there is no concrete definition of Hobbes' reality. Watterson explained: "Calvin sees Hobbes one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way." Hobbes' reality is in the eye of the beholder. The so-called 'gimmick' of Hobbes is the juxtaposition of Calvin and Hobbes' reality and everyone else's, with the two rarely agreeing.

Sometimes Hobbes breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader, such as when Calvin tries to parachute from his house's roof ("His mom's going to have a fit about those rose bushes"). On other occasions, it is difficult to imagine how the "stuffed toy" interpretation of Hobbes is consistent with what the characters see. For example, he "assists" Calvin's attempt to become a Houdini-style escape artist by tying Calvin to a chair. Calvin, however, cannot escape, and his irritated father must undo the knots, all the while asking Calvin how he could do this to himself. In a rare interview, Watterson explained his approach to this situation:

Calvin's dad finds him tied up and the question remains, really, how did he get that way? His dad assumes that Calvin tied himself up somehow, so well that he couldn't get out. Calvin explains that Hobbes did this to him and he tries to place the blame on Hobbes entirely, and it's never resolved in the strip. Again I don't think that's just a cheap way out of the story. I like the tension that that creates, where you've got two versions of reality that do not mix. Something odd has happened and neither makes complete sense, so you're left to make out of it what you want.

In response to the journalist's assumption that Hobbes was a figment of Calvin's imagination, Watterson responded,

But the strip doesn't assert that. That's the assumption that adults make because nobody else sees him, sees Hobbes, in the way that Calvin does. Some reporter was writing a story on imaginary friends and they asked me for a comment, and I didn’t do it because I really have absolutely no knowledge about imaginary friends. It would seem to me, though, that when you make up a friend for yourself, you would have somebody to agree with you, not to argue with you. So Hobbes is more real than I suspect any kid would dream up.

In another story, Susie has to stay at Calvin's house after school because her parents are working late. Calvin only finds this out on the way home; when Calvin and Susie reach the house, Hobbes is waiting by the door for Susie and wearing a tie. But the question is, how is Hobbes wearing the tie? Another instance of ambiguity is a strip in which Calvin imagines Hobbes and himself on the front page of many newspapers after winning a contest. Although these newspapers are clearly a figment of Calvin's imagination, Hobbes appears in "stuffed" form. Calvin has taken photographs of Hobbes, but on each occasion, when adults see the pictures, Hobbes appears as a stuffed toy.

Many people feel that the blurred reality between Hobbes' two forms is both amusing and philosophical. Hobbes is often the voice of reason, contrasting Calvin's manic impulsiveness. Readers are left to wonder if this rationality is in Hobbes as a distinct personality, or in Calvin as a kind of conscience. In the end, the question becomes less about absolute truth and more about different versions of reality: the nature of Hobbes' existence was never a puzzle to be solved, but rather a subtle comment on the power of imagination, and on the similar power of a lack thereof.

Supporting characters

Recurring characters

Calvin's family

File:Calmomdad.gif

Calvin's unnamed parents, usually referred to only as "Mom" and "Dad".

Calvin's mother and father are for the most part typical Middle American middle-class parents; like many other characters in the strip, their relatively down-to-earth and sensible attitudes serve primarily as a foil for Calvin's outlandish behavior. Both parents go through the entire strip unnamed, except as "Mom" and "Dad", or such pet names as "hon" and "dear." Watterson has never given Calvin's parents names "because as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom and dad."

Calvin's father is a middle-aged patent attorney who is portrayed as an upstanding middle-class father, as his son might see him. An outdoorsman, he enjoys bike rides and camping trips, and insists that these activities, like Calvin's chores, "build character." When Calvin asks him questions, he often makes up outlandish answers, such as:

Calvin: "Why does it [the sun] move from east to west?"

Dad: "Solar wind."

or

Calvin: "Dad, what makes wind?"

Dad: "Trees sneezing."

Calvin: "Really?"

Dad: "No, but the truth is more complicated."

Calvin (later, to Hobbes): "The trees are really sneezing today."

These repeated vague and outright false answers may be social commentary on the distortion of reality that pervades much of Calvin and Hobbes. It is intriguing to note that to be a patent attorney traditionally requires an engineering degree, therefore Calvin's father must have the actual scientific knowledge of the questions Calvin asks. His refusal and nonsensical responses indicate the adult world's unwillingness to share the knowledge or deliberate distortion of reality. Of course, these bits of nonsensical fatherly "wisdom" may also signify that Calvin's father, like his son, has an imaginative streak that occasionally bursts free of his straitlaced paternal facade (thus implying that Calvin's mother's occasional accusations that Calvin must have inherited his outlandish behaviour from Dad's side of the family may, in fact, be correct).

The character is closely based on Watterson's own father, who is also a patent attorney, and often told his family that unpleasant things "built character." The actual caricature is rumored to be a self-portrait of Watterson himself, minus his facial hair. Watterson has said that he identifies more with this character than with Calvin.

Calvin's mother is a stay-at-home parent who is frequently exasperated by Calvin's antics. On the rare occasions when she is not reacting to Calvin's misbehavior, she seems to enjoy quiet activities, such as gardening and reading. The "daily disciplinarian", she is frequently the one forced to curb Calvin's destructive tendencies; in one Sunday strip, she allows Calvin to smoke a cigarette in order to teach him how unpleasant smoking can be. She also usually seems sympathetic towards her son's relationship with Hobbes, and a few times has found herself speaking to Hobbes as well (although she refers to one instance as "talking to a stuffed animal").

On occasion, Watterson takes the time to flesh out the two parental characters. One example is a storyline in which the family returns from a wedding to find their house broken into. For several strips, Calvin and Hobbes fade into the background as Mom and Dad reflect on the impact of the event.

Calvin's parents drive a purple hatchback similar to an early 1980s Honda Civic or VW Rabbit. The car is the setting of family trips, and is occasionally the victim of Calvin's mischief, such as when he pushes the car into a ditch or attempts to sell it.

Calvin also has a maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather. A grandfather who smokes is also mentioned, but it is unclear whether he is the maternal or paternal grandfather; none appear in the strip, and are only rarely mentioned in dialogue. Calvin also has an Uncle Max, a minor character who figures in one storyline but was not to Watterson's liking and vanished again.

Susie Derkins

Main article: Susie Derkins

Susie Derkins, the only character with both first and last names, is a classmate of Calvin who lives in his neighborhood. She first appeared early in the strip as a new student in Calvin's class. In contrast with Calvin, she is polite and diligent in her studies, and her imagination usually seems mild-mannered and civilized, consisting of stereotypical young girl games such as playing house or having tea parties with her stuffed animals. "Derkins" was the nickname of Watterson's wife's childhood pet, and he liked the name so much he named this character after it.

Susie and Calvin's relationship is a constant source of tension; she is frequently the victim of Calvin's derision and plots, and is also often willing to retaliate when provoked. Most commonly, Susie will be the _target of Calvin's water balloons or snowballs, and he often goes to great lengths to disgust or annoy Susie. Calvin founded his and Hobbes' secret club, G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy GirlS) as a general anti-girl organization, but in practice the club is almost invariably dedicated to pestering Susie specifically.

Watterson admits that Calvin and Susie have a bit of a nascent crush on each other, and that Susie is inspired by the type of women he himself finds attractive (which has led to speculation that Susie is based on Watterson's wife). Her relationship with Calvin, though, is frequently conflicted, and never really becomes sorted out. The love/hate relationship is most obvious in some of the early comics involving Susie and Calvin's relationships, when some punchlines revolved around Susie and Calvin going out of their way to malign each other, followed immediately by each thinking romantic thoughts about the other. Specifically, in an early Valentine's Day strip, Susie seems to appreciate a rather juvenile and insulting card Calvin gives her, and he rejoices when she notices him. Watterson, in retrospect, decided this was a bit heavy-handed and resolved to simply let the two characters bounce off each other in future, to the point of practically removing any romantic subtext.

On occasion, Hobbes takes action to attract Susie's romantic attention, often with success, and much to Calvin's chagrin. Although on the surface these scenarios take the form of Hobbes teasing Calvin and showing off his charms, they may be Calvin's way to disguise his own crush on Susie, by pretending that it is Hobbes' crush instead. As Calvin once said, "It's shameless, the way we flirt."

Miss Wormwood

Main article: Miss Wormwood

Miss Wormwood is Calvin's world-weary teacher, named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. She perpetually wears polka-dotted dresses, and is another character who serves as a foil to Calvin's mischief. Calvin, when in his Spaceman Spiff persona, sees Miss Wormwood as a slimy, often dictatorial alien.

Miss Wormwood is rarely sympathetic to the trouble Calvin has in school, and comes across as a rather strict, sour character. She is quick to send Calvin to the principal's office at the first sign of trouble. She is also a heavy smoker—"Rumor has it she's up to two packs a day, unfiltered"—mixes different stress-related medications, drinks Maalox straight from the bottle, and is waiting for retirement.

Although there is a definite progression of time in the Calvin and Hobbes universe, mainly exhibited by the changing seasons, Calvin (and Susie) return to Ms. Wormwood's first-grade class every fall.

Rosalyn

Main article: Rosalyn (Calvin and Hobbes character)

File:Calroz.gif

Rosalyn, Calvin's babysitter.

Rosalyn is a high school student and Calvin's official babysitter whenever Calvin's parents need a night out. She is the only babysitter able to tolerate Calvin's antics, which she uses to demand raises and advances from Calvin's desperate parents. She is also, according to Watterson, the only person Calvin truly fears—certainly she is his equal in cunning, and doesn't hesitate to play as dirty as he does. Originally created as a nameless, one-shot character with no plans to appear again, Watterson decided he wanted to retain her unique ability to intimidate Calvin, which, ultimately, led to many more appearances.

Rosalyn's idea of babysitting is to put Calvin to bed at 6:30, and she has little patience for his attempts to rebel against her. Calvin will often freak out whenever he hears that Rosalyn is going to be babysitting him, in one instance screaming non-stop for an entire strip, and generally attempts to cause as much trouble as possible. In the final Rosalyn story, however, the traditional war is averted by a game of Calvinball, in which Rosalyn proves to be a formidable player, and once again trumps Calvin with a clever move in the last panel.

Moe

Main articles: Moe (Calvin and Hobbes character) and Moe

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Moe, a bully at Calvin's school.

Moe is the prototypical bully character in Calvin & Hobbes, "a six-year-old who shaves" who is always shoving Calvin against walls, demanding his lunch money and calling him "Twinky". Moe is the only regular character who speaks in an unusual font: his (frequently monosyllabic) dialogue is shown in crude, lower-case letters. Watterson describes Moe as "every jerk I've ever known".

While Rosalyn is frequently a match for Calvin's plans, and serves as, perhaps, his "match" on a more strategic and psychological front, Moe seems to be the only character capable of frustrating Calvin to the point of absolute resignation, and operates merely through brute force and physical coercion. Calvin's rare attempts to retaliate have mainly consisted of mocking Moe with words the bully can't understand.

See also Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes.

Recurring subject matter

There are several repeating themes in the work, a few involving Calvin's real life, and many stemming from his incredible imagination. Some of the latter are clearly flights of fancy, while others, like Hobbes, are of an apparently dual nature and don't quite work when presumed real or unreal.

Calvin's alter-egos

File:TracerBullet.jpg

Tracer Bullet

Calvin's hyperactive imagination leads him to imagine himself as other characters with different powers and goals, sometimes vanishing into a fantasy to escape a difficult situation (like a school quiz). It is important to note that Hobbes is not seen taking part in the fantasies involving Calvin's alter-egos, other than criticizing his choice of alternate personae. Upon several occasions, Calvin has appeared as either a larger or a smaller version of himself, rampaging through the city like Godzilla or crawling across a book page as "Calvin, the human insect". More frequently, however, his imagination transforms him into a being of a different kind.

Calvin's three preferred alternate personas are Stupendous Man, a superhero; Spaceman Spiff, an astronaut and intergalactic explorer; and Tracer Bullet, a private investigator. For details, see Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes.

Monsters under the bed

At night, Calvin is constantly terrorized by nightmarish creatures apparently living under his bed. Only Calvin and Hobbes are aware of them (there are occasions on which they attempt to bribe Hobbes into handing Calvin over, often with food). There appears to be no continuing theme to their appearance except that they are very intimidating, but none too bright, and they probably want to eat Calvin. Two of the monsters are named Maurice and Winslow, but it's unexplained whether it's the same monsters throughout the series.

G.R.O.S.S.

G.R.O.S.S. is Calvin's anti-girl club, somewhat reminiscent of a South American-style banana republic. The name is an acronym that stands for Get Rid Of Slimy girlS (Calvin admits "slimy girls" is a bit redundant, "but otherwise it doesn't spell anything"). Based in a treehouse, the main objective of G.R.O.S.S. is to exclude girls, mostly Calvin's neighbor Susie. Calvin and Hobbes are its only members, and wear newspaper chapeaux during meetings. Calvin and Hobbes spend most of their time in the club reworking its constitution and arguing about their excessively bureaucratic roles and titles. Because the club exists specifically to harass girls, they sometimes plan missions to do so. After a mission they give themselves medals, regardless of whether they succeed or fail. Calvin is G.R.O.S.S.'s "Supreme Dictator for Life", and Hobbes is "President and First Tiger".

Mealtimes

Lunchtime and dinnertime find Calvin eager to share his thoughts about the food he (or anyone else) is eating. Calvin's meals at home are generally depicted as a pile of unidentifiable green goop. Those eating with him are generally repulsed by his colorful descriptions of the cuisine, which is one of the reasons his parents seldom take him to restaurants. He also gives interesting commentary on his food during lunchtime at school, infuriating Susie (he once referred to his dish of beans 'n' franks as "cigar butts in a gallstone sauce"). In one case these descriptions — specifically referring to the contents of Calvin's school lunch as "a Thermos full of phlegm" — were ghastly enough that a newspaper cancelled the strip. Calvin's mother occasionally coaxes him to eat his dinner by informing him that they are serving some outlandish or stomach-turning dish — e.g. toxic waste (which Calvin's father informs him will "turn you into a mutant if you eat it"), monkey heads, spider pie, soup with maggots in it — which Calvin then eats with relish, though his father usually no longer has an appetite (in the first such comic, however, the parents' roles are reversed). On occasion, his meals are also animate, usually resulting in a fight with said food and leaving a large mess that strains his mother's patience.

Cardboard boxes

Over the years Calvin has had quite a few adventures involving corrugated cardboard boxes, which he adapts for many different uses. His inventions include a Transmogrifier, a flying time machine (which he used to go to the dinosaur times), and a duplicator.

Building a transmogrifier is accomplished by turning a cardboard box upside-down, attaching an arrow to the side and writing a list of choices on the box. Upon turning the arrow to a particular choice and pushing a button, the transmogrifier instantaneously rearranges the subject's "chemical configuration" (accompanied by a loud zap, or a boink). Calvin makes his first foray into the world of transmogrification when he temporarily turns himself into a tiger, but he finds the experience disappointing. Calvin re-uses some of this technology when he cleverly converts an ordinary water gun into a portable transmogrifier gun, a device which saves his life when he finds himself falling from high altitude.

The time machine is built by flipping the transmogrifier back so that the opening faced upwards again. One uses it by donning a pair of goggles (in order to "contend with vortexes and light speeds") and climbing into the vehicle. Facing the front makes the machine go forward in time, and facing backwards makes it travel into the past. Calvin and Hobbes discover these time travel mechanics when they attempt to go into the future in order to bring back a few futuristic inventions and patent them in the present, securing a fortune for themselves. However, they face the wrong way and end up in the Jurassic period, bringing them face-to-face with a very large dinosaur.

A Duplicator is crafted by turning the box on its side. Whatever is put in the box will be duplicated with a boink sound (hence the book title, Scientific Progress Goes Boink). Calvin envisions having a small team of duplicate Calvins whom he could send off to school, so he could go about his own business during school days. However, the new Calvins prove to be exact replicas, with the same reluctance to go to school, and thus become difficult to control. Calvin later adds an "Ethicator" switch to his duplicator, allowing a duplicate to be designated "good" or "evil," since he believes that a duplicate of his well-buried "good side" could cause no harm. This experiment is successful at first, with the "good" duplicate willingly doing Calvin's homework and going to school, but soon this adventure too leads to disaster when the duplicate starts being nice to Susie Derkins (who Calvin "hates"). In consequence, Hobbes remarks, "You're the only person I know whose good side is prone to badness."

Calvin's last cardboard box invention is the Cerebral Brain Enhance-o-tron, which combined with a colander creates a "thinking cap," a garment which enhances his mental prowess (inadvertently causing his head to swell in addition). Upon activation, this machine goes brzap. Like his other inventions, the Cerebral Enhance-o-tron fails to change his life; even with his "cerebral augmentation," he is unable to write a school report up to Miss Wormwood's standards.

Most of the other characters do not see his inventions as "real." For example, when Calvin transmogrifies himself into an owl or a tiger, his parents do not observe the transformation; only he and Hobbes see the change. This is a similar dilemma to that of Hobbes' existence (see above).

Wagon and sled

Calvin and Hobbes frequently ride downhill in a wagon, sled, or toboggan (depending on the season) and ponder the meaning of life, death, God, and a variety of other weighty subjects as they hurtle downhill. The course of the vehicle and the obstacles that the characters negotiate as they travel frequently serve as metaphors for and parallel the subject of conversation, and the rides almost always end in a spectacular crash.

The wagon temporarily served as a spacecraft when Calvin and Hobbes realized that the human race was laying waste to Earth by polluting it. They decided to go live on Mars, but returned soon after when they realized that the native Martians (or, "weirdos from another planet") were terrified of Earthlings. This may have been a case of rumor preceding them; the prospect of terrestrial life polluting Mars as well as Earth was a bleak one. Although this particular wagon ride did not end in a crash, it once again served as an outlet for a subject matter of importance.

Snowballs and snowmen

During winter, Calvin often engages in snowball fights (which he almost always loses), usually throwing them at Susie but always resulting in Calvin getting buried in the snow as retaliation. Calvin also builds snowmen; but these are usually grotesque, monstrous deformed creatures (i.e., two-headed snowmen, snow monster with tentacles devouring a bunch of snowmen) or snowmen getting hanged, buried or holding their heads in their hands. Once while walking down the street during winter looking at the snowmen in front of the neighbors' houses, Calvin's father exclaims to his wife, "You can always tell when you get to our house", due to Calvin being the only one on the block who builds deformed snowmen. In one storyline, Calvin builds a snowman and brings it to life using the power "invested in him by the mighty and awful snow demons", which turns evil (reminiscent of Frankenstein.) The snowman turns itself into a "mutant killer monster snow goon" by giving itself two heads and three arms, and makes copies of itself that are eventually defeated by Calvin. Once, out of ideas, Calvin signed the snow-covered landscape with a stick and declared all the world's snow as his own work of art. Calvin, unlike Hobbes, thinks of snowmen as a fine art. Bill Watterson has said that this is to parody art's "pretentious blowhards".

Dinosaurs

Calvin enjoys dinosaurs very much; they are perhaps the only subject which he studies of his own free will. Carnivorous dinosaurs also frequently serve as Calvin's alter-egos; for instance, he will often imagine himself as a tyrannosaurus rex on the hunt, usually with Susie Derkins as the "peaceful" planteater. Once Calvin was an allosaur, and Moe was a diplodocus. Moe was at the drinking fountain and Calvin wanted to push him off, but the allosaurus was of course no match for the diplodocus; when he tried to attack it, he quickly shied off. Another Sunday strip involved Calvin, a tyrannosaurus, attacking Susie, a hadrosaurus, with a snowball. The tyrannosaurus was quickly chased away, prompting Calvin to throw away his dinosaur books. Calvin once claimed he had discovered a new species of therapod, a Calvinosaurus, a predator so large that it "could devour a whole sauropod with one bite."

Calvinball

Calvinball is a game played almost exclusively by Calvin and Hobbes as a rebellion against organized team sports (like baseball), although the babysitter Rosalyn plays on one occasion. Participants of Calvinball wear masks; when asked why, Calvin replies that "no one is allowed to question the masks." The rules of the game, besides that a soccer ball and wickets are almost always used, are invented as they go along, but one consistent rule is that the rules can never be the same twice (which in itself is a self-denying paradox). Either player may change any rule at any time, so the only way to break the rules is by using one rule twice. Scoring is also entirely arbitrary: Hobbes has reported scores of "Q to 12" and "oogy to boogy." Calvinball is essentially a game of wits and creativity, rather than purely physical feats. However, it's a running joke that Hobbes is typically more successful at the game than Calvin himself. Calvinball could be described as a Nomic game, and thus bears a similarity to others such as Mornington Crescent.

The reader first encounters the game after Calvin's horrible experience with school baseball. He registers to play baseball in order to avoid being teased by the other boys. While daydreaming in the outfield, he misses the switch and ends up making an out against his own team. His classmates mock him and, when he decides to walk away, his coach calls him a "quitter." That Saturday, Calvin and Hobbes play Calvinball, a game far removed from any organized sport. Even Calvin and Hobbes's own attempts to play organized sports between themselves usually deteriorate into Calvinball, as they end up inventing increasingly bizarre rules that cause whatever sport they were initially playing to spiral out of control.

The concept of "playing Calvinball" continues to appear in popular culture, usually when describing a situation in which the rules are changed according to someone's whims. For example: "...it doesn't really deal with the Congressional incentive to play Calvinball with the budget".

Watterson has stated that the greatest number of questions he receives concern Calvinball and how to play it.

School and homework

Calvin hates school and its attendant early-morning risings, irate teachers, homework, and fellow students. Often his mother has to force the unwilling Calvin to go up to the school bus. Occasionally he manages to avoid the bus, and his mother has to chase him down and force him to board or drive him to school. Calvin often waits for the bus with Hobbes and explains why an intelligent boy like himself does not need school. While at school, he commonly visualizes the building as a hostile planet and his teacher and principal as vicious aliens. Calvin usually lacks the company of Hobbes at school. Sometimes Hobbes does his homework and reading while Calvin watches TV or reads comic books. In general, Calvin is depicted as a poor student who is unable to concentrate in class, has difficulty interacting with other students, and struggles with homework. On occasion, he gets good marks and positive feedback for work, but these are usually short-lived victories.

Also on occasion, Calvin's inability to concentrate in class is compromised by inserting the class subject into his daydream, causing him to get the right answer. This includes spelling "disaster" while crash-landing on an alien world and blurting out the right answer at (from his point of view) a completely random moment or mistakenly giving Susie the right answer to "the capital of Poland before 1600" while making noises for his guns-'Krakow'.

Calvin's bicycle

Calvin has an adversarial relationship with his bicycle. The bicycle typically tries to injure Calvin, usually with success. Calvin sometimes tries to counter this with acts such as chaining his bicycle to the tree in his yard. In one Sunday strip, after an encounter with the bicycle, Calvin tells his dad, "Thanks for the helmet. Do they sell long-range offensive weapons?"

As with several things, Calvin's parents do not understand Calvin's relationship with his bicycle. For instance, in one strip, it somehow gets into his closet and waits for Calvin to go to bed. When Calvin finds this out, he shouts for help, but when his mother comes up, she says, "Everything's fine, honey... but why did you bring your bike up to your closet?

Calvin and Hobbes books

The books, labeled "Collections," form a complete archive of the newspaper strips, except for a single daily strip from November 28, 1985. (The collections do contain a strip for this date, but it is not the same strip that appeared in some newspapers. The alternate strip, a joke about Hobbes taking a bath in the washing machine, has circulated around the Internet.) "Treasuries" usually combine the two preceding collections with bonus material, and include color reprints of Sunday comics.

A complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes strips, in three hardcover volumes, with a total 1440 pages, was released on October 4, 2005, by Andrews McMeel Publishing. It also includes color prints of the art used on paperback covers, the Treasuries' extra illustrated stories and poems, and a new introduction by Bill Watterson, who is now happily teaching himself to paint. Unfortunately, the alternate 1985 strip is still omitted, and two other strips (January 7, 1987, and November 25, 1988) have altered dialogue.

To celebrate the release, Calvin and Hobbes reruns were made available to newspapers from Sunday, September 4, 2005, through Saturday, December 31, 2005, and Bill Watterson answered a select dozen questions submitted by readers. [1] [2] Like current contemporary strips, weekday Calvin and Hobbes strips now appear in color print when available, instead of black and white as in their first run.

Title	Cover	Date	ISBN	Notes
Calvin and Hobbes		April 1987	ISBN 0836220889	Collection covering strips from first strip on Nov 18, 1985 to Aug 17, 1986. Original content: Foreword by Garry Trudeau.
Something Under the Bed is Drooling	"Something Under the Bed is Drooling."	April 1988	ISBN 0836218256	Collection covering strips from Aug 18, 1986 to May 17, 1987. Original content: Foreword by Pat Oliphant.
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury	"The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury."	September 1988	ISBN 0836218051	Treasury including cartoons from Calvin and Hobbes & Something Under the Bed is Drooling. Original content: Foreword by Charles M. Schulz and original illustrated poem, "A Nauseous Nocturne."
Yukon Ho!	"Yukon Ho!"	March 1989	ISBN 0836218353	Collection covering strips from May 24, 1987 to Feb 1988(?). Original content: The "Yukon Song."
The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book: A Collection of Sunday Calvin and Hobbes Cartoons	"The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book: A Collection of Sunday Calvin and Hobbes Cartoons."	September 1989	ISBN 0836218523	Favorite Sunday comics. Ten-page story "Spaceman Spiff: Interplanetary Explorer Extraordinaire!"
Weirdos From Another Planet!	"Weirdos From Another Planet."	March 1990	ISBN 0836218620	Collection covering strips from Feb 1988(?) to Dec 4, 1988. Its main story is similar to that of Yukon Ho!, Calvin and Hobbes are tired of the pollution on Earth, and decide to move out. This time, instead of just their family, they try to secede from the planet. In a wagon they leave Earth for Mars. They find out that the Martians are scared of them, because earthlings pollute the environment, so they go back home. The story ends with Dad examining the suitcase which Calvin and Hobbes had carried to Mars.
The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury	"The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes."	October 1990	ISBN 0836218221	Treasury including cartoons from Yukon Ho! & Weirdos From Another Planet!. Original content: Seven-page story in which Calvin becomes an elephant.
The Revenge of the Baby-Sat	"The Revenge of the Baby-Sat."	April 1991	ISBN 0836218663	Collection covering strips from Dec 5, 1988 to Sept 1989(?).
Scientific Progress Goes "Boink"	Scientific Progress Goes "Boink."	October 1991	ISBN 0836218787	Collection covering strips from Sept 1989(?) to Jul 7, 1990.
Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons	"Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons."	April 1992	ISBN 0836218833	Collection covering strips from Jul 8, 1990 to Apr 10, 1991.
The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes	"The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes."	October 1992	ISBN 0836218981	Treasury including cartoons from The Revenge of the Baby-Sat & Scientific Progress Goes "Boink". Original content: Several illustrated poems.
The Days are Just Packed	"The Days are Just Packed."	October 1993	ISBN 0836217357	Collection covering strips from Apr 11, 1991 to Nov 1, 1992.
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat	"Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat."	October 1994	ISBN 0836217691	Collection covering strips from Nov 2, 1992 to Aug 29, 1993.
The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book	"The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book."	October 1995	ISBN 0836204387	Original content: Commentary by Watterson and annotations on individual strips.
There's Treasure Everywhere	"There's Treasure Everywhere."	March 1996	ISBN 0836213122	Collection covering strips from Aug 30, 1993 to Apr 8, 1995. (Some strips from March are in It's A Magical World.)
It's A Magical World	"It's A Magical World."	October 1996	ISBN 0836221362	Final collection covering strips from Mar 20, 1995 to the last strip on Dec 31, 1995. (Some strips from April are in There's Treasure Everywhere.)
Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995	"Calvin and Hobbes Sunday Pages 1985-1995."	September 2001	ISBN 0740721356	Collection of favorite Sundays. Original content: Original sketches and commentary by Watterson.
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes	"The Complete Calvin and Hobbes."	October 2005	ISBN 0740748475	Three-volume set containing all strips. 22.5 lbs. Includes Spiff feature, the illustrated poems, and color prints of other cover art. Original content: Introduction and commentary.

Early books were printed in smaller format in black and white that were later reproduced in twos in color in the "Treasuries" (Essential, Authoritative, and Indispensable)– except for the contents of Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Those Sunday strips were never reprinted in color until the Complete collection was finally published in 2005. Every book since Snow Goons has been printed in a larger format with Sundays in color and weekday and Saturday strips larger than they appeared in most newspapers.

Remaining books do contain some additional content; for instance, The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book contains a long watercolor Spaceman Spiff epic not seen elsewhere until Complete, and The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book contains much original commentary from Watterson. Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 contains 36 Sunday strips in color alongside Watterson's original sketches, prepared for an exhibition at The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library.

An officially licensed children's textbook entitled Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes (ISBN 1878849158) was published in 1993.

See also

• Calvin and Hobbes in translation
• Comic and cartoon characters named after people
• Horrendous Space Kablooie
• List of fictional films in Calvin and Hobbes
• References to Calvin and Hobbes
• Setting of Calvin and Hobbes
• Bill Watterson

External links

The following links were last verified 14 March 2006.

Official websites:

• Official Calvin and Hobbes site
• Publisher Andrews McMeel's official Calvin and Hobbes site

Fan websites:

• Calvin and Hobbes Magical World
• Calvin and Hobbes Hideout
• Michael's Calvin and Hobbes Site
• Simply Calvin and Hobbes
• Calvin and Hobbes::Magic on Paper
• The Calvin and Hobbes Jumpstation
• Calvin & Hobbes search at dmoz.org

Articles/Misc.:

• "The last great newspaper comic strip" article and slideshow at Slate magazine
• "Truth About Calvin & Hobbes and Daily Republican Editors" - article in The Daily Republican
• "The Tiger Strikes Again" - Washington Post article
• A 1995 radio show from CBC Canada in which fans of the comic strip expressend their views about the ending of Calvin and Hobbes (mp3 format)