Any Calvin and Hobbes fans here?

[Stegura]

A few days ago I came across a couple of old Calvin and Hobbes books in the bargain bin over at Barnes and Noble. I loved the books as a child so I decided to purchase a few for myself.

Man, I just love these books! Bill Watterson, to me, is one of the most humorous and insightful writers of all time. He perfectly captured the spirit of White American childhood with the creativity and cleverness of Calvin. I especially loved how Watterson had commentary on the vulgarity of pop culture, the mindlessness of television, consumerism, and his numerous jabs at US politics. It's hardly dated, with many of the strips being much more relevant these days than they were in the 1980s.

What really impresses me is that yes, he did stop after 10 years but he kept his integrity. He didn't allow it to be commercialized like Garfield and Peanuts. He could have made millions of $$$ turning it into an animated series or by selling Hobbes tigers and all, but he refused. That's impressive. He quit the strip because he felt he ran out of fresh ideas and got tired of the continual deadlines. He went out with some class and style, unlike very tired comic strips like Garfield.

So, what are everyone's thoughts on Calvin and his imaginary tiger Hobbes??

[bombadil]

I love Calvin and Hobbes. I think I have almost all of the books (kept them from my childhood).

Watterson is awesome.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I loved those growing up! Was sad to see it end after only 10 years, that and Far Side were the best comic strips and both ended early

[Liffrea]

They're in the Daily Express cartoon strip now, worth a chuckle in the morning. Calvin had himself a cardboard box the other day that he had "invented" as a duplicator, the idea being to duplicate himself so the clone could clean his room and go to school...

[Lars]

Of course.

[lei.talk]

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[Eldritch]

What are Calvin and Hobbes called in your language?

In Finnish they are called "Lassi" and "Leevi", which is not a reference to two different philosophers/religious leaders, but a single one: Lars Levi Laestadius.

[Lars]

Steen & Stoffer.

Steen is a common name and Stoffer is probably just a nickname for Kristoffer. But stoffer is also the plural of 'stof' which can mean a variety of things: cloth, fabric, drug, narcotics and more. All I know is the comic is amazing.

Eldritch: Haha, that's ironic. I first heard of Læstadius from the novel Popular Music from Vittula and it seemed to be a horrible religion/outlook on life.

[Svipdag]

I think that I have all of the Calvin and Hobbs books. I acquired them after the strip was discontinued, to keep my recollection of it fresh.It was that rare phenomenon, a comic strip which was both very funny and intellectually stimulating.

I don't suppose any of you remember the early years of Pogo, specifically the late 1950's and 1960's, but the same could be said of that strip before Walt Kelly got onto that tiresome political satire kick and abandoned the whimsy which had made it so amusing before.

Alas, Pogo ran too long and Calvin and Hobbs ran for altogether too short a time . And where, {sigh}, is their like today ?

[Eldritch]

I don't suppose any of you remember the early years of Pogo, specifically the late 1950's and 1960's, but the same could be said of that strip before Walt Kelly got onto that tiresome political satire kick and abandoned the whimsy which had made it so amusing before.

I've read some of Walt Kelly's later material and indeed it was pretty tiresome -- plus imo his drawing style is pretty irritating. I'll look into this though.

And where, {sigh}, is their like today ?

Well, Viivi & Wagner is pretty funny, imo.

I know it's been translated into Swedish at least, but afaIk sadly there are no English translations available yet.