Calvin and Hobbes

[whiskeytown]

There's a 10th anniversary edition coming out - one giant book with ALL the cartoons in it -

a great 4 page interview over at MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9589703/) - the artist was a recluse of sorts who fought ALL marketing and didn't return Speilberg's calls in 1988. The stickers you see on backs of trucks with Calvin peeing on something are rip offs. It does now occur to me you never saw a live cartoon, stuffed figure or anything. Hardly any pictures of Bill Watterson at all - and he's 47 now, so he was young when he did those.

In my honest opinion (though I won't create a poll for it), I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

I'm buying this book...and I"m gonna laugh my ass off for a month at Spaceman Spiff....

RB

[Salerosa]

[ QUOTE ]

In my honest opinion (though I won't create a poll for it), I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree 100%.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Yeah it is probably the best strip of all time, Far Side being my close second. I have most of his books already, stuff like The Essential Sunday Collection, and various other ones. I use to color the strips in the books when I was younger. It was so funny when I was kid, and the best part is, when I read it now, it is still funny, but in a different way. I was actually quite sad when he said he was stopping the strip.

[MCS]

[ QUOTE ]
Sam Watterson

[/ QUOTE ]

Bill, not Sam.

I love Calvin and Hobbes.

[goofball]

Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[ QUOTE ]

In my honest opinion (though I won't create a poll for it), I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

RB

[/ QUOTE ]
Life in Hell is my favorite.

"Do you have any Tshirts with Calvin peeing on Hobbes?"

[yellowjack]

Definitely my vote for best of all time. The guy, at age 28 had more imagination than me at age 10. I hadn't even gotten into cards yet.

It's amazing that Bill Watterson gave up all the EV of future products, etc. just to live comfortably with few people knowing who he is.

[whiskeytown]

Bill Watterson

Sam is the actor from Law and Order - I'm a numbnut

I fixed it in the original post.

RB

[imported_CaseClosed326]

[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct.

[yellowjack]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct.

[/ QUOTE ]

I clicked your post thinking you were a gimmick account. In any case it's too late for one now.

[whiskeytown]

Just ordered it - $95 + shipping on Amazon.com

Three hardcover bound copies in a box set - every cartoon...

this is so gonna rock. It's been so long since I've seen some of them.

RB

[x2ski]

[ QUOTE ]
There's a 10th anniversary edition coming out - one giant book with ALL the cartoons in it -

a great 4 page interview over at MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9589703/) - the artist was a recluse of sorts who fought ALL marketing and didn't return Speilberg's calls in 1988. The stickers you see on backs of trucks with Calvin peeing on something are rip offs. It does now occur to me you never saw a live cartoon, stuffed figure or anything. Hardly any pictures of Bill Watterson at all - and he's 47 now, so he was young when he did those.

In my honest opinion (though I won't create a poll for it), I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

I'm buying this book...and I"m gonna laugh my ass off for a month at Spaceman Spiff....

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us" - My Senior Quote.

Yes, I'm a dork.

[Blarg]

I made a thread on it a week ago, too, and ordered the collection that night from Overstock.com. Can't wait!

Thanks for the link on the story. As it says at the end, *sigh*.

And I hope Susie Derkins is kicking the world's ass.

[whiskeytown]

I hate to say it, but I could see her becoming a lesbian - /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There's a 10th anniversary edition coming out - one giant book with ALL the cartoons in it -

a great 4 page interview over at MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9589703/) - the artist was a recluse of sorts who fought ALL marketing and didn't return Speilberg's calls in 1988. The stickers you see on backs of trucks with Calvin peeing on something are rip offs. It does now occur to me you never saw a live cartoon, stuffed figure or anything. Hardly any pictures of Bill Watterson at all - and he's 47 now, so he was young when he did those.

In my honest opinion (though I won't create a poll for it), I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

I'm buying this book...and I"m gonna laugh my ass off for a month at Spaceman Spiff....

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us" - My Senior Quote.

Yes, I'm a dork.

[/ QUOTE ]

I honestly think that is one of the best quotes of all time, comic book or not. I'm actually surprised that the quote never really became famous because it's the truth.
Like everyone else, C & H is #1, The Far Side is 2nd. Once both stopped, I stopped reading the comics. Seems like nothing else has even come close since.

[shant]

Calvin and Hobbes is the [censored]. No other comic comes close.

[ptmusic]

Family Circus #1, Cathy #2. (Tough leaving Sally Forth out of the top 2)

-ptmusic

[CrashPat]

Awesome, I was just paging through a Calvin and Hobbes book today, now I know what I need to buy with this amazon GC I have sitting in my inbox.

[hoyaboy1]

Whenever I look at the final cartoon, I get sad. It was a great choice as a sendoff.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
Family Circus is number one. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

[daryn]

an excellent comic. the best. i own so many of the books. at one time i had them all but they might have released some special edition or something. it's been a while.

i remember when i got into it. i was in like 4th grade maybe, and they had them in my classroom's bookcase. i went out and bought one, i still remember my first book, "Weirdos from another planet", then "Yukon Ho" and so on..

how good

[daryn]

[ QUOTE ]
Whenever I look at the final cartoon, I get sad. It was a great choice as a sendoff.

[/ QUOTE ]

you mean this?

http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/images/lastcalvin.gif

[youtalkfunny]

$95??? DAMN!!!

You had me sold on this thing, until you said, "$95."

All that being said, I'll probably pick up a C+H book next time I'm in a bookstore, if they still stock old comic strip books.

Dilbert is the only one I would dare to mention in the same breath as C+H and FS, and Dilbert would be way in back of those two.

[SoCalRugger]

[ QUOTE ]
$95??? DAMN!!!

You had me sold on this thing, until you said, "$95."

[/ QUOTE ]
$85 + $1.50 shipping at Overstock.com

[send_the_msg]

this thread got me googling and i found this transcript of bill wattersons commencement speach he delivered to Kenyon college, i found it pretty interesting.

http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm

[daryn]

[ QUOTE ]
this thread got me googling and i found this transcript of bill wattersons commencement speach he delivered to Kenyon college, i found it pretty interesting.

http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm

[/ QUOTE ]

hot.

man, i love reading interesting things written by people i like.

[Dr. StrangeloveX]

[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Calvin and Hobbes is number one and the Far Side is awesome, but Bloom County isn't that far behind.

[Malachii]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah it is probably the best strip of all time

[/ QUOTE ]
Yep
[ QUOTE ]
I was actually quite sad when he said he was stopping the strip.

[/ QUOTE ]
Me too

[Malachii]

[ QUOTE ]
I hate to say it, but I could see her becoming a lesbian

[/ QUOTE ]
Me too, actually. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[theben]

i agree, it was great. so great that i in fact considered calvin for my avatar. it was my fav. book when i was a kid and i have all the books ever done

[kem]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm buying this book...and I"m gonna laugh my ass off for a month at Spaceman Spiff....

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

Our copy just came (from Amazon) yesterday.. You won't be disappointed, but these things weigh a ton. Great quality though..

[ghostface]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ElSapo]

I agree C&H is easily first, and Far Side probably second, but I think it misses a lot to mention the greatest strips ever without mentioning the Peanuts. The problem is, it's outdated now -- it's almost like looking at Sally Forth or something, it just doesn't seem to gel today.

I think in a lot of ways, C&H would never have happened without the Peanuts.

Calvin and Hobbes was the most amazing strip I've ever seen, anyways. And Watterson is a strange and amazing guy - conservative estimates say he could have made about $10 million a year -by doing nothing- had he licensed the strip's charachters for marketing. $10 million for no extra effort.

There was a minor flap at some point when Watterson demaded about twice the space in Sunday comics pages. He lamented that strips got smaller and artists had less and less space to really create. So he simply said "either give me more space, or don't run it." I think some papers did drop the strip, but many gave him the space.

At the time, it was easy to think of it almost like blackmail. But when you consider that he never profited from the marketing of those characters, he really just seemed to be true to what he wanted his creation to be.

Amazing strip, amazing guy. In a time when it seems you can be a celebrity for almost anything - genius not necessary - here's a guy who a nation crowned "best cartoonist ever" and he simply never wanted the publicity or fame.

[lucas9000]

[ QUOTE ]
$95??? DAMN!!!

You had me sold on this thing, until you said, "$95."

[/ QUOTE ]

it's 3 hardcover books, with EVERY cartoon in them. i think it's a good deal even at $95.

[jakethebake]

If you don't already own all the Calvin & Hobbes, there's something seriously wrong with you.

[Sephus]

[ QUOTE ]
If you don't already own all the Calvin & Hobbes, there's something seriously wrong with you.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ThaSaltCracka]

Daryn, those two books were mine and my brothers first as well.

[Sephus]

[ QUOTE ]
Daryn, those two books were mine and my brothers first as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

interesting, the first book i ever read was the original "calvin and hobbes." i was like 6 or so.

edit: oh, you didnt mean first "books."

[CCass]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Calvin and Hobbes is number one and the Far Side is awesome, but Bloom County isn't that far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

At its best, Bloom County was probably the best written comic strip. BC had some good years and some so-so years, while I think C&H was consistently great.

[B Dids]

[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll give you #1, but your #2 is out to lunch.

Peanuts (read the earlier stuff)
Doonesburry
Achewood
Maakies

There's more I can think of, but Far Side isn't very high on my list at all.

[2planka]

Thanks for the heads up. This will make a nice gift for the Warden.

I rank C&H and Bloom County 1 and 1a on my list of favorite comic strips.

[MonkeeMan]

This thread makes me hungry for chocolate frosted sugar bombs.

[SomethingClever]

Agreed with everyone else; this is my favorite comic strip.

Back in the day Far Side was probably up there as #2, but it hasn't aged well, IMO. Whereas C&H is pretty timeless.

[astroglide]

www.LEISURETOWN.COM (http://www.LEISURETOWN.COM)

[M2d]

[ QUOTE ]
I believe it's the greatest comic strip America has ever produced.

[/ QUOTE ]
Peanuts

[asofel]

The speech Watterson made at commencement is excellent. Read it if you haven't already.

[Dominic]

Calvin and Hobbes was the best comic strip ever. Period. No debate possible. Even better than Bloom County,which I love.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
Family Circus #1, Cathy #2. (Tough leaving Sally Forth out of the top 2)

-ptmusic

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, but when did you become a 40 yr. old soccer mom with no sense of humor?

Family Circus is an example of everything that is wrong with American culture today.

[Justin A]

I'm confused. I already have a 10th anniversary addition that came out like 10 years ago. Is this the 10th anniversary since he stopped writing or something?

[Sephus]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm confused. I already have a 10th anniversary addition that came out like 10 years ago. Is this the 10th anniversary since he stopped writing or something?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes. i even remember reading the paper on the last day and being very sad. i think the anniversary is right around new years.

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Calvin and Hobbes is number one, Far Side is number 2. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Calvin and Hobbes is number one and the Far Side is awesome, but Bloom County isn't that far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

C&H is my favorite all-time strip by a wide margin (even though I grew up with Peanuts), and I loved The Far Side. However, I never thought that Bloom County or Outland were any good, and the new incarnation is so awful that Breathed should be embarrassed to put it out.

[daryn]

i've never even heard of bloom county,

well no, i've heard of it, and i can vaguely picture a penguin, but other than that i have no idea

[B Dids]

Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a very good post.

[theBruiser500]

Calvin and Hobbes is far and away the best comic ever. It's so funny, there is something behind it though UNLIKE dilbert. Reading them was always a sure way to raise my spirits, problem with that now is I've read them all too many times, have to wait a while before reading them again.

[jakethebake]

When I was a kid, Dennis the Menace was my favorite so when it came out C&H was just a logical progression for me.

[Sifmole]

[ QUOTE ]
i've never even heard of bloom county,

well no, i've heard of it, and i can vaguely picture a penguin, but other than that i have no idea

[/ QUOTE ]

And that sir, is very very sad.

[Shajen]

http://fermi.uchicago.edu/Calvin_n_Hobbes.gif

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a very good post.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's not. Bloom County is one of only two comic strips to ever win a Pulitzer Prize - Doonebury being the other. They are both great in their own way.

But Bloom County was also one of the funniest stips ever.

[astroglide]

i agree that calvin and hobbes is a fantastic comic, but it's no leisuretown

[Dominic]

bloom county sample (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/bloom_add.gif&imgrefurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/&h=533&w=765&sz=48&tbnid=8-yLLauoCEMJ:&tbnh=97&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbloom%2Bcounty%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=i magesr&start=3)

[B Dids]

www.ACHEWOOD.COM (http://www.ACHEWOOD.COM)

[MonkeeMan]

[ QUOTE ]
bloom county sample (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/bloom_add.gif&imgrefurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/&h=533&w=765&sz=48&tbnid=8-yLLauoCEMJ:&tbnh=97&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbloom%2Bcounty%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=i magesr&start=3)

[/ QUOTE ]

How the [censored] can they have that many Bloom County strip samples without a Bill the Cat sighting?

[Shajen]

eh, bloom county is ok, but it's no Calvin & Hobbes.

[dcasper70]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
bloom county sample (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/bloom_add.gif&imgrefurl=http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom/&h=533&w=765&sz=48&tbnid=8-yLLauoCEMJ:&tbnh=97&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbloom%2Bcounty%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=i magesr&start=3)

[/ QUOTE ]

How the [censored] can they have that many Bloom County strip samples without a Bill the Cat sighting?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ack!

[astroglide]

achewood isn't anywhere near leisuretown

i like jerkcity but it's nowhere near it either

[codewarrior]

Thhpfffff!!

[NotMitch]

[ QUOTE ]
www.ACHEWOOD.COM (http://www.ACHEWOOD.COM)

[/ QUOTE ]


Achewood is the best thing going these days. One of my favorite early strips (http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10222001)

[CD56]

he must have modeled calvin's dad after himself...
http://www.linus.net/res/image/billwatterson.jpg

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a very good post.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's not. Bloom County is one of only two comic strips to ever win a Pulitzer Prize - Doonebury being the other. They are both great in their own way.

But Bloom County was also one of the funniest stips ever.

[/ QUOTE ]

To each his own. I just feel Bloom County lacked what made either C&H or Doonesbury great, with little wit, creativity or political bite. The new incarnation is simply terrible, and it irks me that the local paper squeezed other Sunday strips down in size to make room for it.

[antidan444]

Spaking of newspapers and their comics page ...

About a year or so after I started working at The Herald-Mail (http://www.herald-mail.com), I got my hands on a readership survey. I'll never forget the double-take I did when I saw this ...

Most-read pages (percentage of total readers)

A1 (front page) -- 70%
Comics -- 75%

(The question is phrased, "Which page do you spend the most time reading, on average?")

Threw me for a total loop. There are people out there who immediately flip to the comics page, read it, and never look at a single other page, including the front. Fascinating. And totally understandable in a lot of ways.

I, too, am a huge C&H fan.

[shakingspear]

I found this interview with Watterson. It was done in 1986. Very interesting, especially since interviews are so rare.

The Interview (http://www.uffen.org/calvin/interview.htm)

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. Extremely, astoundingly derivative, and I think it got a grin out of me only once. Easily the most overrated comic strip ever.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm buying this book...and I"m gonna laugh my ass off for a month at Spaceman Spiff....

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

Our copy just came (from Amazon) yesterday.. You won't be disappointed, but these things weigh a ton. Great quality though..

[/ QUOTE ]

Ordered mine from Overstock.com on 9/20, and it still isn't here. /images/graemlins/frown.gif Not only that, my account says they haven't even shipped it yet. Bah!

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
www.ACHEWOOD.COM (http://www.ACHEWOOD.COM)

[/ QUOTE ]


Achewood is the best thing going these days. One of my favorite early strips (http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10222001)

[/ QUOTE ]

That was pretty underwhelming.

[Cancer Merchant]

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/258/3160/640/Calvin%20sad.jpg

[B Dids]

Achewood is very hard to appreciate if you haven't read every strip. But it's worth sitting back and doing if you've got a free afternoon.

I wouldn't even try to pull one specific strip to show to people why it rules. But like, it does.

[man]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Family Circus is number one. Everything else is very very far behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]
/images/graemlins/confused.gif I think you're joking?

I read calvin and hobbes so much as a kid that I probably would be much different if it hadn't been around.

[ptmusic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Family Circus #1, Cathy #2. (Tough leaving Sally Forth out of the top 2)

-ptmusic

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, but when did I become a gullible fool with no sense of humor?

Family Circus is an example of everything that is wrong with American culture today.

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

-ptmusic

[jcmack13]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Whenever I look at the final cartoon, I get sad. It was a great choice as a sendoff.

[/ QUOTE ]

you mean this?

http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/images/lastcalvin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I clipped this out of the Washington Post comics when it appeared on December 31, 1995. It is currently framed and hanging in my room.

Calvin and Hobbes is the best. Ever.

[OnlinePokerCoach]

Dilbert is the funniest now.

[Ringo_Mojo]

[ QUOTE ]

There was a minor flap at some point when Watterson demaded about twice the space in Sunday comics pages. He lamented that strips got smaller and artists had less and less space to really create. So he simply said "either give me more space, or don't run it." I think some papers did drop the strip, but many gave him the space.

At the time, it was easy to think of it almost like blackmail. But when you consider that he never profited from the marketing of those characters, he really just seemed to be true to what he wanted his creation to be.


[/ QUOTE ]

I remember when that happened and it was more then just a minor flap. Basically he was insisting on the entire newspaper industy making a change to accomidate him. Not that i disagree with his stance, he was a major driving force in newspaper sales at the time, and the papers were regularly cutting parts of his strip out to make room for more lower quality stips. A lot of other writers were really down on him about it (newspaper comic strip creators are some of the most set in their ways artists in the world)but in the end they all benefited as others have been given the chance to take advantage of the additional space.

As for the strips, i think one of the things puts C&H in a class by itself is that he was smart enough to stop when he was on top. There was never the years of him phoning it in (Bloom County) or decades of letting the strip be written by comittee (most of the strips in the paper today).

[Blarg]

The comics page is definitely a wasteland without him.

[battschr]

1. Far Side
2. Calvin and Hobbes
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
3. Others

[Blarg]

The Far Side is definitely not better than Calvin and Hobbes.

It lost a lot of its luster after a while. Gary Larson admitted as much. Watterston quit while he was ahead and everything was still top notch.

Plus, C&H was better in the first place. But they were very different kinds of comics, so they're hard to compare.

[StevieG]

[ QUOTE ]
this thread got me googling and i found this transcript of bill wattersons commencement speach he delivered to Kenyon college, i found it pretty interesting.

http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for that, and thanks for the interview link, shakingspear. OOT rocks.

Calvin and Hobbes transcends the strip. It really is some of the best creative material produced by an American. Twain, Steinbeck, Whistler, Capra - those are some heavyweights, for sure. But isn't what Watterson created a solid body of work that stimulates the mind and stirs the imagination?

Oh, and Whiskeytown, I hate to do this, but the Law and Order actor is Sam Waterston.

[GMan42]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. Extremely, astoundingly derivative, and I think it got a grin out of me only once. Easily the most overrated comic strip ever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Early on, definitely the case...I think Trudeau even sent a "friendly" letter to Berke Breathed about this at one point. I think it came into its own big time as the years went on, though. "Outland" and other incarnations I can pretty much take or leave.