I have the box-set collection of all the strips and my 4yos ask about them from time-to-time. So I was pretty excited when I found one of my old pre-box-set books, "It's A Magical World", and...
I have the box-set collection of all the strips and my 4yos ask about them from time-to-time. So I was pretty excited when I found one of my old pre-box-set books, "It's A Magical World", and decided to read it to my kids. I learned a few things:
It's really hard to read a comic out loud to someone else..just doesn't work very well.
4 years old is obviously way too young to fully enjoy C&H. I mean...duh. There are some jokes and visual gags that they understood, but it really does depend on you having made it out of elementary school. My kids don't even understand the bliss of being a care-free child during summer vacation yet. Which is, of course, fine. I gave them my older book because I don't mind if it gets destroyed since I have the box set. They can enjoy the artwork and if the book survives their preschool years, they can enjoy the words in them later.
I have a much greater appreciation for the "artsy" and poetic strips now as an adult than I did as a teenager.
It won't be too long until I have two six year olds running around and C&H makes me equal parts excited and horrified.
I think the best answer for “what is the best age for C&H” is “yes”. I have a pretty poor memory of my early years, but I distinctly remember strips which over the years I got a new “kick” out of...
I think the best answer for “what is the best age for C&H” is “yes”. I have a pretty poor memory of my early years, but I distinctly remember strips which over the years I got a new “kick” out of it…the first several years I only got the visual gag, then on a random day I got some of the word play, and then even later I understood it as an older kid, and now I read it as a parent and get a whole other take on it (or better appreciation of it).
I have been reading the full box set with my 6 year old all year. We read 2 weeks every night (12 strips, 2 Sunday strips). Suddenly I have a larger appreciation for the work, and my son tries to...
I have been reading the full box set with my 6 year old all year. We read 2 weeks every night (12 strips, 2 Sunday strips).
Suddenly I have a larger appreciation for the work, and my son tries to grapple with the notion of storylines being revealed over months, instead of nights as we go through them. There is a lot of heavy stuff in there, and much of it can be startlingly familiar.
While 6 is a lot older than 4, I've had great success offering to read all the characters EXCEPT Calvin. Calvin does most of the speaking, so my son's reading has come a long way. Calvin's vocabulary is extensive, and it's helped my son grow tremendously.
Can confirm this. I learned to read thanks to my dad reading Calvin and Hobbes every night with me. It’s a solid mixture of big and small words, so you can go back for years and still have the...
Can confirm this. I learned to read thanks to my dad reading Calvin and Hobbes every night with me. It’s a solid mixture of big and small words, so you can go back for years and still have the kids pick up new words and understand things better.
My father used to read them to me when I was about your kid’s age and then I read them myself when I got older. Those are fond memories and I remember learning lots of vocabulary thanks to C&H.
My father used to read them to me when I was about your kid’s age and then I read them myself when I got older. Those are fond memories and I remember learning lots of vocabulary thanks to C&H.
I think that Calvin and Hobbes is and was so influential as something of a cultural fluke. I don't mean to discount the tremendous quality of artistry and ingenuity that Watterson put into it, but...
I think that Calvin and Hobbes is and was so influential as something of a cultural fluke. I don't mean to discount the tremendous quality of artistry and ingenuity that Watterson put into it, but at the same time I think it's worth noting that the reason why it was so powerful was because he was lucky enough that the planets were aligned for it to happen.
The thing that makes the comic resonate with people so well is that the artist had a genuine respect and understanding of children. There may be jokes may be aimed at Calvin (the times his father gives him crazy made-up answers to his questions come to mind), but I can't recall when the joke was at his expense; Calvin was never really a bad kid, he was just a kid, and that made him universally relatable.
The planets aligning would be the time and means it was published in. It was a syndicated comic in newspapers, and that meant that it was basically available to everyone, so it got a very wide audience. The author also made an astoundingly good decision to actually end the run rather than run it into the ground. I was upset about when Daisy Owl had finished it's run, but in retrospect it was one of the best things that could have happened to it; I would not find it anywhere nearly as charming as I remember it today if it were still going. One of the last posts actually kind of makes fun of comics that continue well past their prime. There are some legacy comics that have been around forever that are practically unrecognizable from their earlier runs. Even Marmaduke and Garfield used to run storylines, unlike today. Heck, there's a lot of comics that have outlived their creators, like Popeye and Lulu.
Comics were also a lot more influential back in that time. Adults would read them just as much as kids would. When Charles Schultz introduced Franklin in Peanuts, the syndication distributor did not want to publish them because they feared the newspapers would drop the comic, but Schultz managed to strong-arm them for fear of losing him.
Calvin and Hobbes is also not the only comic to have had this kind of effect on it's audience either. You might recall some of your parents loved Peanuts for the same reasons you love Calvin and Hobbes.
Oh man, Daisy Owl! I had forgotten about this one, but clicking on the link brought me right back. I felt the same way when it ended. I should read it again
Oh man, Daisy Owl! I had forgotten about this one, but clicking on the link brought me right back. I felt the same way when it ended. I should read it again
There are a few very interesting things about C&H. The first of which is, that it really did only last for a decade compared to other comic strips (the article itself points out that Garfield has...
There are a few very interesting things about C&H. The first of which is, that it really did only last for a decade compared to other comic strips (the article itself points out that Garfield has been around for 45 years). Also, Bill Watterson never gave any approval for it to be adapted in any other form, though I understand he got offers.
But this is probably the most memorable bit and why C&H will live on... whether in a good light or in infamy. Again, going off that it never had any adaptations, and the only official merchandise is other a calendar at most... growing up in the late 90's and early 2000's, I saw a TON of pick-up trucks that had Calvin peeing on whatever the truck owner didn't like- anything from politicians to sports teams. Of course, that sticker is completely unofficial and is an edit of another actual panel. Bill Watterson himself has said that he laments that the sticker exists... but also acknowledges that it's how his comic will otherwise live on. For my own part, I thought it meant that Calvin was a very bad boy, and I already was reading other troublemaker comics at the time (Dennis the Menace, and on occasion Family Circus would have the kids being major PITAs), and I had no desire to read another comic about a kid being very naughty.
Only now that people are uploading the comics to various social media forms without changing the comic do I see that it's really just the antics of a six-year-old, and the ever-present question of "Is Hobbes real or just an over-active imagination at at work?"
Previously: Why Bill Watterson vanished I’m not sure I buy everything in that article, but it does sound like writing Calvin & Hobbes was high-stress and all-consuming for Watterson.
I’m not sure I buy everything in that article, but it does sound like writing Calvin & Hobbes was high-stress and all-consuming for Watterson.
“Work and home were so intermingled that I had no refuge from the strip when I needed a break,” Watterson recalls. “Day or night, the work was always right there, and the book-publishing schedule was as relentless as the newspaper deadlines. Having certain perfectionist and maniacal tendencies, I was consumed by Calvin and Hobbes.”
By Watterson’s own admission, he cannot accurately recall a whole decade of his life because of his “Ahab-like obsession” with his work. “The intensity of pushing the writing and drawing as far as my skills allowed was the whole point of doing it,” he says. “I eliminated pretty much everything from my life that wasn’t the strip.” While Watterson’s wife, Melissa Richmond, organized everything around him, he furthered his isolation, burrowing ever more deeply into the strip’s world. There was no other way, he believed, to keep its integrity absolute. “My approach was probably too crazy to sustain for a lifetime,” he says, “but it let me draw the exact strip I wanted while it lasted.”
Another millennial here with a lifelong love for Calvin & Hobbes. I started with the Danish version in the mid 90s, which by the way has a very good translation by Niels Søndergaard, and later...
Another millennial here with a lifelong love for Calvin & Hobbes. I started with the Danish version in the mid 90s, which by the way has a very good translation by Niels Søndergaard, and later moved to the original English. I haven't considered showing it to my kids, but that sounds like a good idea.
I can highly recommend the special Tenth Anniversary Book which includes some remarkable comments by Bill Watterson on various individual strips and general themes.
Calvin and Hobbes is definitely a favorite in my household. In recent years, I've really been enjoying the printed volumes of Phoebe and Her Unicorn, which feels like something of a spiritual...
Calvin and Hobbes is definitely a favorite in my household.
In recent years, I've really been enjoying the printed volumes of Phoebe and Her Unicorn, which feels like something of a spiritual successor. It's more than just a gender-flipped clone of C&H; the characters' personalities are rather different, for one thing, (Phoebe's probably closer to Susie than Calvin) and the setting is modern day with Phoebe being Gen Alpha and her parents being children of the 80's. But it definitely shares a lot of themes.
I love how every article about Calvin and Hobbes is like "but what's Schulz' secret?!?" and the answer is always "he didn't sell out". And yet we get article after article about how that could...
I love how every article about Calvin and Hobbes is like "but what's Schulz' secret?!?" and the answer is always "he didn't sell out". And yet we get article after article about how that could possibly be and how crazy it is and did he really say no to selling out? Yes he did!
I have the box-set collection of all the strips and my 4yos ask about them from time-to-time. So I was pretty excited when I found one of my old pre-box-set books, "It's A Magical World", and decided to read it to my kids. I learned a few things:
I think the best answer for “what is the best age for C&H” is “yes”. I have a pretty poor memory of my early years, but I distinctly remember strips which over the years I got a new “kick” out of it…the first several years I only got the visual gag, then on a random day I got some of the word play, and then even later I understood it as an older kid, and now I read it as a parent and get a whole other take on it (or better appreciation of it).
I have been reading the full box set with my 6 year old all year. We read 2 weeks every night (12 strips, 2 Sunday strips).
Suddenly I have a larger appreciation for the work, and my son tries to grapple with the notion of storylines being revealed over months, instead of nights as we go through them. There is a lot of heavy stuff in there, and much of it can be startlingly familiar.
While 6 is a lot older than 4, I've had great success offering to read all the characters EXCEPT Calvin. Calvin does most of the speaking, so my son's reading has come a long way. Calvin's vocabulary is extensive, and it's helped my son grow tremendously.
Can confirm this. I learned to read thanks to my dad reading Calvin and Hobbes every night with me. It’s a solid mixture of big and small words, so you can go back for years and still have the kids pick up new words and understand things better.
My father used to read them to me when I was about your kid’s age and then I read them myself when I got older. Those are fond memories and I remember learning lots of vocabulary thanks to C&H.
I think that Calvin and Hobbes is and was so influential as something of a cultural fluke. I don't mean to discount the tremendous quality of artistry and ingenuity that Watterson put into it, but at the same time I think it's worth noting that the reason why it was so powerful was because he was lucky enough that the planets were aligned for it to happen.
The thing that makes the comic resonate with people so well is that the artist had a genuine respect and understanding of children. There may be jokes may be aimed at Calvin (the times his father gives him crazy made-up answers to his questions come to mind), but I can't recall when the joke was at his expense; Calvin was never really a bad kid, he was just a kid, and that made him universally relatable.
The planets aligning would be the time and means it was published in. It was a syndicated comic in newspapers, and that meant that it was basically available to everyone, so it got a very wide audience. The author also made an astoundingly good decision to actually end the run rather than run it into the ground. I was upset about when Daisy Owl had finished it's run, but in retrospect it was one of the best things that could have happened to it; I would not find it anywhere nearly as charming as I remember it today if it were still going. One of the last posts actually kind of makes fun of comics that continue well past their prime. There are some legacy comics that have been around forever that are practically unrecognizable from their earlier runs. Even Marmaduke and Garfield used to run storylines, unlike today. Heck, there's a lot of comics that have outlived their creators, like Popeye and Lulu.
Comics were also a lot more influential back in that time. Adults would read them just as much as kids would. When Charles Schultz introduced Franklin in Peanuts, the syndication distributor did not want to publish them because they feared the newspapers would drop the comic, but Schultz managed to strong-arm them for fear of losing him.
Calvin and Hobbes is also not the only comic to have had this kind of effect on it's audience either. You might recall some of your parents loved Peanuts for the same reasons you love Calvin and Hobbes.
Oh man, Daisy Owl! I had forgotten about this one, but clicking on the link brought me right back. I felt the same way when it ended. I should read it again
There are a few very interesting things about C&H. The first of which is, that it really did only last for a decade compared to other comic strips (the article itself points out that Garfield has been around for 45 years). Also, Bill Watterson never gave any approval for it to be adapted in any other form, though I understand he got offers.
But this is probably the most memorable bit and why C&H will live on... whether in a good light or in infamy. Again, going off that it never had any adaptations, and the only official merchandise is other a calendar at most... growing up in the late 90's and early 2000's, I saw a TON of pick-up trucks that had Calvin peeing on whatever the truck owner didn't like- anything from politicians to sports teams. Of course, that sticker is completely unofficial and is an edit of another actual panel. Bill Watterson himself has said that he laments that the sticker exists... but also acknowledges that it's how his comic will otherwise live on. For my own part, I thought it meant that Calvin was a very bad boy, and I already was reading other troublemaker comics at the time (Dennis the Menace, and on occasion Family Circus would have the kids being major PITAs), and I had no desire to read another comic about a kid being very naughty.
Only now that people are uploading the comics to various social media forms without changing the comic do I see that it's really just the antics of a six-year-old, and the ever-present question of "Is Hobbes real or just an over-active imagination at at work?"
In case anyone wants to get a daily dose of C&H, here's an RSS feed for you.
Previously: Why Bill Watterson vanished
I’m not sure I buy everything in that article, but it does sound like writing Calvin & Hobbes was high-stress and all-consuming for Watterson.
Another millennial here with a lifelong love for Calvin & Hobbes. I started with the Danish version in the mid 90s, which by the way has a very good translation by Niels Søndergaard, and later moved to the original English. I haven't considered showing it to my kids, but that sounds like a good idea.
I can highly recommend the special Tenth Anniversary Book which includes some remarkable comments by Bill Watterson on various individual strips and general themes.
Calvin and Hobbes is definitely a favorite in my household.
In recent years, I've really been enjoying the printed volumes of Phoebe and Her Unicorn, which feels like something of a spiritual successor. It's more than just a gender-flipped clone of C&H; the characters' personalities are rather different, for one thing, (Phoebe's probably closer to Susie than Calvin) and the setting is modern day with Phoebe being Gen Alpha and her parents being children of the 80's. But it definitely shares a lot of themes.
I love how every article about Calvin and Hobbes is like "but what's Schulz' secret?!?" and the answer is always "he didn't sell out". And yet we get article after article about how that could possibly be and how crazy it is and did he really say no to selling out? Yes he did!