Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Calvin and Hobbes

This is the first collection of the popular comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life.

I’ve never read this comic before, but I know it’s very popular. Who’s excited to either revisit these or read them for the first time?

I read this earlier in the year. This is one of the many books my younger daughter left at our house. I will be reading another collection this month.
They are a lot of fun.

As a big C&H fan, I will be making copious contributions.

Glad to have you aboard, Bernard!

Before I get into the strips, there is the question of the names. Calvin is a recognised name for a boy, but there is also John Calvin, the theologian. And Hobbes can only be Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher. Why these names?

Creator Bill Watterson named them after theologian John Calvin and philosopher Thomas Hobbes as "an inside joke for political science majors"
He graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in political science and in 1980 he started working as a political cartoonist for the Cincinnati Post. The paper fired him after three months, but he continued drawing.

Thank you for the confirmation, Lesle. I suspected as much myself.

I forget the story or author, and I’ll have to check some time at my mom’s house. I have all my college notebooks there. During an American literature class in college we read one story who had characters named John and Wesley, and I believe the story in part made fun of religion. I pointed out to the professor that John Wesley is the founder of the Methodist Church within Christianity, so the author using those names struck me as very interesting. He actually hadn’t noticed before that. Authors (of novels, short stories, comics, etc) often name characters very deliberately, but plenty people miss the allusions.

I may sit in on this one. I fondly recall reading the strip when it first appeared in syndication back in the mid-80s.

Thanks for the names info. I can see the "joke" regarding Hobbes, but not re Calvin. I have not noticed the boy Calvin involved in any religious rites.

(Was there a philosopher called Munigant???)

I have read 250 pages of the strips, so I can now report my initial findings.

Calvin seems like a normal boy. He is lively and imaginative, but he smarts under the attentions of parents, teachers, and bullies. He devises many pranks with his partner in crime Hobbes.

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for Calvin and Hobbes and, at one point, it notes that the Bill Watterson creation has often been described as “the last great newspaper comic”. I can think of other strips that at least belong in the conversation (e.g., Gary Larson’s The Far Side). Calvin and Hobbes really is one of the last of the greats, however.

It’s been a few decades since I last looked at these strips. Just a couple of thoughts/observations. Calvin and Hobbes mines a lot of the same territory that Hank Ketchum’s Dennis the Menace did a generation or so earlier, but Watterson’s work is more thoughtful, nuanced, imaginative, and, frankly, a lot more funny. One of the things I always appreciated about Watterson was his artistic ability. The artwork is a wee bit rough around the edges during the few year or so, but it’s surprising how good Watterson was right out of the gate (especially in his Sunday strips).

✭✭✭✭½

I would have to put Rupert Bear top of my list, but C&H is definitely one of the greats, as is Dennis.

(Re: Rupert Bear .... This year is actually his centenary!)

I watched a cartoon of Rupert Bear when I was a kid. It was a comic strip first?

I have a huge Rupert book! beautiful hardcover in like new condition.

Rupert first appeared in the Daily Express newspaper on 8 November 1920

Maybe we should have a Rupert party!

I am sure Rupert would appreciate a party. I did not start reading the strip until after WW2, so I missed the golden age, but it did not actually change very much.

Anyway, back to C&H .....

I have not seen any indication of how old Hobbes is. From his behaviour, I would say adult. He is usually more mature than Calvin, sometimes doubting the wisdom of a new plan. But he joins in with the games, and seems to enjoy them. And he spends much time thinking about food, especially tuna sandwiches.

Bernard said (in part):

I can see the "joke" regarding Hobbes, but not re Calvin. I have not noticed the boy Calvin involved in any religious rites.

I sometimes wonder whether or not fans might be overthinking this aspect of the strip. I don’t doubt that Bill Watterson named Calvin and Hobbes after John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes, respectively, but I’m not sure it’s worthwhile looking for any deeper connection between the beliefs of these two cartoon characters and their namesakes. Thomas Hobbes, for example, was a proponent of what is now referred to as psychological hedonism, the idea that the motive for all voluntary human behavior is the desire to experience pleasure and immediate gratification. If anything, that sounds more like Calvin (the cartoon character); I’ve always tended to think of Hobbes (the tiger) as the super-ego to Calvin’s id.

Bernard said (in part):

I have not seen any indication of how old Hobbes is. From his behaviour, I would say adult. He is usually more mature than Calvin, sometimes doubting the wisdom of a new plan.

How old Hobbes is depends, I suppose, on exactly what Hobbes is. If Hobbes is merely a stuffed tiger whose words and actions are the outgrowth of Calvin’s imagination, then in some sense Hobbes is exactly the same age as Calvin. However, Bill Watterson’s ideas on this issue seem rather nuanced and seem to have changed over the time he worked on the strip. By the time The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book came out, the author stated in the introduction:

“I don’t think of Hobbes as a doll miraculously come to life when Calvin’s around. Neither do I think of Hobbes as the product of Calvin’s imagination. The nature of Hobbes’ reality doesn’t interest me, and each story goes out its way to avoid resolving the issue. Calvin see Hobbes one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way....Hobbes is more about the subjective nature of reality than about dolls coming to life.”

Given Watterson’s comments, I guess that means that Hobbes’ age is a matter for debate.

Very interesting insight into the nature of the comic strip characters. Thanks, Canavan.

Bernard wrote: "I would have to put Rupert Bear top of my list, but C&H is definitely one of the greats, as is Dennis."

You know they mean the american Dennis and not our Dennis the Menace? Gnasher is a beast! love him too.

I always thought Calvin's adventures reminded me of the deeper philosophical meanderings of Snoopy and friends (Schulz DESPISED the name 'Peanuts' and refused to ever use it). Calvin, like Snoopy, exists not only in his world, but in the world of his vast imagination. I also liked Schulz's comment on Calvin's 'bread loaf' shoes.

Just a random bit of trivia. Shulz's nickname was Sparky.

Yes, yes it was :) x

Jazzy said (in part):

I always thought Calvin's adventures reminded me of the deeper philosophical meanderings of Snoopy and friends

I think most here already know this, but Bill Watterson has gone on record as stating that his influences included Charles M. Schulz’ Peanuts, Walt Kelly’s Pogo, and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat. Given the often surreal nature of those strips, Watterson’s statement shouldn’t be all that surprising. I’m not really sure what Schulz thought about Calvin and Hobbes. I know he had fundamental differences with cartoonists like Watterson, Gary Larson, and Garry Trudeau, each of whom felt entitled to the occasional sabbatical from cartooning. (Schulz characterized Trudeau’s sabbatical as “unprofessional”.)

Thanks Canavan for the Freudian analysis, I can agree with that. Calvin has a well-developed ego for a six year old. Analysis of the Hobbes ego depends on whether he is real, or subjectively real, or a projection of Calvin.

As a hard core conspiracy theorist, I am compelled to look for hidden clues.

Jazzy wrote: "I always thought Calvin's adventures reminded me of the deeper philosophical meanderings of Snoopy and friends (Schulz DESPISED the name 'Peanuts' and refused to ever use it). Calvin, like Snoopy, ..."

Yes, I think that too. Cartoon characters have revealing feet, like the Don Martin characters in MAD, with their enormously long feet.

Bernard said:

Yes, I think that too. Cartoon characters have revealing feet, like the Don Martin characters in MAD, with their enormously long feet.

Exactly. 😉

I am reading Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995: An Exhibition Catalogue .

Here is a quote relating to the end of summer:

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Re: There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want

Wow! That is so philosophical.

One interpretation is that only Hobbes is real, and all the other characters are in his head.

The author is from Ohio, Lesle.

Re: Rupert Bear ....

Royal Mail have issued two stamps to commemorate his long life.

Rosemarie wrote: "The author is from Ohio, Lesle."

Yes I believe Cleveland area.

As Rupert is a white bear, he must be a real polar bear.