by Matt Bird

Created on: July 03, 2009

If ever there was a comic strip that more neatly encapsulated growing up than Calvin and Hobbes, point it out to me. I'd love to read it.

For those of you not fortunate enough to be of reading age when Calvin and Hobbes was running in newspapers, the strip focuses on a boy, Calvin, and his tiger Hobbes. Together they undergo all manner of imaginative adventures that stretch the boundaries of creativity while still staying true to what it's like to be a 6-year-old, forced to deal with evil teachers and bossy parents.

Calvin is not a well-mannered child. Far from it. He gets bored easily, and when he does mayhem invariably ensues as he looks for ways to entertain himself. Sometimes this can include harmless jaunts into the woods with buddy Hobbes, though all too often Calvin projects his imagination onto his surroundings, creating enemies and inventions out of virtually anything. Snow men become murderous mutants, parents horrible aliens that must be defeated by the heroic Spaceman Spiff (one of Calvin's alter egos) and cardboard boxes miracle machines that can travel through time or create clones. None of these things seem to end well for Calvin, and most strips end with some kind of punishment.

The dynamic between Calvin and Hobbes is the highlight of the book. They're best buddies through thick and thin - and perhaps because of that, they constantly get into arguments, debates and outright fights trying to defend their respective viewpoints. This can lead to some surprisingly insightful strips, especially considering they're coming from a six-year-old and his talking stuffed toy. Which leads to one of the strip's biggest points of interest: is Hobbes just a stuffed animal that Calvin imagines to be alive, or does he actually walk and talk the way he appears to? The strip never answers that question, and I thank Watterson for it.

It helps that Calvin and Hobbes looks gorgeous. The characters look simple enough in your average strip, true, but Watterson loved to break boundaries, ever maintaining that even a mere comic strip can be art. Consequently the strip hops from the usually dot-eyed characters to sudden bursts of creative reality, with huge aliens sauntering across pages or Calvin suddenly evolving into a handsome comic book-esque version of himself. Watterson is an incredible artist, there's no two ways about it.

I suppose what I appreciate most about Calvin and Hobbes, however, is its universal staying power and appeal. I loved the strip when I was a child, despite not understanding the lion's share of what the characters talked about. Each strip was still funny because it was nevertheless accessible to just about anybody. And now, as an adult, I get the jokes in those old strips, making them even funnier than they used to be. Watterson seemed to work carefully to keep his strips centered on core truths rather than specific events, so you won't have to worry about not understanding a strip because the references in it are dated. Everybody can appreciate Calvin and Hobbes because everybody's been a six-year-old at some point in their lives, and probably lived through many of the same catastrophes Calvin endures.

Read Calvin and Hobbes. Just... read it. There are few things not to appreciate in these strips, and if you have even the slightest sense of humor you'll enjoy all of Calvin's insane adventures. There's a good reason for these books still being in stores today.

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