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 [ HOME ] A complete and original tribute to the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip | |
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"It's a lot more fun to blame things than to fix them." Introduction To Calvin and Hobbes |
Calvin and Hobbes was a highly popular daily comic strip that was syndicated for over a decade from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995.
Written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, it followed the daily life of an imaginative and hyperactive six year old boy named Calvin. It also featured his stuffed toy tiger, Hobbes, who in the mind of Calvin was a real, sarcastic and wise-cracking tiger. At the peak of it's popularity, Calvin and Hobbes was published by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, there are 18 Calvin and Hobbes books with over 30 million copies printed. And whilst no new strips have been published in over ten years, you will still find references to the strip in popular culture. Although the strip is not based in any specific location, it does resemble contemporary surburban mid-western United States. No doubt due in part to the fact that Bill Watterson's home town is Chagrin Falls, Ohio. |
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The strip centers around the life of Calvin and Hobbes with the vast majority of the strips featuring one or both of them. The strip focuses on Calvin's friendship with Hobbes, their misadventures, flights of fancy, his relationships with his peers (such as his school mates), and older people (such as his parents, teachers, and babysitter).
One aspect of the comic strip that makes it so appealing is that Calvin and Hobbes both express a diverse range of views on political and cultural issues which when coming from a six-year old boy (and a stuffed tiger) is both insightful and comical. The views that are expressed are seldom specific and deal more with general issues such as environmentalism and the flaws of opinion polls. |
Another aspect is the dual nature of Hobbes - to Calvin, Hobbes is a real tiger complete with a real personality. To anyone else, he is a stuffed toy. It is very similar to Sesame Street a couple of decades ago when Mr Snuffleupagus was only seen by Big Bird and no-one else.
Besides the overal popularity of the Calvin and Hobbes strip on it's own merit, it is also famous due to the absence of any merchandising - a very rare thing in todays marketplace where it is often considered one of the prime sources of revenue. Bill Watterson has notoriously strong anti-merchandising sentiments and also shuns the spotlight. Consequently, besides two calendars and a children's textbook, there are no authorised Calvin and Hobbes merchandise. Left: Bill Watterson at work |
The official merchandise that was released (and are no longer available) fetch huge prices when they appear on eBay and other auction sites. A recent copy of the childrens textbook was offered for over US$1000.
With huge demand from Calvin and Hobbes fans, it's not surprising that this has created a 'black market' of 'bootleg' items. These include T-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers and window decals, sometimes including obscene language or references contradicting or parodying the whimsical spirit of Watterson's work.
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In 2006, I couldn't stand some of the tacky design choices I had originally made in 1995 and so re-designed the site and updated some of the content. Hopefully Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection will be good for another 10 years or more!
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Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection
Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection, a fan site about the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, was created in 1995 and was my first website. It received a lot of updates until 1999 when I 'retired' so that I could focus on other things.
Have a look at ...
You should read ...
There's Treasure Everywhere
(Mar, 1996)
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[ Calvin and Hobbes Gateway | Wallpapers | C&H Alphabet | GROSS Hat ]
CC&HC is part of the nivmedia.com blog.