What is Watterson's worst-ever "Calvin and Hobbes"?
- Thread starter Gaith
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I'm glad they didn't show us a grown-up Calvin.
I read that somewhere that for the last episode of "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" Fred Rogers chose to shoot the episode as though it were like any other. His reasoning, from what I understand, was that he wanted the show to have a full-circle effect, and that those who came to the show after he was gone could just drop in whenever or wherever they liked.
That's one of the things I love about "Calvin and Hobbes." You can just drop into that universe at any point in the series' ten-year run, and it's as though you never left. I don't think everything has to end with the notion that "things will never be the same." It's fine that some people would have liked to see the series do that. I wouldn't have. Too many aspects of my life, even the creative things that amuse, horrify, inspire me and so forth, are subject to chaos and ever-changing times. If something can sincerely get away with avoiding that, then that's fine by me.
In answer to the question, I can't think of any specific strips, but those first couple of collections definitely have some weak strips in them, and Watterson himself said so later on.
I read that somewhere that for the last episode of "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" Fred Rogers chose to shoot the episode as though it were like any other. His reasoning, from what I understand, was that he wanted the show to have a full-circle effect, and that those who came to the show after he was gone could just drop in whenever or wherever they liked.
That's one of the things I love about "Calvin and Hobbes." You can just drop into that universe at any point in the series' ten-year run, and it's as though you never left. I don't think everything has to end with the notion that "things will never be the same." It's fine that some people would have liked to see the series do that. I wouldn't have. Too many aspects of my life, even the creative things that amuse, horrify, inspire me and so forth, are subject to chaos and ever-changing times. If something can sincerely get away with avoiding that, then that's fine by me.
In answer to the question, I can't think of any specific strips, but those first couple of collections definitely have some weak strips in them, and Watterson himself said so later on.
There's always the Robot Chicken ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX-zSBU4bCs
Hmm, directlinking the video cut it down to 5 seconds for some reason, but if you go to youtube you can see the whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX-zSBU4bCs
Hmm, directlinking the video cut it down to 5 seconds for some reason, but if you go to youtube you can see the whole thing.
I enjoy Lio, and found that strip to be a hoot. Let's not forget that sick humor (cannibalistic snowmen, people-crushing dinosaurs) is just as integral to C&H as the fuzzy sentimentality, so I don't see that gag as anything other than a loving homage. (The adult Calvin with a Hobbes-befriending little girl fan art, OTOH, makes me a bit ill, but I guess it has a place also.)
Alright-my take.
First-agreed in general that Calvin is the Peter Pan spirit in us all.
Second-if any closure were needed, then sojourner's, well, I actually choked up reading it.
Third-Sorry, but the BEST strip? I beg to differ. Some of you might have noticed that I've never changed my avatar. There's a reason for that.
First-agreed in general that Calvin is the Peter Pan spirit in us all.
Second-if any closure were needed, then sojourner's, well, I actually choked up reading it.
Third-Sorry, but the BEST strip? I beg to differ. Some of you might have noticed that I've never changed my avatar. There's a reason for that.
One of my favorite Robot Chicken skits.
(The adult Calvin with a Hobbes-befriending little girl fan art, OTOH, makes me a bit ill, but I guess it has a place also.)[/QUOTE]
It certainly has a place for me. I was a out 10 or 11 I think when I started reading Calvin and Hobbes. Now I have a 5-year-old daughter. That piece of fan art really speaks to me, even if it is cutesy and an obvious sentiment.
It certainly has a place for me. I was a out 10 or 11 I think when I started reading Calvin and Hobbes. Now I have a 5-year-old daughter. That piece of fan art really speaks to me, even if it is cutesy and an obvious sentiment.
There is no worst one.
But this is by far one of the best ones.
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/06/09
But this is by far one of the best ones.
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/06/09
Hey thanks, it was my "inner movie director" working.
Agreed.
A friend who's a great deal more into this than I am told me the other day about an interview in which Watterson explained part of his reluctance to permit an animated version of the strip as his seeing no way to finesse the question of which POV was "more real" - Hobbes as a toy or Hobbes as a tiger. If so, he'd have been unlikely to have contemplated an ending to the strip that forced Calvin to abandon his worldview.
Meanwhile, after the Apocalypse...
Although this thread has gotten off topic, I believe that sometimes for outr most beloved series it is better to end without closure.
I already choked up enough reading Calvin and Hobbes' last comic knowing it was the last I'd see but in my mind somewhere I always feel as though their adventures go on forever. Maybe I can't be a part of them anymore but Calvin will never grow up, and he will never lose Hobbes.
I already choked up enough reading Calvin and Hobbes' last comic knowing it was the last I'd see but in my mind somewhere I always feel as though their adventures go on forever. Maybe I can't be a part of them anymore but Calvin will never grow up, and he will never lose Hobbes.
Absolutely. Not every series needs "closure." Some are meant to be open-ended, not building toward some ultimate goal but simply existing in the now. Does anyone actually want to see Wile E. Coyote finally kill the Roadrunner or die of starvation?
^Which is the same image I linked to yesterday in post #16.
Aww... that image is so sweet! Calvin never gives up Hobbes, really. He gives the gift to his daughter. 
Kinda, yeah.
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