“Did you ask your mum if you could jump off the roof?”
“Questions I know the answers to I don’t need to ask, right?”
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes is a hilarious series of short comic strips, that when put together in this fabulous collection provides pages and pages of childhood nostalgia. Filled with a high abundance of smart jokes as well as witty and brilliant retorts, the series follows the two leads; Calvin a six-year-old boy, and his best friend Hobbes a striped tiger, in their everyday adventures. They’re tricky, mischievous, and downright smart with their out-of-the-box thinking, leaving Calvin’s parents stumped and the readers in stitches.
It should be noted however, that Hobbes is not the meat-eating variety of tigers but a cuddly toy brought to life only in the highly over-active and super-charged mind of Calvin. He’s his best friend, a fully-fledged tiger who banters back, whilst also creating that voice the questions Calvin’s more insane ideas – but only just before he joins in. The only times the viewer sees Hobbes as a cuddly toy is when one of the adults is in the same room as him, their minds reducing him to being an inanimate object – which shows the adults as having flat and boring brains, against the powerful contrast of a child’s mind.
Throughout this collection are tales of monsters under the bed, of homework, babysitters, adventures with cowboys/aliens/and Godzilla’s – though Calvin is often the one wreaking havoc – time-machines, ghosts, sharks, and oatmeal that’s come alive!
Furthermore, and very cleverly, creator Bill Watterson discreetly inserts a commentary here and there on society. For example, in one strip Calvin and Hobbes are shown to be playing with a sticky-dart gun – the first one to be hit loses the game. Calvin declares he will play the American Hero and Hobbes will be the Villainous Communist, they each draw their weapons and shout “GO” and with this they’re both hit at the same time – to which both characters look at the sticky-darts stuck to them, and declare that it’s “kind of a stupid game isn’t it?” Brilliantly commenting on the ridiculousness of the Cold War.
However, it’s the comic strips of everyday life, whether at home or in school, that create the most roaring of laughs, for it’s something you can relate to. Calvin’s intelligence, wisdom and naivety (that somehow go hand-in-hand in equal measures) make the book stand out from many of its peers.
When you think about the comic strip in further detail, you realise the lines from Hobbes (the cuddly-toy-tiger) are really just Calvin; challenging himself; providing self-comfort when scared or uncertain; and building his own self-confidence. For after all it’s his imagination that makes Hobbes real, and in this we’re further shown the brilliance of Calvin, and also possibly, the more rational and morally right version of himself – one that he acknowledges through Hobbes, but then totally disregards. Having said this, it’s easier and more fun to believe Hobbes is as real as you and I, and that the adults in their small minds can’t comprehend this, just as they don’t understand how Calvin will one day be the world’s first dictator, and I for one don’t care, as long as Hobbes remains his second-in-charge.
The mini tales of Calvin and Hobbes are a beautiful reflection of childhood, told with a humour for adults, and though the younger ages will enjoy this collection as well (its child friendly), it’s the adults that will get the most enjoyment from the sharp-witted scenes. An example of its savvy humour would be when Calvin is faced with a question on a test paper; ‘2 + 7 = ’ Not knowing the answer Calvin writes; ‘I cannot answer this question as it is against my religious principles’. He then leans back, sticks his tongue out to examine his masterpiece like an artist, and then comments that “It’s worth a shot” at least.
If only I had his cunning. Check out The Essential Calvin and Hobbes and have a few chuckles.
Other Notable Works by Bill Watterson:
- Calvin & Hobbes:
+ It’s a Magical World 1996
+ There’s Treasure Everywhere 1996
+ The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary book 1995
+ Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat 1994
+ The Days Are Just Packed 1993
+ Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons 1992
+ The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes 1992
+ Scientific Progress Goes “Boink” 1991
+ The Revenge of the Baby-Sat 1991
+ The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury 1990
+ Weirdos from Another Planet! 1990
+ The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book 1989
+ Yukon Ho! 1989
Book Edition Information:
Publisher: Warner Books
ISBN: 0-7515-1274-5
Cover Illustration: Bill Watterson
Presented Edition: 2005 Paperback
Background image courtesy of Timothy Eberly on Unsplash
