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20040916 Thursday September 16, 2004

Calvin and Hobbes Life Instruction Manual

I've just finished Yukon Ho!, one of the collections of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons by Bill Watterson. I've been a big fan of this strip since about the mid 90's, when somebody told me what it was all about. Oh, the Tiger is real when nobody else is around. Otherwise it's a stuffed animal. Oooookay.

Didn't think much more about it until our son turned six. Then when I started reading the strips again they weren't quite so funny. They were just a tad to true to life in some instances.

Now I admit Duncan doesn't quite have the ready wit and repartee of Calvin, or the command of the English language. Or even the ability to read and write (except for small words and his name), but there are some frightening similarities. He doesn't have a stuffed tiger named Hobbes, but he does have a stuffed sheep named Sheepy.

I then realized that Bill Watterson is preparing all new parents for what it's going to be like, to own and operate a six year old. Don't take those cartoons so flippantly. This is probably going to be your life when your son turns six. He's going to turn bathtime into a living hell. He'll develop disgusting eating habits and display them in public. He'll do DIY and you'll wonder why you ever bought nice furniture. Check out here to know more about what's in store for you.

He'll have adventures with his favorite stuffed animal and be embarrassed when you discover him talking to it. Bill Watterson is a wise man and I appreciate him sharing his knowledge with us neophyte parents.

Now I'm lucky it doesn't snow much around here, so I won't have to come home to huge snowmen in disturbing positions, but I do wonder what Duncan will get up to next. I bet whatever it is, there is a cartoon already written for it.

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( Sep 16 2004, 02:55:56 AM PDT ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [12]

Comments:

I've got about half a dozen of these books that I bought about 8 years ago. At 15 I just thought they were funny cartoons, but now at 23 I guess they have a whole other world of information. Maybe it's time I dusted these 'manuals' off in preparation for parenthood (though, I've probably got a good 8-10 years before I have a 6yr old).

Posted by mlambie on September 16, 2004 at 06:55 AM PDT #

NB: What's the deal with not allowing paragraph breaks? not a big deal, just makes it a bit harder to read though. yeah, my cousin has a huge collection, and I spent last christmas reading through some of them...they were funny, but i though some of them were kinda i dunno, profound i guess. (break) Is it just me, or did i see overtures of the cold war in them (calvin fighting with that girl - susan or something - everyone losing, like a negative sum game - like some moral lesson)? (break) Also, the idea of growing up: there was one picture of the back of calvin/hobbes looking at something or other, can't remember, but it kinda made me really sad and nostalgic - blast, i can't remember why, there was something there that made me think what he would be like when he grew up - hmmm, maybe i'm just being soppy (break) finally, what's the deal with him and susan - i'm not going to say it, in case it just sounds wrong, but aren't they kinda.... (break) now i'm getting all poignant and nostalgic for my childhood (about 2 years ago, according to my friends *grin).

Posted by Victor Hooi on September 16, 2004 at 07:41 AM PDT #

"Oh, the Tiger is real when nobody else is around. Otherwise it's a stuffed animal."

No he's not.
Hobbes is often "real" when other people are around.

The distinction between Hobbes being real and Hobbes being stuffed is to show who's point of view the panel is being "narrated" from.

If it is from Calvin's perspective then Hobbes is real, if it is from someone else's perspective then Hobbes is simply a stuffed animal.

Posted by Iain on September 16, 2004 at 08:06 AM PDT #

Hi mlambie. I think we have about 4 of the books, but there has been a lot of repeats. There is an essential set of books that you can get that uniquely covers all the cartoons. See the list at the bottom of this page. In finding it, I also discovered this Wikipedia entry which is great.

Hi Victor. The comments are in HTML format, so if you add the normal tag for a paragraph "

" then you should get what you want. Indeed, Bill Watterson definitely was doing a bit of preaching in those cartoon as well as trying to be funny. If you were going to say "Aren't Calvin and Susan a bit like a married couple", then I agree. Otherwise, feel free to spill the beans! ;)

Posted by Rich Burridge on September 16, 2004 at 08:07 AM PDT #

Hi Iain. Ahh. Thanks. That distinction was too subtle for me (and apparently the person who explained it all to me ten years ago). Can you find a cartoon on that index page that shows this?

Posted by Rich Burridge on September 16, 2004 at 08:12 AM PDT #

[Trackback] I read this post called Calvin and Hobbes Life Instruction Manual [sun.com] by Rich Burridge earlier today. I love Calvin and Hobbes. I remember reading the comics in the books and newspapers. But, I used to love reading them on Sunday afternoons (I...

Posted by Ryan Grier.com on September 16, 2004 at 08:44 AM PDT #

Man, I need to go back and re-read all my C&H books; it's been too long. My favorites have always been the snowmen. Thanks for that link!

Posted by Danek Duvall on September 16, 2004 at 09:29 AM PDT #

http://dlazechk.freewebsites.com/sundayplayingwithsusie.html

Thats the first strip I came up with...The last panel is seen from Calvin's perspective, the rest from Susie's.

I'll defer to Bill Watterson for a final explaination (from the 10th Anniversary book)

The so-called "gimmick" of my strip - the two versions of Hobbes - is sometimes misunderstood. I don't think of Hobbes as a doll that miraculously comes to life when Calvin's around. Neither do I think of Hobbes as the product of Calvin's imagination. The nature of Hobbes's reality doesn't interest me, and each story goes out of its way to avoid resolving the issue. Calvin sees Hobbes one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way. I show two versions of reality, and each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it. I think thats how life works. None of us sees the world in exactly the same way, and I just draw that literally in the strip. Hobbes is more about the subjective nature of reality than about dolls coming to life.

And you thought it was just a funny comic strip.

Posted by Iain on September 16, 2004 at 09:54 AM PDT #

Thank Iain! As you say, Bill's word is final, but I'd posit that there isn't a C&H strip with a panel where Hobbes is "real", and there is anybody else in that panel apart from Calvin and Hobbes. I understand what you and Bill are saying, but the other explanation still makes sense (even though it's now proven wrong). A bit like a lot of things in life.

Posted by Rich Burridge on September 16, 2004 at 12:31 PM PDT #

http://aa.1asphost.com/dlazechk/weekdaymagiccarpet4.html
There's that one there, but its part of Calvin's imagination as well, so it doesn't count.

Posted by Iain on September 16, 2004 at 01:59 PM PDT #

I think there are others, too, and ones where other people are physically closer to the "real" Hobbes, but they're pretty rare. I'll definitely have to re-read the books now!

Posted by Danek Duvall on September 17, 2004 at 01:16 AM PDT #

Yeah. Same here. Thanks for taking the time to track an example down Iain.

Posted by Rich Burridge on September 17, 2004 at 07:42 AM PDT #

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