Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic?albeit stuffed?tiger. Syndicated from November 18, 1985 until December 31, 1995, at its height Calvin and Hobbes was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of 17 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed.

Related Topics:
Comic strip - Bill Watterson - Stuffed - Tiger - Syndicated - November 18 - 1985 - December 31 - 1995 - Newspaper - Books

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The strip is vaguely set in the contemporary midwestern United States, in the outskirts of suburbia (West, 1989). Calvin and Hobbes themselves appear in most of the strips, though several have focused instead upon Calvin's family. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif; Calvin sees him as alive, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal, a point discussed more fully below. Unlike Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, the series does not mention specific political figures, but it does examine broad issues like environmentalism and the flaws of opinion polls (Astor, 1989).

Related Topics:
Vaguely set - Contemporary - Midwestern - United States - Suburbia - Below - Garry Trudeau - Doonesbury - Environmentalism - Opinion poll

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Due to Watterson's strong anti-merchandising sentiments (Dean, 1987) and his reluctance to return to the spotlight, almost no legitimate Calvin and Hobbes licensed material exists outside of the book collections. One notable exception was the publication of two 16-month wall calendars for 1988–1989 and 1989–1990.

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However, the strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various "bootleg" items, including T-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers, and window decals, often including obscene language or references wholly uncharacteristic of the whimsical spirit of Watterson's work.

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