Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 12, 2014

Ok, this is really upsetting.I would think twice before I would let a child see this strip.

I don’t think they were ever meant for kids…

@GrayI have an 8 year-old nephew who loves C&H.He also loves the “Peanuts.”

This particular strip should not have been published in today’s world. It was OK when it was originally drawn, but times have changed… ;)

Calvin’s going to come down in the Principal’s office.

Perhaps God will catch and save him!

Great cartoon; love Calvin. (I guess the naysayers better not buy any of the Calvin & Hobbes books; I seem to remember Calvin doing a few nude scenes…and then there’s the monsters in the bathtub…)

Those who find this strip too upsetting always have the option of taking it off their My Comics lists. Then they’ll never be disturbed by it again. Simples!

What’s really upsetting, are the negative remarks about how wrong it is in today’s world. Imagine that, A child using his imagination.

Love C&H

You know, if any of you have read the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm as they were originally written, they make Calvin look very tame. Frankly, a lot of what is going on in the world is much worse than this strip.

I’m not disturbed by this strip at all. In fact I was about to write a note of praise for the artwork before I read all the scathing comments. Some of you remind me of the morally righteous folks who condemned the kids a few years ago for reading Harry Potter.

@Jonathan MasonKids also like having Snickers and Coke for breakfast.-@Life I Draw UponWell, I did read it and will continue to read it.-@ivision.bedardLike I said originally, “I would think twice…”My decision, no congressional hearing needed.

This is really funny! Calvin has a fantastic imagination.

" As much as she could get away with she spent all her time with the girls, and discriminated against the boys."

I remember the 1st time I realized a simular bias in a young female teacher while asking for help with math AT CALVIN’S AGE – it destroyed my attitude towards schooling….. thus the reason for my opinion that the entire industry SHOULD be replace with online schooling supplemented with “activity centres” for excercise and “social traning”.

Back in “my day” (I turned 65 yesterday) WE knew the difference between a comic book or strip and reality. WE could enjoy the most off-the-wall humor and stories because WE knew it was make believe. For example, SPY vs. SPY (MAD Magazine) was violent, but it was FUNNY because we knew it wasn’t real. Cartoons on Saturday mornings had a lot of violence, but it wasn’t real, so it was funny. WE could tell the difference and at least for me, I didn’t have to be taught the difference. Things HAVE changed, and not for the better.

You all need to lighten up and stop trying to out do each other with your outrage. It is just a comic strip. If it upsets you, don’t read it.

What sad little people.

The drawing in this strip is particularly fine, isn’t it?

Say what???

ouch……

Doubt it. She has a really twisted sense of humour.

It just seems that the more years that go by, the more the ‘namby pamby, scared of Bambi’ types are taking over all public discourse.

I don’t think this strip is the problem with society today.

I wouldn’t be so sure!!

Comments more interesting than the strip,and I do love C&Hs

Because parents don’t give their children any kind of idea of how the world actually works and because they think that parenting consists in tricking their children into thinking they are unique in ways they are not, which children sense at a very young age is not true, and that their world should be perfect, children are scared to death of EVERYTHING. Calvin, on the other hand, has the fearlessness that a six year old should have…the fearlessness of innocence and inexperience and being appropriately protected by his parents, which DOES NOT mean being swaddled from all of life’s experiences. This strip is Calvin’s imagination of what is about to happen as a result of his presumed muffing of his homework assignment. Yes, the real world has inflicted nightmarish things on children. But, HELLO!, these things have been ongoing for children in parts of the world all along. In their imaginations, they are still in control of their world. So STOP CODDLING. If you want to help children, TEACH them the TRUTH.

Ok to be more precise.You have the right to chose what you and what your underage children have access to.You have no right whatsoever to decide what me and mine may access..So please keep your so called politically correct opinion to you and yours.

It’s just a little boy with a vivid imagination.

I love Calvin but found this one very odd. Like it did not have a punch line.

This whole discourse is a bit disturbing. Lighten up people. It’s a cartoon! Symbolism …. a six year old reacting to not having his assignment finished (Calvin never over reacts??)… come on. Smile, laugh, chortle…. life’s too short.

He’s going to run out of gas three inches from the- whoops, that’s Loony Tunes.

everyone crying over a comic strip. These are the same people enabling the pu$$ification of todays youth. This is why the youth today are a bunch of whiney, give me now, I deserve things because I’m me babies. Let them eat dirt, fall from trees, and drink from hoses. Stop protecting them from the world.

Calvin’s adventure scenes remind me of Edgar Rice Burroughs illustrations, ( i.e.Tarzan, John Carter) and then there’s Spaceman Spiff!

To those who find this strip disturbing: why are you still here? I’d think that Calvin’s snowpeople would have run you off a long time ago.

If it’s violence you object to, then why hasn’t Calvin’s water balloon / snowball throwing offended you? Or his sexist comments to Susie, or her bashing him in retaliation? Also, he and Hobbs seem to tangle it up a lot. And how many times have the duo gone flying off a cliff in a wagon or sled?

And while we are at it: what’s so funny about school bullies? Forget for a moment that Calvin has his own ways with dealing with Moe. Come to think of it, between Susie, Moe and Hobbs, Calvin sure gets more than his fair share of lumps. (Well, in Susie’s case, mostly they are deserved lumps).

Then consider this: nobody can anger you, humiliate you or offend you unless you give them power over you to do so. If you are not master of yourself, someone else will be.

So Calvin has a vivid – a VERY vivid imagination! Mnyeh! I wish I were 0,00000001% as imaginative as he.

I had similar visions as a child…usually right when a test was announced.

This strip originally appeared on 3/9/94. If you go to the Calvin and Hobbes search engine (google it), you can read the entire story arc. I found the story to be classic Watterson. I doubt that any kid old enough to read the comic section in 1994 would have been scarred by the experience. Heck, I’d be more concerned by what currently passes for television content.

He will wake up soon!

Yeah, in “today’s world” you can get suspended for pointing a finger in a “gun-like manner” and saying “bang”.

When I was in elementary school in the ’60s, the kids would sing:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school,We have tortured every teacher, we have broken every rule.…. etc

Of course this sentiment only applied to teachers and authority in general. Specific" teachers, *earned the respect of most students.

Why so serious? Enjoy the strip and envy Calvin’s imagination. This story arc is one of my favorites! And yes, I read this as a kid. And no, I’m not a violent person. Other reasons exist for violence. The assumption of inane implication that Calvin and Hobbes should be censored is laughable!

Hopefully Calvin will wake up before he hits the ground…

xxx

“But are these changes necessarily for the better?”

It has to be…our children are growing up in a world we couldn’t even Begin to imagine when we were children. C&H can be very funny at times, but today’s strip is Not… ;)

“Perhaps C&H is a little too sophisticated for some of you?” Not at all. My concern is for children who read this comic. Today’s comic is funny, but just not for younger children… ;)

I’m burning up for your love.

A few people have been off their medication too long… I think this ‘toon’ is GREAT!

Actually, Calvin has nailed how I am feeling at work today.

This or any other strip does not have to be censored. Parents and guardians still have a responsibility regarding what children read and watch.

One cartoon I did show my nephews was this old Tom & Jerry:-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfskgQ6Z_bA

This represents Calvin’s imagination as a boy. Guess what? Boys’ imaginations can take some pretty dark turns, no matter what “the times” dictate. Recognize the dark, encourage the light and help people to see that having dark imaginations doesn’t make them abnormal, or monsters – it just makes them human. If you outlaw or censor dark imagery, you risk making people feel this is something they need to hide. And hiding feelings and ideas allows them to fester. And when they fester, we get full-on fruit and nut bars!

After reading the initial comments, I can only roll my eyes in disgust and say, Aw, come on. I’m tempted to relate stories of growing up on the farm. You all would take exception to most of those too.

These days I often wonder whether the grownups who claim to want to protect the children from imaginary horrors are instead actually craving protection for themselves.