Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 29, 2023

Why did you even bother playing with Susie in the first place, Calvin?

Let Hobbes be First Tiger.

This is good timing because just this week, there was a Phoebe and Her Unicorn storyline that ended with Dakota in her undergarments, and there was a bit of discourse in the comments about it.

Some people were grossed out and uncomfortable, but others (myself included) pointed out that little boy characters like Calvin get to run around in their undies all the time (as seen in this comic), and little girl characters should be no different.

This is one of my favorites.

First Gentleman

POTUS Susie Derkins. I can not wait.

I don’t know what’s more shocking. The drastic change in art style or the fact that Calvin played with Susie. I wonder if she bribed him.

Here Watterson lets us know, what a genius is really in him!

Me Wonga-Taa, King of the Jungle. I have to find a way to use that today.

How is Calvin not cold walking through the snow in nothing but his underpants?

:D

I did not remember this one but I am saving it in my saved strips as it is funny as he11. I remember one other strip when Calvin and Susie were playing house and in that roleplay Calvin came home from work and said he need a stiff drink and then Susie wanted to show him their new bundle of joy which was actually her doll “Mr Bun” or something to that effect. I am guessing that strip is bound to pop up sooner or later as well.

Truly timeless, especially given the past 6 years. And that’s all I’ll say.

I love the drawings in this one. Stylish; bright, lurid colors; motion; the level of detail. It was his ability as an artist that really set Bill Watterson apart from his colleagues.

Calvin marveling at the scope of Susie’s imagination. Anyone else hear a pot calling a kettle “black?”

Those must be really nice underpants! :D

Lucky he’s 6 and not 16.

She wouldn’t think it was so bad if this was the Depression.

The flirting just goes on!!

The return to reality at the end of today’s strip is very good. As I said earlier, the fantasy scenes are drawn realistically and the reality is drawn cartoonishly. This reminds me of a Warner Bros cartoon from the 1940s called “Bacall To Arms” in which cartoon animals were watching realistically drawn cartoon versions of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on a cinema screen. That may have been one of the cartoons which had a leading impact on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” in the 1980s.

Other probable influences on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” are a handful of Tex Avery cartoons starting with Red Hot Riding Hood which featured a redhead similar to Jessica Rabbit and a 1950s Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring a pint-sized, baby-faced cigar smoking gangster called Baby Face Finster who tricked Bugs by pretending to be a baby. He is one of the few characters to have actually shot Bugs:

Bugs: Is the little baby going to shoot the bad guy wabbit with his toy gun?

BANG1

Bugs: Some toy!

Another good point about the last panel in today’s strip is that we are seeing Calvin as he really is. We see a small boy in his underpants besides Hobbes who is a living tiger walking beside him. This is further evidence to support Bill Watterson’s claim, “I do not see Hobbes as a doll who miraculously comes to life when alone with Calvin. Neither do I see Hobbes as a product of Calvin’s imagination.” Watterson went on to explain that the stuffed doll is what other characters see rather than what Hobbes is. He concluded, “Hobbes is more to do with the subjective nature of reality than with dolls coming to life.”

This point is underlined by the fact that Mom is in the panel with Calvin and Hobbes but is looking away from them so she doesn’t see Hobbes as the stuffed doll that she sees him as.

Calvin imagines Susie as president?

I love a good laugh at 4 am. Just classic, especially the last panel. Of course, Susie would never ever marry Calvin, I’d like to see her with Caulfield over at Frazz.

Her family changed their name to Plainwell and moved away to escape the mentally disturbed boy who was stalking their daughter. She moved back and became an elementary school teacher.

She wanted me to play " doctor" with her and locked me in the room!

The hardest part for Calvin there was imagining himself having combed hair.

Is Mr. Bun the Vice President?

What will a tiger think when he sees you wearing leopard skin underpants? Me next? He’ll want a Calvin skin cape!

I think Watterson had fun drawing this strip. It does show off his artistic ability both with the artwork and the genre.

I remember reading Watterson commenting on what was his first of several times using this Rex Morgan, M.D. style of drawing for a Sunday strip, saying that after the first awkward attempt he discovered that the secret was to draw the panels much larger than normal.

Doncha all know they will be married? https://imgur.com/tUzAL

Bill Watterson is as versatile an artist as Frank Cho.

love the drawing style of this one!

How timely and true. The current President is also a member of Deluded Fruitcakes Anonymous. The Vice President, too.

LOL!!!!

Well, he had to leave them somewhere.

Wait till Calvin sees the punishment his mother imagines for him.

“Deluded fruit cakes anonymous.” That would be the perfect description of BOTH political parties except for the fact that they all use those offices of power to ridiculously enrich themselves. It’s no wonder I wish that I could go all “Wonga-Taa” and escape it all!

Brilliant.

I am in full self restraint not to create a contemporary political analogy

I like it…….grown-ups acting like little kids !

I’m not sure I approve of children being depicted in their undergarments.

They didn’t lay down the ground rules before starting play.

I love when Waterson draws in this different style.

Such a brilliantly drawn and written classic.

10 years later…mom got another identical phone call…

Interesting that this scenario is so much more plausible than when was it was created. More interesting is that it wouldn’t be as much of a surprise.

Heh, I can just hear Patrick Warburton voicing adult Calvin/Wonga-Taa, and the jungle music starting in the fourth panel!

There is nothing, NOTHING better than Bill Watterson’s Sunday art on a Sunday morning.

Calvin and Susie love to aggravate each other, hmmmmm,could this be love?

At least they weren’t playing doctor…

This is one of my favorite C&H strips of all time!

It’s always a good time when Watterson can add some of his incredible artwork to his comic strip.

We can’t post images here but, if you google “Calvin and Hobbes Spider Man” and click on images, the first row has a great strip where the artist used this strip but with dialog and images to go with the Spider-Man character. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!

Watterson’s genius in full flower.

One of the best of the best.

The artwork in this strip is hilarious!

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again: Mr Watterson loves to draw.

Deluded Fruitcakes is the party we need right now

Calvin dumps the dish and flies off au-natural.

Watterson is such a great artist!

Hahaha!, 1st husband/‘calvins’ face panel #2 hilarious! XD!

This strip brings back to mind those Brenda Starr, Rex Morgan, Dick Tracy, Apartment 3-G and Steve Canyon comix, with their realistic, non-cartoony illustrations.

So much good stuff in this one …

> “Me Wonga-Taa, king of jungle”

> A female president

> Mr. Watterson’s incredible imagination

Love it.

The artwork is, well, a work of art!

Haha I have ALWAYS loved this comic!! Really shows the genius in Bill and how talented he truly is in illustration and story telling. Love it.

I just realized that in all but the last panel, everyone has 5 fingers on each hand. Then, back to four.

Why do Americans say fix a meal instead of cook or prepare?Is it always broken?