Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 10, 2023

Oh no, no, no, I’m a rocket man Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone

Calvin must wonder if this is how Santa Clause gets around the world in one night.

Oh, the trudgery involved with sledding!

In panel 5. there’s a set of ski pools, but no where else. Hmmm..

Where is Hobbes here? Is he taking another trip through Mom’s washer/dryer??

I would much prefer that to using a ski lift.

Great imagination……..

What an imagination.

For a minute there, this cartoon was really going places!

I just love Calvin’s imagination!

Jato assist.

Tha difference between real and imaginary combined with the physics at its best. Not a single word used. Hats off to Bill.

Real life sucks.

Don’t you hate it when you get slapped back to reality, Calvin?

The box should have the ACME logo on it.

First snow we had couple of weeks ago, we stayed home. Snow dept was more then we usually receive.

Imagination fails in the face of reality. Bummer

If dreams could make wishes come true ….

I remember thinking and feeling like that, especially around 6 yrs old. We were lucky enough to have a set of hills that were pretty long, but the walk back up was also really long and that year I think we were still using the old wooden sleds.

It never worked for Wile E. Coyote, Cal. It probably won’t work for you

Dream on, Calvin.

When I was a small panda, I used to dream of ways to add motorized propulsion to my bicycle. Lucky for me, I never got further than planning.

Calvin watches too much Road Runner cartoons. He thinks he’s Wile E. Coyote

Great example of Calvin’s vivid imagination at work. He KNOWS he has no rocket powered skis, but he has fun PRETENDING he does. As he does with Hobbes.

There are two ways to design a system:

Start with the known and work your way forward.

Start with the impossible and work your way back.

Calvin usually chooses the latter.

James Bond, eat your heart out

Where’d he leave Hobbes?

Binford sledjet 2000

And yet possibly less dangerous than actual jet skis.

I still sigh like that…

Does Dad know you have jet engines in the garage??

Amazing how much further up the hill it is than down.

Makes you wonder why Calvin even bothered with the sled in his imagination at all.

I know what Calvin wants for Christmas.

And in the mean time, the sled is still at the bottom of the hill.

At least in Calvin’s fantasy, he did better than Wile E. Coyote.

In the next to last panel I get a sense of joy and exhilaration from the expression on Calvin’s face. Wonderful.

Love that big triangular smile in the eighth panel.

I think we have all wanted one of those at one time in our lives.

I know how he feels.

Dad: “Dragging that sled up the hill over and over again builds character!”

I am with you, Calvin. Still working on my jetpack.

I always wondered what it would be like being the mother of a “Calvin”. Now I KNOW what it is like to be the GRANDMOTHER of a “Calvin”!!! What a ride. 5:15 am he woke me singing this morning…Then laughed and talked to his stuffed animals before singing again. He just turned 5….and oh the stories I can tell about other exploits! Love him to pieces though

Calvin’s imagination is far more interesting than his reality.

I “demon cyclist” friend of mine told me a discouraging fact about long-distance cycling that applies to skiing. “You spend 90% of your time going uphill.”

Ok, here’s a math question. If Calvin was indestructible, and was wealthy enough to buy a jetpack or a flamethrower or anything destructive he wanted, how many firetrucks would his town have to purchase?