Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 20, 2014

Mom doesn’t know what a tiger needs.

Today Calvin is left-handed. It all depends on where he is located in the panel and which hand looks better at that location.Click here: Peanuts (May 21, 1965)Click here: Pearls Before Swine (February 2, 2003)

Note that in Panel 3, Calvin’s spoon handle has switched over to the side of the bowl on his right, since it looks better there. It would be blocked by his sleeve if it were still on his left.

And if you (Hobbes) eat all that chocolate pudding, out goes the lean! ;)

@Wiseguy: Don’t know whether Calvin is ambidextrous, but some of the things he does seem underhanded.Perhaps in the 3rd panel Calvin bumped the spoon handle while gesturing with his arm, and it flew over to the other side of the bowl.

Interesting fact: all felids, including the Pantherinae, are genetically incapable of tasting sweetness. So while Hobbes might well enjoy the fat in pudding, and the chocolate might well be toxic to him, the sugar would be wasted on him. As for Tony the Tiger™ loving (Sugar) Frosted Flakes® (of Corn), that’s just corny.

I’d just go down and take it from the refrigerator, Hobbes. You need your lustrous coat.

If you want real home made vanilla extract for a fraction of the cost you pay in markets, get 2 or 3 vanilla beans and a bottle of vodka (cheap is fine, what you want is the alcohol). Add the vanilla beans to the vodka, close up tightly and set in a dark place for 2-3 weeks. You now have an entire fifth of pure vanilla extract.

You’re not supposed to wear it, you’re supposed to eat it, Hobbes.

Boy, am I a dummy! There it is, last panel, plain as day: “Chocolate pudding makes my coat lustrous.” I’ll just go get some more coffee.

In sixty years of reading comics I’ve never found a better strip!

Last panel…

Calvin and his pet tiger Hobbes have concocted a scheme to get some extra pudding for Uncle Max

Hobbs is a Lean Mean Leaping Machine!

I love chocolate pudding.

Hmmm, chocolate pudding.

@Liverlips McCracken: The information about how Bill Watterson draws Calvin right- vs. left-handed, or how he positions the spoon in the bowl, is for those who enjoy getting some insight into the mind of the cartoonist and the art of cartooning.My speculation about Calvin’s arm bumping the spoon and causing it to fly over to the other side of the bowl is more subtle and not intended to be serious. It is tongue-in-cheek humor, similar to speculating how Hobbes got home from the school bus stop, or stating that Calvin got the snowball on top of the tall snowman with the help of Hobbes.Much of what is enjoyable about Calvin and Hobbes involves the conflict between imagination and reality. Some posters here use tongue-in-cheek humor in the same vein, which can be a lot of fun if you play along with it.

Sorry, I don’t think Mum is going to budge!

xxx

The Office line!

Fourth panel – Hobbes speaking.

Of course Hobbes needs the chocolate pudding to maintain his lustrous coat. It postpones that trip through the washer and dryer that makes him so dizzy

Of course Hobbes needs the chocolate pudding to maintain his lustrous coat. It postpones that trip through the washer and dryer that makes him so dizzy