Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for October 30, 2020

Hey, that’s what motivated Grandma Moses — especially the riches.

Comics like this always make me forget Calvin is supposed to be six.

Doesn’t take much to corrupt Calvin, does it?

Do it. Not only is the money good, but remember that success is the best revenge.

I am continually amazed at how accurate this comic is at describing 2020, in 1990

Worked for Andy Warhol.

What y’all have to keep in mind is that Bill Watterson hated the thought of commercialization. Calvin’s argument in the third panel sums up exactly how Bill felt about it and why he refused to let his work become merchandised. That’s why there have never been any officially sanctioned Calvin & Hobbes mugs, t-shirts, or greeting cards or television specials.

Do some art for earning money and some art for idealism!! You can make both, one day this and an other this, you need money for this live!!Both is important!

Calvin is definitely a “Show me the money” type of guy. Probably will end up being a follower of Milton Friedman when he grows up….

Is this Watterson explaining why he didn’t sanction C and H merch?

Even the avant-garde artists like to eat.

Spoken like a true Picasso

Once Calvin said the words “riches and fame” the debate in his mind was finished!

Mony talks, values walk

Many stegosaurses (or stegosuari?) have shallow values as well.

Deep thinking for a six-year old!

Love the Hobbes eye roll in the final panel!

Ever notice how you can’t buy Calvin & Hobbes T-shirts or coffee mugs? Jim Watterson didn’t want to be a part of that system, himself.

This kid is a corruption!!!!

I can’t believe(as’ a six-year-old)that Calvin is thinking ‘so deep’. Me as a six-year-old was hoping to have BBQ’d spare ribs for supper chased by cold ‘A&W’ Root Beer from ’Cullen’s A & W’ ! ! ! !

i wonder what his parents have done to get this type of high profile six year old artist?

Being corrupted for lots of money in today’s American world is called entrepreneurism.

Being corrupted for little money in today’s American world is called selling out.

It’s like the old joke of offering the buxom blonde at the bar $5. After the rejection the offer is then $100.

I never understood why an artist gave up “integrity” just because they made money.

Art is important, but not as important as a nice car, sometimes.

Banksy. Avant-garde, but fabulously wealthy.

I’m 81, but Calvin is my hero!

It’s just B.W. indulging in a little fantasy of his own. One he did not buy into.

Most do it for the babes, but I don’t think that applies here.

For his next birthday Hobbes should buy Calvin a copy of Tom Wolfe’s “The Painted Word.”

Pre-Banksy humor. Banksy has self-parodied and monetized the heck out of it. So far, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Exit through the gift shop.

Is it really corruption to use the tools at hand to create exposure to great art? Is great art only meant to be appreciated by the few? Would it be better that the only people who could appreciate Van Gogh’s Starry Night be those who could see it in person vs. the millions of copies and riffs that lead people to it? I use that as the example because it was in the animated kids film Home – as commercial as you can get, yet it was treated with some dignity and had a message that could lead at least some to seek out the “truth”. Perhaps Calvin’s answer is simple – but perhaps the question actually isn’t. Which may have been Watterson’s subtext as he had to navigate a comic strip that begged to be commercially exploited when it was running live.

So, Calvin is what, Six? His thought process is too complex for his age.

There is a clear distinction between making art and making a living, something Calvin seems to understand.

Dinosaurs in space ships aren’t very avant-garde OR Post-Modern. In fact I’m pretty sure when this comic was originally published the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic might have already been published with the arc where they fight the Triceradons, you know, the race of DINOSAURS IN SPACE SHIPS

This is what killed the punk band the Clash.

Bill Waterson could have made millions off of Calvin and Hobbs lunch pails, posters, etc. Only the comic strip,

In the future, Calvin will be world-famous for 15 minutes.

Anything for riches and fame.

Exactly whom are we talking about here … Bill ?

Boy does Calvin talk a lot!!!

It’s kind of delightful, starting C&H as a small human and reading it again and again as I grow; it’s like discovering buried treasure. This is one of the arcs that was incomprehensible to me when I was Calvin’s age, and only now am I fully getting the joke.