Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 24, 2021

“My main suspect was gravity, but I don’t think the lady was going to believe me.”

Name one non-hysterical dame, Detective Bullet.

Don’t expect a tip for this one, Trace.

Aye lad, dames are hysterical – usually just before we lads get a sound spanking.

Maybe the Derkins babe will have a good answer.

Is Calvin this oblivious to the carnage he caused? :/

So maybe, Calvin was the culprit. Mystery solved. Can we move on?

Try saying out loud that the dame is hysterical and you will see what the reward will be.

Merriam-Webster: History and Etymology for hysteria – New Latin, from English hysteric, adjective, from Latin hystericus, from Greek hysterikos, from hystera womb; from the Greek notion that hysteria was peculiar to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus.

When you’ve given birth to Calvin, you have a right to be hysterical!!!

Reading Calvin & Hobbes makes me hysterical!

The cat pushed it over the edge…..

“The dame was hysterical. Dames usually are” is one of the all-time great “sexist Calvin” jokes. Tracer Bullet stories remain some of the best story arcs Watterson’s ever done for hilarity (the previous joke about magnums is top-tier as well).

Calvin’s been reading Freud.

Calvin kind of looks like Sam Spayed!

She’ll break your arms if you don’t give her an explanation, calvin.

She could withhold his allowance to pay for the damage but knowing Calvin, that would mean he doesn’t even know what his allowance is as he never gets it.

I thought Calvin watched only cartoons on TV. Where does he get all this stuff?

Yeah, Calvin, call your Mom a “dame” and see how quickly you get grounded.

This arc is (was) absolute epic genius!

Let’s see – the only two people in the house and you and Calvin. You don’t own a pet. The doors are locked and the windows are closed so no intruder or strong wind can come in. But by all means ask your rhetorical question and let’s get on with the scolding.

Go ahead. Call your Mom a Dame. Just once. ..I dare you.

When I read this I can’t help but hear it in the voice of Garrison Keillor as Guy Noir, Private Eye.

I love the artwork of Bill in this story line. Though only drawing a comic, when he does “real” drawings like this you can see just what a masterful artist he truly is. Plus, the dialogue is always superb!

Don’t call your mother a ‘dame’, kid.

uh oh…

your mom has no wagers g pop

Calvin is SO out of touch with reality!

Love how small and short Tracer Bullet is in the third panel, with the way his trenchcoat completely obscures his feet!

Just wait until she finds out you are calling her dame instead of Mom.

Now is not a good time to say “Cool your jets, Toots!”

Well i feel like he is gonna shoot her it always ends with his toy gun

“The tall brunette, the Derkins dame, the Wormwood screw, the Rosalyn torpedo… Women sure make it tough for a gumshoe… Hey, there’s gum on my shoe!”

I could read a whole book of this stuff.

This was one of my Calvin storylines! Tracer Bullit was a great character from Calvin’s imagination.

Pro tip: do not call ur mom a dame

They wouldn’t let Tracer smoke if this was written today.

this strip gets worse every week.

That explains why the couple do not go for the next sibling.

The last couple of strips has been some of the best mystery-novel writing I’ve ever read. Tropes out the gills. Bill has all the masters beat, hands down.

How can Calvin explain it if he didn’t have anything to do with it?

Man this thread/arc is wonderful.

Round up the usual suspects.

1.Calvin

Mom is irked at Calvin’s Sam SPADE (or is it Richard DIAMOND?) routine, but it’s not in her HEART to CLUB him!

Yep.

i’ll give you $100 to call your mom a dame Calvin…

Loving Calvin’s monologue. I have hundreds of classic radio detective shows on thumb drives and this could’ve been gleaned from any of them: Philip Marlowe…Richard Diamond…Sam Spade…Pat Novak…Sherlock Holmes…okay, maybe not Sherlock Holmes…

He’s so lucky moms can’t read thought bubbles!