Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for February 15, 2023

To paraphrase a certain unknowable eldritch abomination “If everything is a book, then nothing is.”

Kind of an interesting coincidence that this P&HU story about Phoebe doing a book report on a graphic novel is running the same week that it was announced Bill Watterson is coming out of retirement to work on a new graphic novel called The Mysteries.

Did Dana know about this beforehand, being a Calvin and Hobbes fan herself?

Somehow this particular strip made me realize that this is a rerun story arc.

When is there never a unicorn Arbiter for something?

There is one in every group, Phoebe!

‘She is a crank!’ ‘She is not a crank!’

There’s probably a unicorn for everything, you just don’t see them very much!

I think Marigold has made her point that Dakota’s mother is just being contrary.

I wonder if the Arbiter of Book Reality lives in the unicorn version of Florida

This is a comic strip!

Ceci n’est pas un livre.

This librarian firmly says that graphic novels are real books. So are ebook and audiobooks. All reading is good reading.

We have a lot of self-proclaimed Arbiters of Book Realities. Most recently in Florida.

Exactly!

These days, graphic novels are more real than reality

So is Dakota’s mother, Marigold. Where do you think Dakota’s attitude comes from? She’s just a junior crank.

ARBITER OF BOOK REALITY: {gazing at the cover of “1007 Ways To Enjoy Unicorns For Dinner”} “THIS IS NOT A BOOK!!!!!!” GLORIA GLITTER HOOVES: “Perhaps you should examine the first page.” she does- and realizes it’s a guide for ENTERTAINING unicorns at dinner parties ARBITER: “Oh. In that case……..THIS IS A BOOK!!!!!!!!!” GLORIA: (to herself) whew!