Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 15, 2023

Or both.

Hate to see what’s going to happen to Calvin at recess.

Moe grew up to be a world class bar steward.

My name is not Twinky! POW

Good for you, Calvin, if he’s done with you for the day!

Too bad we never got Moe’s backstory, like whether he had abandonment issues like Nelson from the Simpsons.

Moe becomes moe and moe difficult for Calvin to deal with.

Apparently, this strip was done before schools implemented a “zero tolerance” policy against bullying.

Not that it’s ever done any good.

“Poop” is not strong enough of a word there, Calvin. That’s what I think of bullies. ZERO TOLERANCE!

since when do elementary schools have lockers?

The only thing bullies understand is violence or the threat of it.

There’s only one way to deal with a bully.. a good old-fashioned beat down.

Got a little too close to the truth, didn’t you Calvin?

Always remember. If someone is trying to drag you down, they are already beneath you….

I wish he could bring Hobbes to school and for just a few seconds Hobbes would let Moe have it!

Just how old is Moe? He looks to be about twice Calvin’s size.

Definitely the latter….

Poops!

A word of advice, Cal. Watch who you blow your ugly cretan whistle at.

One year, in my fifth grade classroom, two new students arrived. Soon we had complaints of theft, intimidation, and physical bullying. As their teacher, I sat them down and explained the rules. If they broke the rules, I explained the consequences. Didn’t change their behavior. I called her parents, didn’t change their behavior. So I decided, and this was long before zero tolerance policy, I would not spend anymore time on trying to directly change their behavior. For three weeks, every day, for one hour a day, I held a class titled how to handle a bully. The bullies were very unhappy. They told their parents. Their parents complain to me. Then they complain to my principal. The principal came to me and said, “good job”. While the bully sat there, my class learned three specific strategies to deal with a bully and we role-played. We practiced. We laughed. They got over the fear, and because we made the bully behavior public knowledge and how to deal with them the thefts decreased, the intimidation decreased and the physical, bullying decreased. It did flare up from time to time. But after I invited the bully to help design a refresher class, that one decided it wasn’t worth it.

I strongly suspect the atavistic Moe has a large percentage of Denisovan DNA.

And this is exactly why talking to bullies doesn’t work anymore…

A painful way to verify a theory, huh, Calvin?

Bwaa haaaa haaaa… That’s like when some lowly unworthy fool on here disagrees with The Count and they’re response is about having anger issues.

Bullies are a result of bully parents…☹️

Hopefully Moe died before reaching 30; as a result of violence.

Moe’s friends are ADULTS, out there, Manipulators, one and all. One, has to be careful of em !

Moe’s friends are ADULTS, out there, Manipulators, one and all. One, has to be careful of them !

Maybe the inspiration for Moe was the Three Stooges

That is the reality of humanity. Some people aren’t very nice, and they like it that way. …sigh.

There is nothing funny about bullying. This is offensive.

POW

As much as I LOVED this strip, I was always bothered by this occasional depiction of bullying. Moe seldom got any repercussions from his awful behavior. Calvin certainly did.

I do not like celebrating bullies, even if it is in a comic strip. Not so funny for Calvin and other kids like him.

Known quite a few poop-heads over the years…

I was a victim… all too often. It’s not funny. And if I had my way, they’d be in prison. It messed me up.

Just wait until next year when Moe will be the one student in second grade who shaves and wears bi-focals and dentures.

So many strips… this is one… really needed an epilogue showing what happened with memorable characters, good ones and bad. I think of Cul de Sac and Wallace the Brave.Volunteers?

When I was in about the third or fourth grade there was a much older boy who bullied me. We both grew up and I grew to be much larger than he. I saw him one day and I stood in his path without intension of harming him. He quickly turned around and went the other way. He dodged me from that day on.

Just read an article this morning about a school district not acting on a bullying complaint. The bullying resulted in the death of a 13 yo after being punched and hitting his head. Cost a life, 2 school administrators their jobs, and I am sure their careers, and the school district $27 million. School district lawyer said that was the going rate. Strip is not so funny now.

Most schools do not tolerate, if teacher was around.

Not funny.

One of the bullies at one of the schools I attended turned out to having been sexually abused by his priest for the previous 6 years. The priest was transferred to another state and continued his pattern of raping children for years after until getting transferred to Rome.

Moe is white trash

After defunding the police, I can see Social Services try to deescalate a hostile “situation” with characters like Moe!

Why am I getting 3 blank panels and “Coming Soon” on this and every other strip on my list after it?

Love the shoes in the air in panel 3

Why doesn’t Calvin use his incredible imagination to strategize how to lay Moe out on the ground? And hurt for days afterwards…

Yep. That’s about right. Had to deal with that once or twice as a child, something to do with being a bit small and scrawny looking. Fortunately my dad taught me a bit about how to use a bully’s size against them, and that if you can’t avoid a fight (the preferred option) then win it. No rules. Didn’t always get off unscathed, but was never challenged again by the same kid.

Fact is, sometimes both are true: personal problems and a poop head. The one is not necessarily an excuse for the other, but the latter makes getting any help with the former problematic. The tragic villain…

Unfortunately, these things are a reality in schools and always have been.

Love it when Calvin’s shoes fly off… Too funny.

Right on both counts, Cal.