Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 15, 2024

Hobbes knows when to sit something out.

Hobbes philosophy is: When the stupid get going, get out of their way.

Hobbes is a very smart tiger

This way, Hobbes won’t receive any blame for tonight’s events.

Stay the course, Stupendous Man!

Don’t be such a pessimist, Hobbes. When has STUPENDOUS MAN ever failed to save the day?

That persona he assumes always ends in a funny, but pathetic way!!!

And receiver of Rosalyn’s fist!!

Lovin’ the tiger striped tee-shirt though…….

One should admire Calvin tenacity if nothing else. Brave boy, doomed but brave…

Hobbes says that he is going to bed now to avoid the rush. The next time we see him, he will indeed be in Calvin’s bed. This is similar to a strip first printed in 1986 and reprinted in 1991 as part of Watterson’s first six-month sabbatical. In that strip, Hobbes was waiting for the school bus with Calvin and eating items from Calvin’s lunch box behind Calvin’s back. Calvin told Hobbes, “Here comes the school bus, Thanks for waiting with me.” Hobbes was starting to walk away and he replied, “Don’t mention it. It was a pleasure.” When that strip was last reprinted here in 2021, about five commentators asked “How is Hobbes going to get home?” I told the first two, “It’s obvious. We see him walking away from Calvin.”

Hobbes walking away from Calvin when there is no one around to see it is well established in this strip. However, Hobbes does not seem to be able to return home by himself when Mom or some other character sees him leaving with Calvin. This was shown in a strip reprinted last autumn which had no speech balloons but just showed the actions of Calvin, Hobbes and Mom. We saw Calvin and Hobbes get out of bed together and eat breakfast together. We then saw Mom watching Calvin leave for the bus stop carrying an umbrella and stuffed doll Hobbes. We then saw Calvin and Hobbes waiting at the bus stop in the rain but it was now Hobbes who was shown holding the umbrella. The next panel showed Calvin on the school bus as it left the stop and Calvin seeing Hobbes through the window still holding the umbrella. Calvin and Hobbes waved to one another. The next panel showed Hobbes as a stuffed doll by the umbrella and Mom coming to fetch Hobbes and the umbrella. The last panel showed the living Hobbes again. He was sitting by the window waiting for Calvin to come home. If Mom had been there, of course, she would have seen Hobbes as a doll.

Tigers are so negative!

Bummer, in panel 4 Hobbes seems not to be a fan of 70’s Canadian prog rock trios. Maybe he’s more into stuff like April Wine?

“No amount of tuna is worth this.”

This strip wouldn’t have originally appeared on January 6, by any chance…?

Just askin’…

Impulse over promise every time. Rosalyn’s peace of mind just went out the window.

It’s like when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!

This is exactly why Cavlin’s parents need to find a babysitter they know Calvin will like!

My parents hired a baby sitter as needed for my younger bother and myself as kids. We, or at least I, knew better than to create problems for the baby sitter. I either read or watched tv and went to bed as instructed. My little bother never learned, or more accurately chose not to learn that the sitter talked to our parents when they got home and a couple of times, my dad would get my sibling out of bed and paddle him right in front of the sitter. Especially after he sprayed her in the face with a squirt gun after telling him to go to bed.

Uh-oh.

Hobbes has a premonition.

the stupendous man, my favorite part is calvin after the fact claiming he’s mild mannered.

I love Stupendous Man…..

Never take a nick name that starts with stup..

This is not going to end well.

Wise decision, Hobbes.

Yes, Rosalyn is older and wiser now. Get your blanket and pillow ready, Calvin…

I liked the part about Mom and Dad killing them again. I had a friend who was raised in a bilingual home, and sometimes had trouble with English idioms. One report card day, he told another friend, “If I brought home grades like that, my parents would kill me…Don’t your parents ever kill you?”

How can you be killed twice? I would think once would do it.

Being killed after you’re already killed? Calvin doesn’t think things through.

Stupendous or Stupid does? He’s a Pip among squeaks. ;-p

I can see this going brilliantly.

And so it begins.

There is an old saying (which I can’t recall at this time) about timing when doing something ! ! !

Well Calvin, defeat may allow you to survive the evening.

I don’t think Hobbes has to worry about getting killed twice. It is always Calvin who has the bad ideas, and always Calvin who does the bad things.

Proof Hobbes is the smart one. . . .

Where’s Spiff

Stupendous man is really Stupid Man

Great thinking! What could go wrong?

Stupendously stupid man never learns.

I know exactly what’s gonna happen

Best idea of all, Hobbes.

Has Calvin ever thought of tickling her?