Recent Comments

1. about 5 hours ago on Nancy

   So the accident was a non-skiing accident.

2. about 5 hours ago on Wallace the Brave

   No because Sterling was born a healthy baby.

3. about 5 hours ago on Wallace the Brave

   He is more blood-curdling than milk-curdling.

4. about 5 hours ago on Wallace the Brave

   Two bad omens when Sterling was born.

5. about 5 hours ago on Red and Rover

   It is a gag that never gets exhausting.

6. about 5 hours ago on Red and Rover

   It is also the exhaust portal.

7. about 5 hours ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   “He was able to imagine a very smart, thoughtful, articulate duplicate of HIMSELF with its own personality.”

   First of all, we do NOT know whether or not Calvin was imagining his duplicate and sometimes pretending to be his “duplicate”. It is certainly true that only Hobbes saw them together. Many characters did see and speak to the other Calvin and they all assumed it was Calvin although Hobbes found it very hard to reconcile the alternative Calvin with the one he knew. “I can’t believe your Mom thinks that’s you!” “Your duplicator must have done a lot of digging to unearth him!”

   If we assume that the duplicate Calvin really was Calvin, that does confirm that he wasn’t really being different from himself. He was just being less lazy and showing what he could be like if he tried hard enough. Also he was being much more open about his crush for Susie than he usually is. One reader commented that Calvin’s duplicate was showing Calvin’s real affection for his “dear, sweet Susie”.

8. about 5 hours ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   Yes, I did acknowledge that Hobbes has no objective reality but I have since changed my mind, or “backtracked” as you like to call it.

   As I say, I agree with Watterson that Hobbes is an example of subjective reality as other characters in the strip see him differently from how Calvin sees him yet we see Hobbes as Calvin sees him when Hobbes is alone – and Hobbes is able to see us and speak to us. You have argued that Hobbes may still be in Calvin’s imagination although Calvin is elsewhere and that is something which I considered for nearly four years until I learned that Watterson did NOT consider Hobbes to be part of Calvin’s imagination. Another argument against Calvin imagining Hobbes speaking to us is that Calvin cannot see us when he is not in the strip but Hobbes can see us so it must really be Hobbes who is looking at us and speaking to us.

9. about 5 hours ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   But, as I have mentioned many times, Watterson did not consider Hobbes to be the stuffed animal that other characters see. One of his comments, which I have often quoted, was “I suspect he is more real than any kid would make up.” I have explained before that I started out assuming he was meant to be part of Calvin’s imagination but began to question this when I read my first book collection and noticed that two of the strips showed Hobbes as alive when he was alone. Hobbes only appears as a stuffed doll when someone other than Calvin sees him.

10. about 5 hours ago on Garfield

    That’s the point I was making. I did think it was Nermal but someone pointed out that the eyes are different from Nermal and look like Squeak’s. As I say, it may not be Nermal but it is a kitten not a mouse. Why anyone should think that I don’t think Squeak is a mouse is beyond me.