W’s skill is marvellous. You can take the gag in the last frame as being the point or you can see the exchange between C and H in the final 2 frames as making a deeper point.
This must count as comic strip poetry. Watterson often adds sound effects but I don’t recall the “sounds” ever being the central part of the strip. No wonder we miss him so much.
Bill gave us the joy of knowing that C & H are still out there exploring. This was the Gettysburg Address of comic strips. A sad farewell but an encouragement to look ahead. The world is a better place because of C & H.
Wonderful when Watterson lets his artistic side rip. The noir shadows and colour scheme – the skewed angles of the coloured panels – fabulous setting us up for the scream!!
There is another explanation for the “God bless you.” That is, in medieval times, it was believed that when you sneezed the Devil was able to enter your soul. The “God bless you” drove him out again.
W’s skill is marvellous. You can take the gag in the last frame as being the point or you can see the exchange between C and H in the final 2 frames as making a deeper point.