The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book by Bill Watterson

Furthermore, he opined that art should not be judged by the medium for which it is created (i.e., there is no “high” art or “low art” – just art). He believed that the artistic value of comics was being undermined, and that the space they occupied in newspapers continually decreased, subject to arbitrary whims of shortsighted publishers. Watterson spent much of his career trying to change the climate of newspaper comics.

At the end of 1995, Watterson drew his last issue with a short statement to newspaper editors and his readers what he felt he had achieved all he could do in the medium. The names of the characters were taken from the Protestant reformer, John Calvin and the social philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.The comic strip ran from 1985 to 1995. Then when he returns to being a boy, he could be endearing and cute like a yellow marshmallow.Ĭalvin and Hobbes was a syndicated daily comic strip that was written and illustrated by American cartoonist Bill Watterson (born 1958).

Who would not feel that way looking at the mischievous face of Calvin while planning something naughty or when he gets a surprise of his life and his eyes just expand unbelievably with his hair raising like he is a porcupine or something. Most are outrageously funny I found myself grinning from ear to ear. There are only 5 characters: 4 y/o Calvin his stuff toy tiger and lone playmate Hobbes who in Calvin's wild imagination can turn into a live precocious and sometimes silly tiger Suzie who is a girl reaching out for Calvin but gets bullied by Calvin because he seems to be contented playing with Hobbes and there is a stage in a boy's life when girls are yucky Calvin's father and Calvin's mother.Įven if there are only 5 characters, the small situations that Bill Watterson created in the comics strips sour high. Witty and funny with colorful well-drawn images. You cannot go wrong with Bill Watterson and Calvin & Hobbes. It makes me a little sad and more than a little nostalgic as I have fond memories of reading the Sunday comics as a kid. Considering that he published this book in 1989, I can only imagine what he would say today.

In a short “Afterward” Bill Watterson laments the “retrograde evolution” of the Sunday comics as an institution and art from.

The text also features all 4 seasons, so you see a variety of Watterson’s visual talent on display as well. Especially appealing (visually) are the strips featuring the Intrepid Spaceman Spiff and his interplanetary adventures. People forget that Watterson was a gifted artist, and a very talented atmospheric illustrator. “The Calvin & Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book” is an all-color collection of some of the Sunday strips that Bill Watterson created. “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”

The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book by Bill Watterson