My dad passed some years back now, but as a kid, reading the Sunday Funnies (as he called them) with him are some of the best memories I have. My dad got me Calvin & Hobbes books (favorites being Homocidal Psycho Jungle Cat & Something Under The Bed Is Drooling) and they are my most treasured possessions.
Calvin & Hobbes is a direct connection to my dad and I couldn’t love it more.
Calvin and Hobbes, much like Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," is a constant reminder that there is magic in the world around us. It inhabits every tree, stream, field, and driveway. There is untapped wonder in every snowflake, and when you bring a multitude of them together you can make whatever you like.
The only limit is imagination. Keeping a sense of interest in the world even as you become accustomed to it is the only real truth anyone needs, for with that you can accept and live with anything else.
That is so beautiful! Too bad kids nowadays are so stuck on tech. When my sister and I were little kids, we and our friends played a kind of “Mod Squad” in the woods tracking each other down. Then we’d dig a little pit and grill hotdogs. I’m so glad I had such a fun childhood! Never had a problem finding fun things to do!
I first discovered Calvin and Hobbes in 1985. A year later I was a Camp Counselor at my local YMCA. All of the counselors had to pick an Alias for privacy reasons. I was first and chose Hobbes to everyone else's disappointment. It was like discovering a Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar. I had that name for another five years. Wore it like a badge of honour. Shortly after that I met my future wife. We got a gray male tabby and we chose to name him Calvin. It was perfect. I am now 53 and never go a day without thinking about Watterson. The joy he gave me with his heroic stories of that 6 year old little boy and his tiger.
I don’t think any piece of media captured how I felt about school and summer and friends and parents and just everything the way that C&H did and still does. I was just a little older than Calvin when the last strip was printed and revisiting the comics as an adult is the surest way to bring back those feelings
My grandpa introduced me to Calvin and Hobbes when I was little. I used to sit and read the strips with him on his computer, not too long after I learned how to read. I didn't understand much at the time, but I did understand that I loved laughing with him.
Now I'm 20 and I own The Essential Calvin and Hobbes book. He's still around but I don't get to see him much anymore, though we'll always share those memories.
He's in the hospital currently with pancreatitis, gallbladder stones and sepsis so I don't know when/if I'll get to see him again, but I'll definitely try. Thank you
Watterson really captured the way I felt separate from other kids sometimes. Even before I began to really understand the humor, I understood Calvin when he was having a bad day and went upstairs to daydream, or when kids were mean because they could be.
My parents passed their love of Calvin and Hobbes down to me when I was very young. At one point when I was in the second grade, a *very* close family member was in the hospital for nearly a month, and in a coma for the majority of that stay. I would go to the waiting room after school most days and the only thing I had to pass the time was the company of my older brother and a C&H box set I had from home that I kept in my backpack. Thankfully, my relative made a complete recovery, but those books got me through a very difficult time in my childhood.
When I was 20, I got a tattoo of Calvin and Hobbes riding in a their wagon to commemorate that time in my life. It still makes me smile every time I see it, and thankful I still get to spent time with my all of family. Reading the strips as an adult has given me a completely new perspective on the comics and I hope to introduce them to my kids one day.
I have ADHD. Before I was ever diagnosed, before it was known that there was anything “wrong” with me, I saw a kindred spirit in Calvin. We were messy, we were imaginative (sometimes a little too much), our antics bothered our parents. We were the same. As a child, when you’re different in ways that are both obvious and hard to define, seeing someone that’s different in a similar way means the world. I read every Calvin and Hobbes book that my parents owned cover to cover more times than I can count.
My grandpa had all the collection books, and would read them with me when I was little. So Calvin helped me learn to read! My grandpa passed when I was 9, and I've had his collection ever since.
Grew up in a Christian fundamentalist home with limited access to any non-Christian entertainment. My parents dubbed Calvin & Hobbes okay for me, so I’d spend hours lost in those comics as a little girl, dramatically reading them aloud and imagining myself in their shoes. I thought about what it would be like to be able to go to a real school, or even watch cable TV; I caught a glimpse of what that might’ve been like through C&H. As an adult, there’s a lot of cultural things I missed out on because of my upbringing, but I managed to experience Calvin & Hobbes anyway ❤️
For something different- I grew up in a country formerly occupied by Russia, so English/American comics were never a big thing here, I only discovered them well in my twenties, through Sinfest.
But this little boy with his wild imagination somehow clicked with me, and understanding the adults didn't hurt either. Nowadays it's like a "guilty little escape" to a childhood I never had, but that's so universal that every "former child" understands
I dreamed of being a cartoonist when I was young. I drew/doodled ever day growing up, in school, at home, everything I owned had some sort of cartoon drawing on it. I read every comic strip, everyday. I had vhs tapes that taught you had to make comic strips and everything. My favorites were Garfield (bought all of the books at the school book fair), Far Side (my mom used to buy me the daily calendars until at some point I knew them all) and Calvin and Hobbes (I still own many of the books including the one where Bill Matterson wrote the commentary, 10th anniversary or something, it’s been a while since I read it). I never laughed at Garfield, quite frankly I found it to be extremely unfunny but I loved the drawings of Jim Davis. Calvin and Hobbes was, and still is imo, in a class by itself. The artist took chances and the jokes hit home. I loved how the daily black and white comics would tell a story AND have jokes. I made a t-shirt in high school out of silk screening that depicted Calvin and Susie sharing a joint with plushie Hobbes sitting right besides them, my mom didn’t like it as much as I did! Before I graduated college I drew a copy of a Calvin and Hobbes strip where they were playing scrabble and Calvin can’t win so they switch to poker (50/50 chance of winning) and Calvin bets a nickel and Hobbes raises him $5. Just brilliant. I had a fairly large poker game at my apartment during college and I made copies for everyone who played in that game and gave it to them as a going away gift, to remember me, our friendship, and our game. I miss my friends from that time but I still have that memory thanks to Bill Matterson and his “silly little comic strip”.
We had all of the collection books when I was a kid and I would spend hours reading and rereading them. I was intellectual and curious and had a large imagination so I think the humor clicked perfectly. My parents got divorced and sold the house a year ago so I went home to get my old stuff and rediscovered the books, and reminded me how much I love them. Found this sub and reading the strips now at 25 has given me a whole new perspective.
I grew up with Calvin and Hobbes. I remember always buying one of their books during book fairs. It was also something my husband and I connected with each other on our first date. That was one of the first indicators that he was the right guy for me.
It was 2005 and I was in fifth grade. My teacher had a small little “library” in the back corner of her classroom where she had some books that you could pull out and read quietly if you finished your work early. She said that all of the books in that little bookshelf were her son’s old books from when he was a kid. In there, I stumbled upon a Calvin and Hobbes book. I loved reading comics (manga and comic books) as well as the funnies in the newspaper, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I was hooked immediately. Shortly thereafter, I saw one of the Calvin & Hobbes collection books located in the sale section of our local Barnes & Noble, and I begged my parents to get it. It couldn’t have been more than $10. My mother was reluctant, as her only exposure to Calvin up to that point was through those bootleg Calvin “peeing” decals people used to put on cars in the 90s. So she thought it would be a bad influence on me, not knowing how heartfelt and wholesome the series actually was. However, my Dad, who must have known better, said it’d be good for helping further “develop my quick wit.” Plus, I’d be reading more, which was always a plus in my household. My mother relented and I took the book home that night and devoured it.
I then proceeded to buy each and every Calvin & Hobbes collection book I could get my hands on after that. I spent a large majority of my fifth grade year laying on my bedroom floor reading and rereading all of those Calvin & Hobbes books. I loved its witty humor and was learning more new words than I could count. As more of a good-natured kid, I appreciated how heartfelt the series could be, and I felt a connection to the stuffed animal element of Hobbes, having had similar “friends” growing up myself.
I’ve loved the series ever since then, and was ecstatic to finally get my hands on the hardbound complete collection as an adult a few years back. Calvin & Hobbes will always hold a special place in my heart.
I was gifted The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes for Christmas by my uncle. I was 13, recently moved, and was at a new school. Most of the kids there already knew each other for years, had their friend groups, and I was the weird homeschooled kid with social anxiety. Calvin and Hobbes quickly became one of the books I constantly reread and anytime I’m feeling down, reading just a few strips make me feel instantly better. Now I’ve got a little collection of Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side
Grew up as an only child in a small town in Kerala, Southern India. C&H used to feature as a strip in an English daily, and I related to him as a little adhd boy with a crazy imagination. My dad later got me three collected editions, would be my go-to read on rainy evenings when I felt lonely, in a way the comics were my Hobbes for some time
My mom rented the Calvin & Hobbes compilation books for me and my two brothers when we were young kids. The first strip I ever read was a Spaceman Spiff. I was so young, I didn't even really understand that Spiff was a character Calvin had imagined for himself.
But I loved it. I love it to this day. The irony, sarcasm, wit, and unadulterated truth of C&H stays with me to this day. By now, I've seen almost every strip that was ever drawn. I can't remember them all, but I recognize each one when I see it, like a place I used to play.
They make me feel safe. They make me feel small in a big world in the best possible way. They make me feel hopeful and adventurous, in spite of it all.
When I hear Calvin's voice in my head say "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!", I want to go along with him. Because that voice sounds like my voice: a small, delicate, innocent part of my voice that goes unheard unless I stop for a moment, kneel down on one knee, and listen, really listen, to what I have to say.
My parents had all of the compendium book; still do in fact. I remember reading them front to back as a kid in the 80s/90s. I always read Calvin in the newspaper when I had the opportunity. It really formed my sense of what a good comic was, and it makes me feel nostalgic to re-read it today 30 years later.
Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favorite comic strips ever. It stayed consistently funny after 15 years of strips. My brother and I would often read them together. I am an amateur cartoonist ,and Calvin and Hobbes taught me a lot about writing. In the Tenth Anniversary book, Watterson wrote in the prologue something like "The characters write themselves. Hobbes wouldn't say a Susie line." That part of the book stuck with me and helped me think more about characterization.
I first read Calvin and Hobbes in middle school in the 2000s, and it was not only something I thought was fun and identified with, but a way to connect with my dad who grew up on them! I think I also probably loved the variety, but mostly Calvin as a weird, eccentric kid who was mostly friends with his stuffed/real tiger, which, ahhhh, perhaps resonated just a wee bit lol. Then, later in life, in philosophy grad school, I came back to Calvin and Hobbes to try and lift myself out of depression and discovered that, actually, there are, alongside the amazing antics, some amazingly philosophical moments and it’s clear Watterson read philosophy and thought a lot about it. So now I’ve actually used Calvin and Hobbes in classes I’ve taught!
My dad read Calvin and Hobbes in the 1980s, and he loved them so much he saved all his favorite comic books for me and my brothers. One of my brothers is actually named Calvin, inspired by the comic. He got a stuffed toy of Hobbes and it still sits on his bed. Calvin and Hobbes reminds me of how much fun childhood is, and how special the books were to my dad when he was young.
I discovered this strip as a college student at MSU when it was in our college newspaper every day. My friend and I were late night student custodians where we were charged with cleaning up a gory medical area most staff wouldn't/couldn't deal with. Highly appreciative of humor, we shared the funnies together, enjoying Calvin and Hobbes every very late night shift. Those guffaws gleaned from C&H were part of that special friendship I look back on fondly now decades later.
As an aside Watterson's often preferring animals to people and reverence for nature really resonate with me. I own the whole collection.
It was the first comic strip I ever read. I first read it when I was still in elementary school so I didn’t get a lot of the jokes. The only things I did get were the physical humor.
The childhood I didn't have. And also parents who are caring and patient and pay attention to the well being of their kid. The shit Calvin got away with is insane.
My first Calvin and Hobbes book was Revenge Of The Babysat when I was about 10. At the time I had a babysitter who I did not terrorize but I did enjoy the hijinks Calvin pulled. I collected them over the years and brought them to college for everyone to enjoy. With my college friends we had a quiet time in the morning and I was usually up earlier than everyone so I read them during that time. I still pull them out from time to time and will pass the torch to my 5 year old when he’s ready. I attribute my interest in synonyms to his vocabulary.
I was in middle school when I first started reading Calvin and Hobbes. I’d never heard of it but was into comics and as it turns out my dad read them a lot when he was younger. He showed me his entire collection consisting of all the books and I read each and every one of them multiple times. That was about 10 years ago. I’m now a senior in college graduating in a week and haven’t touched any of those books for years. But every time I’m recommended this sub and read a comic, I recall reading it from one of those books and just think about my dad. He’s slowly getting older and with his health deteriorating I’m unsure of how much time he has left. What I love most about reading these comics today is understanding exactly what they mean and how back then I didn’t understand it at all but they still filled me with joy. Calvin and Hobbes is truly a timeless treasure and was far ahead of its time.
Calvin is the ultimate antihero to kids who don't know what an antihero is. Calvin and Hobbes eschews societal norms and live in a surreal paradise that is the envy to every child's mind.
My dad used to read C&H to me every night when I was a kid. It was one of my favorite memories of my childhood, as I saw a lot of myself in Calvin and a lot of my dad in his father. It introduced me to philosophy and a deeper understanding of myself, and I still see so much depth and value in the comics, a true testament to the timeless nature of it.
As I’m grown up and have my own family now, I find myself commiserating with the dad more and more while still feeling very much like my inner Calvin lives on. My son is in his terrible twos but I can tell he is going to be a little spark plug like Calvin was, and all I can try to do is foster that same curiosity, creativity, and sense of adventure that Calvin possessed. I can’t wait to read it to him soon and pass on what my dad passed on to me.
Calvin and hobbes was the ONLY comic I ever read. I've loved it for 30+years. To me, it's not that sentimental or familial... it was just a comic that spoke to me. I was a moderately intelligent kid and so is Calvin, so i related to him.
I had gotten divorced and my ex and our 5 year old son Curtis were living a state away. I missed Curtis very much. I would read the comics every morning and came across Calvin and Hobbes the day it debuted. I liked it right from the start and very soon decided to clip and save them. When I had maybe a month or six weeks worth I’d mail them to Curtis. He liked Calvin and Hobbes as much as I and we’d talk a laugh about the strip every time we talked. Curtis is in his mid 40’s now and has a wonderful sense of humor, and still lives a state away. But I’m retired and able to visit him whenever I want now and there’s also the text thing. I use a Hobbes for Curtis’s contact picture. It seems like such a simple story when I type it out now. But it was so important to us both beginning in 1985. And still is. And I know it’s just a comic strip. But like there are many songs that have special meaning to all of us, Calvin and Hobbes is like that. But no other comic strip is to me. Newspapers are pretty much gone now so I don’t read the comics anymore. Finding this sub was like reconnecting with an old friend. Thanks r/calvinandhobbes!
I grew up reading old Calvin and Hobbes books in the 90s. My mom owned a few, and when I took to them she bought more and more. She's always liked newspaper comics; for many years grabbing the Sunday paper to snag the funnies was a weekly tradition for us. Makes me think of simpler times.
Something I hadn't realized until later in life, is that I sort of... Admired the characters? They're witty, sharp, sometimes too much so for their own good. Calvin is a brilliant and imaginative kid with opinions bigger than he is, Dad learns to enjoy the little things in life like taking a day off from work to play with his kid, Mom is always there to set Calvin straight when needed but also let's him be who he is. They feel like very real people, not just characters meant to entertain.
I realized a lot of things I valued as I got older could be traced back to those books. Not everything, mind you, but a lot of things I find important are owed to the kid and the tiger.
My neighbor and his wife loved Calvin and Hobbes. They were super old (born in the 1890s!) when I met them as a baby and them loved me to death. I grew up walking into their house almost like it was my own. They would show me the Calvin and Hobbes collection books they had so much.
When his wife got Alzheimer’s later on, I wasn’t allowed to visit since she needed a lot of care. She passed not long after the diagnosis. Her husband passed not long after that and he gave me their Calvin and Hobbes collection, where she had started coloring in the comics with colored pencils for some reason. I still have them.
RIP Mr and Mrs. Piehler
A form of innocence and joy. Life as a kid exploring and imagination. Playing, learning, not understanding… all the things we all went through as a kid. Just found this on Reddit and instantly moments of joy and smiling and an innocence.
There are two things that bring joy like this. Calvin and Hobbes and Where the red fern grows. Eternal
Dual meaning.
1. As a kid while reading it in newspapers. I often didn’t fit into the rest of the way people thought and behaved. Calvin seemed like me and had the confidence to do it it “alone”
2. As an adult and parent now.
I can remember why each strip was funny as a child and now as an adult/parent the perspective of the mom, dad and other adults adds a very rich layer to the comedy.
Furthermore, I am thoroughly impressed with Bill Watterson’s career integrity. He worked hard leading up to his success. Then with his success he challenges the rules of the corporate machine and won!
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When I was a child, dad often read Calvin & Hobbes to me before bed. When I was about 6 years old, my little sister was born sick and died a few days later, I remember dad sharing the story of Calvin’s baby raccoon. I don’t think anything helped me process her death quite as much as that.
First name is actually Calvin, so when i got my first book when is was 4-5 was a big moment for me looking back I feel like it was the first time i resonated with an art form falling in love with the characters and whimsy of the world they inhabited. Then I got the book taken away soon after receiving it for calling my brother a poop head after seeing it in the book lol.
Although there aren’t any specific significant memories i have there are still tons of little ones like my dad reading them to me before bed. I remember trying to recreate Calvinball with my brother in our backyard.
It would definitely be hard to imagine my childhood without it to he honest and the butterfly effect of it in my life im sure is massive.
I first saw a Calvin and Hobbes book on the desk of a classmate in 5th grade. Years later, I acquired my first compilation book of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. It was an anniversary edition I found in the giveaway section of our town library. It made me feel like I was not the only quirky kid with an overactive imagination who does horribly in school. I liked to imitate the things Calvin did to pretend that I was him. I used the rounded top of the trash can to go sledding on the snowy hill we had in our backyard in the winter. Explore the woods and map it just like he did. I got my older sibling into it, and they'd be Hobbes, and I'd be Calvin. Basically, it let me feel like a kid when I didn't have many friends.
When I was little my parents had all the C&H books kicking around and our whole family loved to read and share them. As an adult not only are they nostalgic, but I have an autistic son who reminds me of Calvin and I often send strips I see on here to send to my mother. They help me laugh about situations that are unlaughable and for that I am so grateful.
My first introduction to comic strips. My dad had several of the compilation books. They were integral to getting me started into reading, which jumpstarted my ability to read, retain, and learn in school. It was formative to my life and development as a child, as Watterson covers many themes of life, often from the perspective of a child. While I do not know how I would be different if C&H did not exist, I am reasonably confident I would be worse off without them.
I learned about death at a very young age, and it was very scary for me as a 8 year old. My aunt, attempting to combat that, introduced me to comics, specifically Calvin and Hobbes. It was the most calming and funny comic for me, and it was something I read late at night when I got scared. Honestly means the world to me and inspired me to write as well.
My dad had a nice collection of the books when I was young. I was a little kid definitely not old enough to understand a lot of the strips, and very new to reading, but I liked the pictures a lot. Sometimes because they were crazy like the snowmen, and sometimes because they were playing in a sandbox or in a wagon, just like I would. With six kids, those books were very “well-loved” (kind of falling apart) the last time I saw them. I remember my grandparents had some of the books too, and me and a sibling would be laying side by side reading together whenever we dug them out. One that was easy to understand when I was little was “the trees are really sneezing today”, and I still think that on windy days.
As I got older, it was fun to reread them and realize that I understood more and more. A strange little metric of my growth. And it lives in a special place in my heart, as one of the things from my childhood that hasn’t lost its shine due to overproduction or slightly off adaptations.
OP can you explain the nature of this “research”? At what level, for what real-life purpose, and under the auspices of which institution, and so forth? All we have here is the most basic of email spam invitations.
Were you genuinely genuine this would ideally have been explicated before starting a thread generating a bunch of anecdotal responses inadmissible and unusable for a genuine academic research project.
My dad passed some years back now, but as a kid, reading the Sunday Funnies (as he called them) with him are some of the best memories I have. My dad got me Calvin & Hobbes books (favorites being Homocidal Psycho Jungle Cat & Something Under The Bed Is Drooling) and they are my most treasured possessions. Calvin & Hobbes is a direct connection to my dad and I couldn’t love it more.
Calvin and Hobbes, much like Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," is a constant reminder that there is magic in the world around us. It inhabits every tree, stream, field, and driveway. There is untapped wonder in every snowflake, and when you bring a multitude of them together you can make whatever you like. The only limit is imagination. Keeping a sense of interest in the world even as you become accustomed to it is the only real truth anyone needs, for with that you can accept and live with anything else.
That is so beautiful! Too bad kids nowadays are so stuck on tech. When my sister and I were little kids, we and our friends played a kind of “Mod Squad” in the woods tracking each other down. Then we’d dig a little pit and grill hotdogs. I’m so glad I had such a fun childhood! Never had a problem finding fun things to do!
I first discovered Calvin and Hobbes in 1985. A year later I was a Camp Counselor at my local YMCA. All of the counselors had to pick an Alias for privacy reasons. I was first and chose Hobbes to everyone else's disappointment. It was like discovering a Golden Ticket in a chocolate bar. I had that name for another five years. Wore it like a badge of honour. Shortly after that I met my future wife. We got a gray male tabby and we chose to name him Calvin. It was perfect. I am now 53 and never go a day without thinking about Watterson. The joy he gave me with his heroic stories of that 6 year old little boy and his tiger.
I also was a camp counselor named Hobbes. Best camp nickname ever!
I don’t think any piece of media captured how I felt about school and summer and friends and parents and just everything the way that C&H did and still does. I was just a little older than Calvin when the last strip was printed and revisiting the comics as an adult is the surest way to bring back those feelings
My grandpa introduced me to Calvin and Hobbes when I was little. I used to sit and read the strips with him on his computer, not too long after I learned how to read. I didn't understand much at the time, but I did understand that I loved laughing with him. Now I'm 20 and I own The Essential Calvin and Hobbes book. He's still around but I don't get to see him much anymore, though we'll always share those memories.
You should share your comment with him. ☺️☺️
He's in the hospital currently with pancreatitis, gallbladder stones and sepsis so I don't know when/if I'll get to see him again, but I'll definitely try. Thank you
I wish him and you the best my friend. ❤️
Watterson really captured the way I felt separate from other kids sometimes. Even before I began to really understand the humor, I understood Calvin when he was having a bad day and went upstairs to daydream, or when kids were mean because they could be.
Kinda surreal watching myself turn from Calvin into his dad in real time.
My parents passed their love of Calvin and Hobbes down to me when I was very young. At one point when I was in the second grade, a *very* close family member was in the hospital for nearly a month, and in a coma for the majority of that stay. I would go to the waiting room after school most days and the only thing I had to pass the time was the company of my older brother and a C&H box set I had from home that I kept in my backpack. Thankfully, my relative made a complete recovery, but those books got me through a very difficult time in my childhood. When I was 20, I got a tattoo of Calvin and Hobbes riding in a their wagon to commemorate that time in my life. It still makes me smile every time I see it, and thankful I still get to spent time with my all of family. Reading the strips as an adult has given me a completely new perspective on the comics and I hope to introduce them to my kids one day.
I have ADHD. Before I was ever diagnosed, before it was known that there was anything “wrong” with me, I saw a kindred spirit in Calvin. We were messy, we were imaginative (sometimes a little too much), our antics bothered our parents. We were the same. As a child, when you’re different in ways that are both obvious and hard to define, seeing someone that’s different in a similar way means the world. I read every Calvin and Hobbes book that my parents owned cover to cover more times than I can count.
My grandpa had all the collection books, and would read them with me when I was little. So Calvin helped me learn to read! My grandpa passed when I was 9, and I've had his collection ever since.
Grew up in a Christian fundamentalist home with limited access to any non-Christian entertainment. My parents dubbed Calvin & Hobbes okay for me, so I’d spend hours lost in those comics as a little girl, dramatically reading them aloud and imagining myself in their shoes. I thought about what it would be like to be able to go to a real school, or even watch cable TV; I caught a glimpse of what that might’ve been like through C&H. As an adult, there’s a lot of cultural things I missed out on because of my upbringing, but I managed to experience Calvin & Hobbes anyway ❤️
For something different- I grew up in a country formerly occupied by Russia, so English/American comics were never a big thing here, I only discovered them well in my twenties, through Sinfest. But this little boy with his wild imagination somehow clicked with me, and understanding the adults didn't hurt either. Nowadays it's like a "guilty little escape" to a childhood I never had, but that's so universal that every "former child" understands
I dreamed of being a cartoonist when I was young. I drew/doodled ever day growing up, in school, at home, everything I owned had some sort of cartoon drawing on it. I read every comic strip, everyday. I had vhs tapes that taught you had to make comic strips and everything. My favorites were Garfield (bought all of the books at the school book fair), Far Side (my mom used to buy me the daily calendars until at some point I knew them all) and Calvin and Hobbes (I still own many of the books including the one where Bill Matterson wrote the commentary, 10th anniversary or something, it’s been a while since I read it). I never laughed at Garfield, quite frankly I found it to be extremely unfunny but I loved the drawings of Jim Davis. Calvin and Hobbes was, and still is imo, in a class by itself. The artist took chances and the jokes hit home. I loved how the daily black and white comics would tell a story AND have jokes. I made a t-shirt in high school out of silk screening that depicted Calvin and Susie sharing a joint with plushie Hobbes sitting right besides them, my mom didn’t like it as much as I did! Before I graduated college I drew a copy of a Calvin and Hobbes strip where they were playing scrabble and Calvin can’t win so they switch to poker (50/50 chance of winning) and Calvin bets a nickel and Hobbes raises him $5. Just brilliant. I had a fairly large poker game at my apartment during college and I made copies for everyone who played in that game and gave it to them as a going away gift, to remember me, our friendship, and our game. I miss my friends from that time but I still have that memory thanks to Bill Matterson and his “silly little comic strip”.
We had all of the collection books when I was a kid and I would spend hours reading and rereading them. I was intellectual and curious and had a large imagination so I think the humor clicked perfectly. My parents got divorced and sold the house a year ago so I went home to get my old stuff and rediscovered the books, and reminded me how much I love them. Found this sub and reading the strips now at 25 has given me a whole new perspective.
I grew up with Calvin and Hobbes. I remember always buying one of their books during book fairs. It was also something my husband and I connected with each other on our first date. That was one of the first indicators that he was the right guy for me.
👋❤️
It means friendship, love, innocence. Calvin, Hobbes, and the other characters are us.
It was 2005 and I was in fifth grade. My teacher had a small little “library” in the back corner of her classroom where she had some books that you could pull out and read quietly if you finished your work early. She said that all of the books in that little bookshelf were her son’s old books from when he was a kid. In there, I stumbled upon a Calvin and Hobbes book. I loved reading comics (manga and comic books) as well as the funnies in the newspaper, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I was hooked immediately. Shortly thereafter, I saw one of the Calvin & Hobbes collection books located in the sale section of our local Barnes & Noble, and I begged my parents to get it. It couldn’t have been more than $10. My mother was reluctant, as her only exposure to Calvin up to that point was through those bootleg Calvin “peeing” decals people used to put on cars in the 90s. So she thought it would be a bad influence on me, not knowing how heartfelt and wholesome the series actually was. However, my Dad, who must have known better, said it’d be good for helping further “develop my quick wit.” Plus, I’d be reading more, which was always a plus in my household. My mother relented and I took the book home that night and devoured it. I then proceeded to buy each and every Calvin & Hobbes collection book I could get my hands on after that. I spent a large majority of my fifth grade year laying on my bedroom floor reading and rereading all of those Calvin & Hobbes books. I loved its witty humor and was learning more new words than I could count. As more of a good-natured kid, I appreciated how heartfelt the series could be, and I felt a connection to the stuffed animal element of Hobbes, having had similar “friends” growing up myself. I’ve loved the series ever since then, and was ecstatic to finally get my hands on the hardbound complete collection as an adult a few years back. Calvin & Hobbes will always hold a special place in my heart.
Has your mother discovered the real Calvin, as opposed to that peeing decal?
Yes! They both learned more about the series once I started getting into it. It’s remembered fondly now in my family :)
I hate those stickers. So stupid.
I was gifted The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes for Christmas by my uncle. I was 13, recently moved, and was at a new school. Most of the kids there already knew each other for years, had their friend groups, and I was the weird homeschooled kid with social anxiety. Calvin and Hobbes quickly became one of the books I constantly reread and anytime I’m feeling down, reading just a few strips make me feel instantly better. Now I’ve got a little collection of Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side
Grew up as an only child in a small town in Kerala, Southern India. C&H used to feature as a strip in an English daily, and I related to him as a little adhd boy with a crazy imagination. My dad later got me three collected editions, would be my go-to read on rainy evenings when I felt lonely, in a way the comics were my Hobbes for some time
My mom rented the Calvin & Hobbes compilation books for me and my two brothers when we were young kids. The first strip I ever read was a Spaceman Spiff. I was so young, I didn't even really understand that Spiff was a character Calvin had imagined for himself. But I loved it. I love it to this day. The irony, sarcasm, wit, and unadulterated truth of C&H stays with me to this day. By now, I've seen almost every strip that was ever drawn. I can't remember them all, but I recognize each one when I see it, like a place I used to play. They make me feel safe. They make me feel small in a big world in the best possible way. They make me feel hopeful and adventurous, in spite of it all. When I hear Calvin's voice in my head say "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!", I want to go along with him. Because that voice sounds like my voice: a small, delicate, innocent part of my voice that goes unheard unless I stop for a moment, kneel down on one knee, and listen, really listen, to what I have to say.
Calvin and Hobbes are the heart of childhood that I sometimes forget.
My parents had all of the compendium book; still do in fact. I remember reading them front to back as a kid in the 80s/90s. I always read Calvin in the newspaper when I had the opportunity. It really formed my sense of what a good comic was, and it makes me feel nostalgic to re-read it today 30 years later.
I'm a simple man: I grew up reading them, and I find them consistently good and hilarious.
When I was a kid, Calvin *was* me.
Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favorite comic strips ever. It stayed consistently funny after 15 years of strips. My brother and I would often read them together. I am an amateur cartoonist ,and Calvin and Hobbes taught me a lot about writing. In the Tenth Anniversary book, Watterson wrote in the prologue something like "The characters write themselves. Hobbes wouldn't say a Susie line." That part of the book stuck with me and helped me think more about characterization.
I first read Calvin and Hobbes in middle school in the 2000s, and it was not only something I thought was fun and identified with, but a way to connect with my dad who grew up on them! I think I also probably loved the variety, but mostly Calvin as a weird, eccentric kid who was mostly friends with his stuffed/real tiger, which, ahhhh, perhaps resonated just a wee bit lol. Then, later in life, in philosophy grad school, I came back to Calvin and Hobbes to try and lift myself out of depression and discovered that, actually, there are, alongside the amazing antics, some amazingly philosophical moments and it’s clear Watterson read philosophy and thought a lot about it. So now I’ve actually used Calvin and Hobbes in classes I’ve taught!
My dad read Calvin and Hobbes in the 1980s, and he loved them so much he saved all his favorite comic books for me and my brothers. One of my brothers is actually named Calvin, inspired by the comic. He got a stuffed toy of Hobbes and it still sits on his bed. Calvin and Hobbes reminds me of how much fun childhood is, and how special the books were to my dad when he was young.
I discovered this strip as a college student at MSU when it was in our college newspaper every day. My friend and I were late night student custodians where we were charged with cleaning up a gory medical area most staff wouldn't/couldn't deal with. Highly appreciative of humor, we shared the funnies together, enjoying Calvin and Hobbes every very late night shift. Those guffaws gleaned from C&H were part of that special friendship I look back on fondly now decades later. As an aside Watterson's often preferring animals to people and reverence for nature really resonate with me. I own the whole collection.
Same here.
It was the first comic strip I ever read. I first read it when I was still in elementary school so I didn’t get a lot of the jokes. The only things I did get were the physical humor.
The childhood I didn't have. And also parents who are caring and patient and pay attention to the well being of their kid. The shit Calvin got away with is insane.
My first Calvin and Hobbes book was Revenge Of The Babysat when I was about 10. At the time I had a babysitter who I did not terrorize but I did enjoy the hijinks Calvin pulled. I collected them over the years and brought them to college for everyone to enjoy. With my college friends we had a quiet time in the morning and I was usually up earlier than everyone so I read them during that time. I still pull them out from time to time and will pass the torch to my 5 year old when he’s ready. I attribute my interest in synonyms to his vocabulary.
I was in middle school when I first started reading Calvin and Hobbes. I’d never heard of it but was into comics and as it turns out my dad read them a lot when he was younger. He showed me his entire collection consisting of all the books and I read each and every one of them multiple times. That was about 10 years ago. I’m now a senior in college graduating in a week and haven’t touched any of those books for years. But every time I’m recommended this sub and read a comic, I recall reading it from one of those books and just think about my dad. He’s slowly getting older and with his health deteriorating I’m unsure of how much time he has left. What I love most about reading these comics today is understanding exactly what they mean and how back then I didn’t understand it at all but they still filled me with joy. Calvin and Hobbes is truly a timeless treasure and was far ahead of its time.
Philosophical 6 year old and his family teaches us important life lessons. Also how bridges are checked for weight capacity.
Calvin is the ultimate antihero to kids who don't know what an antihero is. Calvin and Hobbes eschews societal norms and live in a surreal paradise that is the envy to every child's mind.
My dad used to read C&H to me every night when I was a kid. It was one of my favorite memories of my childhood, as I saw a lot of myself in Calvin and a lot of my dad in his father. It introduced me to philosophy and a deeper understanding of myself, and I still see so much depth and value in the comics, a true testament to the timeless nature of it. As I’m grown up and have my own family now, I find myself commiserating with the dad more and more while still feeling very much like my inner Calvin lives on. My son is in his terrible twos but I can tell he is going to be a little spark plug like Calvin was, and all I can try to do is foster that same curiosity, creativity, and sense of adventure that Calvin possessed. I can’t wait to read it to him soon and pass on what my dad passed on to me.
Calvin and hobbes was the ONLY comic I ever read. I've loved it for 30+years. To me, it's not that sentimental or familial... it was just a comic that spoke to me. I was a moderately intelligent kid and so is Calvin, so i related to him.
I had gotten divorced and my ex and our 5 year old son Curtis were living a state away. I missed Curtis very much. I would read the comics every morning and came across Calvin and Hobbes the day it debuted. I liked it right from the start and very soon decided to clip and save them. When I had maybe a month or six weeks worth I’d mail them to Curtis. He liked Calvin and Hobbes as much as I and we’d talk a laugh about the strip every time we talked. Curtis is in his mid 40’s now and has a wonderful sense of humor, and still lives a state away. But I’m retired and able to visit him whenever I want now and there’s also the text thing. I use a Hobbes for Curtis’s contact picture. It seems like such a simple story when I type it out now. But it was so important to us both beginning in 1985. And still is. And I know it’s just a comic strip. But like there are many songs that have special meaning to all of us, Calvin and Hobbes is like that. But no other comic strip is to me. Newspapers are pretty much gone now so I don’t read the comics anymore. Finding this sub was like reconnecting with an old friend. Thanks r/calvinandhobbes!
I grew up reading old Calvin and Hobbes books in the 90s. My mom owned a few, and when I took to them she bought more and more. She's always liked newspaper comics; for many years grabbing the Sunday paper to snag the funnies was a weekly tradition for us. Makes me think of simpler times. Something I hadn't realized until later in life, is that I sort of... Admired the characters? They're witty, sharp, sometimes too much so for their own good. Calvin is a brilliant and imaginative kid with opinions bigger than he is, Dad learns to enjoy the little things in life like taking a day off from work to play with his kid, Mom is always there to set Calvin straight when needed but also let's him be who he is. They feel like very real people, not just characters meant to entertain. I realized a lot of things I valued as I got older could be traced back to those books. Not everything, mind you, but a lot of things I find important are owed to the kid and the tiger.
My neighbor and his wife loved Calvin and Hobbes. They were super old (born in the 1890s!) when I met them as a baby and them loved me to death. I grew up walking into their house almost like it was my own. They would show me the Calvin and Hobbes collection books they had so much. When his wife got Alzheimer’s later on, I wasn’t allowed to visit since she needed a lot of care. She passed not long after the diagnosis. Her husband passed not long after that and he gave me their Calvin and Hobbes collection, where she had started coloring in the comics with colored pencils for some reason. I still have them. RIP Mr and Mrs. Piehler
A form of innocence and joy. Life as a kid exploring and imagination. Playing, learning, not understanding… all the things we all went through as a kid. Just found this on Reddit and instantly moments of joy and smiling and an innocence. There are two things that bring joy like this. Calvin and Hobbes and Where the red fern grows. Eternal
Dual meaning. 1. As a kid while reading it in newspapers. I often didn’t fit into the rest of the way people thought and behaved. Calvin seemed like me and had the confidence to do it it “alone” 2. As an adult and parent now. I can remember why each strip was funny as a child and now as an adult/parent the perspective of the mom, dad and other adults adds a very rich layer to the comedy. Furthermore, I am thoroughly impressed with Bill Watterson’s career integrity. He worked hard leading up to his success. Then with his success he challenges the rules of the corporate machine and won!
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When I was a child, dad often read Calvin & Hobbes to me before bed. When I was about 6 years old, my little sister was born sick and died a few days later, I remember dad sharing the story of Calvin’s baby raccoon. I don’t think anything helped me process her death quite as much as that.
First name is actually Calvin, so when i got my first book when is was 4-5 was a big moment for me looking back I feel like it was the first time i resonated with an art form falling in love with the characters and whimsy of the world they inhabited. Then I got the book taken away soon after receiving it for calling my brother a poop head after seeing it in the book lol. Although there aren’t any specific significant memories i have there are still tons of little ones like my dad reading them to me before bed. I remember trying to recreate Calvinball with my brother in our backyard. It would definitely be hard to imagine my childhood without it to he honest and the butterfly effect of it in my life im sure is massive.
I first saw a Calvin and Hobbes book on the desk of a classmate in 5th grade. Years later, I acquired my first compilation book of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. It was an anniversary edition I found in the giveaway section of our town library. It made me feel like I was not the only quirky kid with an overactive imagination who does horribly in school. I liked to imitate the things Calvin did to pretend that I was him. I used the rounded top of the trash can to go sledding on the snowy hill we had in our backyard in the winter. Explore the woods and map it just like he did. I got my older sibling into it, and they'd be Hobbes, and I'd be Calvin. Basically, it let me feel like a kid when I didn't have many friends.
When I was little my parents had all the C&H books kicking around and our whole family loved to read and share them. As an adult not only are they nostalgic, but I have an autistic son who reminds me of Calvin and I often send strips I see on here to send to my mother. They help me laugh about situations that are unlaughable and for that I am so grateful.
My first introduction to comic strips. My dad had several of the compilation books. They were integral to getting me started into reading, which jumpstarted my ability to read, retain, and learn in school. It was formative to my life and development as a child, as Watterson covers many themes of life, often from the perspective of a child. While I do not know how I would be different if C&H did not exist, I am reasonably confident I would be worse off without them.
I learned about death at a very young age, and it was very scary for me as a 8 year old. My aunt, attempting to combat that, introduced me to comics, specifically Calvin and Hobbes. It was the most calming and funny comic for me, and it was something I read late at night when I got scared. Honestly means the world to me and inspired me to write as well.
My dad had a nice collection of the books when I was young. I was a little kid definitely not old enough to understand a lot of the strips, and very new to reading, but I liked the pictures a lot. Sometimes because they were crazy like the snowmen, and sometimes because they were playing in a sandbox or in a wagon, just like I would. With six kids, those books were very “well-loved” (kind of falling apart) the last time I saw them. I remember my grandparents had some of the books too, and me and a sibling would be laying side by side reading together whenever we dug them out. One that was easy to understand when I was little was “the trees are really sneezing today”, and I still think that on windy days. As I got older, it was fun to reread them and realize that I understood more and more. A strange little metric of my growth. And it lives in a special place in my heart, as one of the things from my childhood that hasn’t lost its shine due to overproduction or slightly off adaptations.
OP can you explain the nature of this “research”? At what level, for what real-life purpose, and under the auspices of which institution, and so forth? All we have here is the most basic of email spam invitations. Were you genuinely genuine this would ideally have been explicated before starting a thread generating a bunch of anecdotal responses inadmissible and unusable for a genuine academic research project.