http://www.cleveland.com/living/index.s ... _belo.html

its been 15 years since calvin took hobbes "exploring" in the last calvin and hobbes strip, new years eve, 1995. anyone else love this strip? i was banned from reading them in school back in 4th grade. when the strip ended, it was a very sad day for me, indeed. post your favourites.

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Aw shit, now I'm sad

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mechaphil

once, when i was bored, i went through all my books, and i counted hobbes saying calvins name all of 3 times.

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I saw something online, I don't know if it was by Bill Watterson or not, but it was a single frame featuring an adult Calvin in the background, his daughter in the foregroud, and Hobbes hand in her's as he (Hobbes) looked back at Calvin confused.

It was a really heartbreaking scene.

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mechaphil

its not a watterson drawing.

this was the last strip ever:

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I loved that strip, I have almost all the books.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

It feels like every guy I know in my generation either has or had all the books. Goes for me, too.

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mechaphil

I always thought watterson was a bit of an asshole sometimes though.

But he is a writer's writer in that when all is said and done, you're writing for your own benefit and enjoyment and nobody elses.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

he just wants to be left alone... but hes a fucking brilliant guy.

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I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes and continue to do so to this day. I feel this comic strip shaped who I am as a person and I hold a very strong emotional connection to it.

I have seven books, currently.

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Miles to go before I sleep

‎"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."
-Khalil Gibran

I only have three of them, but I loved Calvin and Hobbes. when I found out about them I loved them. Bare in mind this was like when I was in third grade too.

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I remember discovering Calvin & Hobbes sitting in a waiting room, waiting for my aunt to get done at the dentist's. I was four and thought that it was hilarious.

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Miles to go before I sleep

‎"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."
-Khalil Gibran

I don't and never have had one.

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I have most of the soft cover books, and just recently got the three hard cover book set with every strip ever made. Watterson most definitely is not an asshole. He simply refused to give in to the corporate advertising world that flaunts and cheapens everything it touches. He never sold the licensing rights that would have blown Calvin and Hobbes into a market of stuffed animals, board games, cartoons, etc. (and made him a multi-millionare). Watterson believed in the message that his strip conveyed, and that message would have been undermined - it would have been a total contradiction in fact - if he had sold it out for profit and exploitation.

You don't have to read too many of his strips to see the disdain he had for the marketing/advertising world. The vast majority of his comics though, have simple messages promoting simple values, wrapped in subtle dialogue with dry humor. IMO, there is no other comic strip that even comes close.

bill watterson once said he guessed he underestimated how popular the image of calvin urinating on a ford logo could ever be. the strip was brilliant, and its depth reached out to many people, whether they get the subtle messages of appreciating the little things, or the bond between a boy and his best friend, albeit the real state of hobbes is up for heavy debate. (watterson did say that hobbes is not a product of calvins imagination, but he doesnt magically change states from real to stuffed depending on whose looking at him) its somewhere in that grey area, and one that he chooses not to tackle when asked about it.

i would love watterson to do one more book. updated to current events, but without calvin aging. i would like better closure to the strip, because its one of those bonds people create where they want to know more. in a world where garfield still dominates the comics with the same joke being retold oh so many times, its sad that C&H had such a short run.

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