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Summary
Bill Watterson’sCalvin and Hobbesis known for its insightful depiction of childhood , following the inventive , heedless Calvin andhis stuffed tiger Hobbes . WhileCalvin and Hobbesis as family - friendly as contemporaries likeGarfieldandThe Family Circus , it goes further in research the test and trial of childhood , digging into what it feel like to be an excitable , funny Thomas Kyd running up against the adult world . However , in one 1994 airstrip , that naturalistic word picture take a dark turn .
bring out April 9 , 1994 , thisCalvin and Hobbesstrip just rick 30 , with the fact that it would never be published today showing how much society has transfer in that short time . In the flight strip , Calvin call up the library , trying to get his hands on a bomb calorimeter - making manual of arms . The jocularity is that Calvin is just a little kid who thinks explosion are coolheaded and does n’t understand why that data would n’t be readily approachable . lamentably , in the advanced day , a nipper looking up bomb - get to instructions has connotations that Watterson could n’t have been mindful of .
While school violence has long been a topic of business in the US , the belated 1990s saw it become a almost - constant national discourse . Events like 1999 ’s Columbine High School shooting combined with a 24 - hour news show cycle to sow very specific fears regarding kids ' safety . Watterson ’s comic is n’t advisedly engage with that discussion , but in 2024 , it ’s hard to experience the slip outside the context of school shootings .
Calvin and Hobbes is insightful , curious and forever creative - but it ’s Bill Watterson ’s art that really makes it one of the best comics ever made .
Calvin and Hobbes tackled the national of death and war on multiple occasions , most famously with the iconic ' Dead Bird ' comic where Calvin and Hobbes contemplate on mortality .
Calvin and Hobbes' Bomb Comic Is an Artifact of the ’90s
Calvin and Hobbes Was Surprisingly Willing to Discuss Mortality
Calvin and Hobbesdoesn’t shy away from many of the complexities of puerility , but the strip tend tofocus on Calvin ’s internal strugglesrather than extraneous factors - his childhood is idyllic in practical terms , and challenges come in the sort of his growing awareness of the world around him and his lack of understanding of apparently important topics . To this death , Calvin and Hobbestackled the issue of dying and war on multiple occasions , most famously with the iconic ' Dead Bird ' comic where Calvin and Hobbes reflect on mortality .
Watterson also compose a week - long narrative in which Calvin attempts to save an injured raccoon , only for the beast to pass away . Readers seeCalvin handle with grief , see that his parents are powerless in the face of some problems , and briefly reckon with the approximation that if the racoon can pass despite his best efforts , his other loved ones might as well , perhaps even include his tiger ally . While the comic admit muckle of strip where Calvin charges around with a ray gas pedal or build snowman in tearing pose , the vast majority of its references to death of any sort take the subject earnestly , primarily focus on Calvin ’s growing appreciation of this very grownup issue .
Calvin and Hobbesis far from a saccharine comedian that treats childhood as a bed of roses , but Bill Watterson could n’t have foreseen how sinister this 1994 airstrip would seem from the position of just a few years after .
