The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

If I had to pick a single favorite written anything, be it a novel, non-fiction, graphic novel, comic, script, it would be Calvin and Hobbes. Nostalgia floods me when I recall reading them as a kid. The comics were one of the first things I remember reading, how dad and I would read them as he was putting me to bed, how I'd share my favorite panels with my friends. Then, much to my delight, they are even more enjoyable as an adult. The writing is fantastic, some storylines are as poignant as they are funny. What elevates C & H even more is Bill Watterson himself - he never tried to explain what Hobbes really is, and the fact that he sacrificed (at this point) hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing to preserve the quality of strip show more is a more noble act as time goes on.

Peerless. No wonder this has a 4.88 average rating among thousands of members on LibraryThing. show less

There is very much a reason that out of all the graphic novels I have read, I have chosen to review only Calvin and Hobbes. The comic itself has the ability to transcend generational barriers, providing the reader with a heartwarming experience no matter the age. The very essence of the comic is based upon the imagination of Calvin, and the unboundedness of the youth mind. His imagination perfectly captures the innocence of youth, and allows the reader to escape into such a world. We can once again experience the adventures we would journey upon as a kid, we can feel the emotion and excitement that was there with unknown.
A factor that adds to the comedy and wit of Calvin is seen in Wattersons perfectly cyncial writing style. He manages show more to balance the innonence of Calvin with a witiness of a cynical adult. The juxtaposition between these two factors always makes a great bit and never seems to get old.
Calvin and Hobbes perfectly captures that feeling of growing up. In my case, it almost made me feel a little upset that I hadn't capitalized on this time period in my life when I should've. Regardless, the comedy and the style of illustration and writing give such a feeling of excitement and asipiration that it wipes away any melancholy that arises. show less

Calvin is the paragon of a combination of satire, intellect, and philosophy. Plus the kid's a major ass sometimes. I love him for it, the crazy bugger. One of my favorite strips is when he's hammering nails into the coffee table and his mother walks in and yells "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" and Calvin, my hero, says with the blankest look on his face "Is that a trick question". If this doesn't prompt you to read it, you have no sense of humor and can't be my friend. In a serious tone, which I didn't know I had, I say to you- read this comic for it is worth your time. Calvin is there for you, to make you laugh, to make you think and to make you imagine.

Being born in the late 80s, I was a bit young to enjoy this strip as it was "live," but my dad had a ratted copy of "The Days Are Just Packed" and it was one of the few books all of my siblings fought over, regardless of age. I've started and added to my own Calvin and Hobbes collection over the years, but my parents had the brilliant idea to gift me with the entire collection last Christmas. Each volume is hefty and beautiful (they weigh more than my hardback Harry Potter books do), and reading through everything in chronological order was like revisiting my childhood. I'm not much of a comics reader, but Calvin and Hobbes is special. It captures the essence of being a kid—not to mention being a kid during the time period I was a show more kid—and is genuinely funny, smart, satirical, heartwarming, and nostalgic. I love this comic strip, and I'll never tire of re-reading it. Calvin and Hobbes is magic. show less

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I was not lucky enough to be able to read Calvin and Hobbes growing up. Here and there, I might see one or two strips linked to on the Internet, but Calvin and Hobbes had until recently, remained a curiosity to me. Having taken the plunge on this collection, I ended up spending many wonderful evenings working my way through every strip. When I have the time, I look forward to being able to do so again.

For those who don't know much about Calvin and Hobbes, the strip revolves around six year old Calvin and his faithful stuffed tiger companion, Hobbes. Their adventures, both fictional and imaginary, provide a quirky insight into the suburban American life of the eighties and nineties. Don't be put off by show more the childish setting: Calvin and Hobbes are both capable of some fairly penetrating philosophical insights that will make you sit back and reconsider your life and the world even as you chuckle. I recommend you look up a strip or two to get a feel for Watterson's delightful brand of humour. Some that stood out in my memory are the one where Calvin wears his Dad's glasses and sarcastically mimics him, as well as the one where his dad puts off work to go and play with Calvin in the snow. Watterson uses some recurring jokes that are very evident if you are reading the collection in one go (snowballs/Susie and summer camping holiday spring to mind) but their effect is not diminished. One other thing to be mentioned is the introduction by Bill Watterson at the start of the collection, which helps provide some context for the situation in which Calvin and Hobbes was created and written. The result was that as I approached the end of the third volume, I found many of the panels extremely poignant in the knowledge that they were coming to an end. Dose feels....

In terms of the books themselves: they come as a large three volume box set, reassuringly weighty. The comics are printed in thick, quality paper, vibrant colour where applicable, and with dates attached to each one. The editors have also taken the liberty of rearranging the order of some sets of comics such that a single storyline is always put together, even if you end up with a few Sunday strips in a row - very helpful for the whole reading experience. The set exudes value - it comes strongly recommended. show less

Bill Watterston's Calvin and Hobbes have become somewhat legendary. It always raises the question how right such a classification is. Browsing through this hefty 3 volume package you'll meet some lesser funny or stale jokes every now and then, but these are sparse moments. Watterston's C&H is something special; how can someone without any kids paint such a devastating real picture of a hyperactive six year old? It's great to see that the moral of all these tiny stories is often somewhat different than you expect, and always funny. At the end you'd wish you could be Stupendous Man, with a stomach of steel to endure the cookings of mom. How a totally dysfunctional family stays together and makes you laugh all the time. Legendary for a show more good reason. show less

I've been working my way through this first volume of the complete set of Calvin and Hobbes for a few months now. What fun it is to revisit all these strips, in order, in such a beautiful presentation. Reading them in this book, with the dates for all the strips clearly printed underneath them, makes me wonder to what extent I ever actually read these in the newspaper. I have vivid memories of reading the individual collections as a kid, but looking at the dates of the strips I realized that it was unlikely I was looking at the paper when these were printed--the first ones anyway. I was only four years old when the strip started. That is a bit of a startlement--Calvin and Hobbes was so much a part of my childhood, it feels odd that the show more whole thing began so long before I could have had any appreciation of it at all. But in any case, this is a lovely collection (I have the boxed set of the complete paperback edition) with a nice introduction by Watterson and all the "additional" artwork from the individual collections. Recommended. show less