There's Treasure Everywhere

Ugh, of course a 6-year old boy like Calvin would think that "treasure" would be worms, bugs, and other disgusting things... That being said, this collection is actually chalk full of philosophical treasure, as Watterson explores the larger themes of the universe. He covers mans' role in the inverse (ie on an individual level pretty much meaningless), the foibles of parenthood, and the harships of a 6-year old with too much social consciousness. Throw in a bunch of Calvin's uniquely deranged snowmen (which could be interpreted as a meta-commentary and hint towards Calvin's future in an anarchic-artistic field) and you've got another fantastic collection of comics.

Some of the jokes are wearing a little thin at this point, occasionally feeling like "yes, Bill, you've done that one." The total cynicism and distain for TV continues to be quite annoying to me, as well, and I think sometimes those strips don't land because Calvin so clearly has a strong imagination and does so many, many things beyond watch TV. But for the most part these strips remain absolutely stupendous, often making me laugh out loud and just generally feeling good. Hobbes is a treasure, and I'm getting a little sad that I only have two collections left to reread. I'm into material now that I did not read over and over as a kid, so some of the strips feel just about completely new to me, and that's a delight.

This one always reads a bit bittersweet for me, knowing it’s the last Calvin and Hobbes book—and those strips nearing the end are particularly poignant in that regard.

A couple hiccups (some strips that just didn’t age super well), but less than five amid scads that aged absurdly well and are even more profound now, 30-ish years later (how can that be?!).

This book is one of the top three books in the Calvin & Hobbes series, if not the best. Almost every strip was worth its weight in gold. This one seems to have more strips related to Calvin's antics in school. Poor, poor Ms. Wormwood!
To read this book after going behind the scenes with The Tenth Anniversary book is such a different experience. I can feel Watterson’s thoughts behind every strip differently now.

I'm 90% sure this is the best Calvin & Hobbes collection I've read yet. I no longer know if I enjoy the strip more the more I encounter it, or if I'm actually reading them in order of increasing cleverness. Either way, I laughed loudly at something on every page, and was wistful about youth every fourth (or so) page. I would knock the other books back half a star (if this site did half-stars) to note this collection's (possible) superiority. Or I'll just give it an honorary sixth star.

This strip seems to just get better and better. The art is a little smoother than Watterson's early work, but the manic hilarity and unabashed joy at resisting the grown-up world remains. I miss the strip immensely, and have often wondered what Calvin would have been like as a grown-up. I figure a rocket scientist or an escaped convict. Maybe both.

There is a number of shticks I associate with Calvin and Hobbes--Spaceman Spiff, meetings of G.R.O.S.S., conflicts with Roslyn the babysitter--but it wasn't until I started rereading the strips in order did I appreciate how the strip developed and changed over the years. One thing that surprised me was that the shtick of Calvin's unique snowman creations developed rather late in the series. There have been a few strips here and there in the past collections, but in There's Treasure Everywhere, Calvin's unique snow artistry really bursts out in all it's glory. Anyway, to me that's the most memorable aspect of this particular collection. Of course, there are plenty of other strips as well. At this stage in the strip, Watterson had show more starting writing more philosophical gags rather than the hysterical Calvinesque capers, but it's still funny. And that's what counts, doesn't it?
--J. show less