I love Calvin and Hobbes. I got into them when I was miserable in Alabama. My mother liked it too.
One has to respect the integrity of Bill Watterson. But I really want two versions of a Hobbes toy.
In 1996, I was eight years old. The first thing I ever remember getting into as a child was a comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes. I had a friend named Brett in Kindergarten that had a copy of “The Revenge of the Baby Sat” and I was hooked instantly.
Anyway, in 1996, after Bill Watterson had reached the crux of his fame, I decided to write him for a writing assignment we had in class. All of my peers were writing to athletes like Michael Jordan, Troy Aikmen or Ken Griffey Junior, and none of them got any real responses. A few kids got some prepackaged bullshit by various processing companies built solely for that purpose, but I was the only one in class who got a handwritten reply. He drew a little doodle of Calvin and Hobbes, addressed me by my name, and apologized for the news that he had retired the strip I loved so much (which was still news to me at the time).
I was reading a collection of strips earlier tonight called “The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes” and realized how much that comic strip has shaped me as a human being. Almost all of my philosophical conclusions were first introduced to me in the form of Spaceman Spiff or summer introspections of existence and the inevitability of death. Also, I think my attempt at artistic integrity stems from his overwhelming love of his craft. His could have made millions if he’d exploited these characters. He didn’t though, and he didn’t carry it out for fifty years passed it’s relavence, either. It’s probably the only part of my childhood that hasn’t been made into a feature film yet.
If Bill Watterson wasn’t such a recluse, I would try to find him and thank him. I don’t ever credit him as much as I credit some other people for influencing me, but I think his comic strip is more responsible for the person I am than anybody else.
So thanks Bill. Thanks for not doing what you could have. Thanks for making me believe that there has been something created in the last fifty years that reached mainstream success and didn’t cater to the needs of a bigger audience. I’m glad I don’t own any Calvin and Hobbes dolls. I’m glad I don’t see any t-shirts with witty sayings and I still irritated when I see that stupid rip-off decal of Calvin pissing on miscellaneous logos. I’ve always wondered if those things piss him off.
If you haven’t read any Calvin and Hobbes, do so.
I just now realized that I am now older than the Rosalyn character in the strip which makes me feel really fucking old.
