When Calvin and Hobbes debuted in newspapers in 1985, it was immediately trumpeted as the next big thing in daily comics, and for good reason. Bill Watterson’s cartoon about a young kid and his debatably imaginary best friend, a tiger, read like a synthesis of all the greatest comics that had preceded it. Calvin and Hobbes mixed The Far Side’s wit with the everyday irreverence of Garfield, and it could get saccharine and sentimental like Peanuts, when Watterson wanted to.
Early and often, Calvin and Hobbes exhibited the “out of the mouths of babes”-type wisdom that would become its signature in the minds of many fans. As an eternal six-year-old, Calvin was unvarnished by the realities of adulthood, looking at life from a pure, if precocious, perspective. And whether Hobbes was an extension of Calvin’s mind, or a sentient tiger doll, or an actual tiger, he didn’t have much time for adult human problems either.
This proved to be a winning formula which allowed Bill Watterson to cut right to the core of what makes life beautiful, and sad, and strange, and hilarious, and most importantly, worth living. It allowed Calvin and Hobbes to slip good, even great advice past peoples’ defenses in the form of jokes. That is exemplified by this early strip, from 1986, where Calvin effectively has a “carpe diem” epiphany.
This Early Calvin And Hobbes Quote Is Bill Watterson’s Best Advice To Readers
“Do you think it is better to live in stupefying security…” Calvin asks Hobbes in the first panel of this sequence, as they haul their sled up a steep hill. “Or take risks and live life on the edge?” he continues in panel two, offering up the alternative as they reach the hill’s summit and get the sled ready. Before Hobbes can reply, Calvin supplies his own answer: “I think it’s better to accept danger and live life to the fullest!”
As Calvin and Hobbes evolved, Bill Watterson got way more experimental with its style and structure, but especially early on, the strip’s Peanuts-esque four-panel format made it malleable. Newspaper editors could run it as a square, like above, or a classic strip, like below. Which way do you prefer your cartoons? Tell us in the comments!
The punchline comes in the final frame. Calvin is depicted sledding down the hill alone. “I take by your silence that you agree,” he says, but the implication is that Hobbes bailed, choosing security over risk and exhilaration. It is a model early Calvin and Hobbes punchline. Over time, Hobbes developed much more of a personality, but initially, he often served as much more of a silent straight man, a sounding board for Calvin’s ideas. 40 years later, though, what sticks with people about this strip isn’t its joke, but rather the life lesson that preceded it.
No, Bill Watterson wasn’t saying everyone should become a stuntperson, or a pro wrestler, or act recklessly. What Watterson meant by “accept danger” in this Calvin and Hobbes was really “don’t let fear stand in the way of you doing the things you want to do.” And there’s no mincing words with “live life to the fullest,” a sentiment that hits totally differently coming from a kid like Calvin than it does from an older character.
Calvin And Hobbes Spoke To Fans In A Way No Other Comic Could
As people get older, they tend to find that adult life is all about concessions and compromises. Things get more and more complicated over the course of a lifetime. That’s part of why we yearn for lost youth, for bygone simplicity. In Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin isn’t burdened by grown-up problems, like his parents are. Part of what makes this particular comic so funny is Calvin doesn’t realize that to “live life to the fullest” is considerably easier said than done. What makes it so meaningful is that the man behind the cartoon, Bill Watterson, clearly does know that.
That is mirrored in how the joke is received too. Calvin and Hobbes is beloved by readers of all ages. Kids reading it will relate to Calvin, and his bursts of wisdom like this one will leave a lasting impression on them. For adults, it is a reminder: you probably haven’t been living life to the fullest, but there’s still time.
That’s the kind of meaningful existential dialogue with readers that Peanuts dabbled in, Far Side scoffed at, and Garfield simply didn’t have any interest in. That is what made Calvin and Hobbes special when it started, and why it is still so beloved four decades and counting later.
- Writer
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Bill Watterson
- Colorist
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Bill Watterson
- Publisher
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Andrews McMeel Publishing
