Reality continues to ruin life- celebrating 30 years of Calvin and Hobbes

A six-year old boy in a striped red t-shirt lays a trap for tiger with a tuna sandwich as bait.  Soon enough a tiger falls prey. Thus begins a thirty-year-old journey, a world of imagination and a magical friendship as Calvin and Hobbes, perfect companions on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Calvin, a mischievous kid named after a 16^th century theologian who believed in predestination and Hobbes his stuffed tiger, after Thomas Hobbes, an English political philosopher with a grim view on human nature, are the creations of acclaimed cartoonist Bill Watterson. They debuted on Nov 18^th 1985 and had a successful run in 2400 papers and in several languages until Watterson called it quits on December 31^st 1995.  The comic is an ode to childhood and the pains of growing up, ‘transmogrifying’ the reader into the bratty child lurking inside everyone who wants to get things done his way. 

After the stint in newspapers, the comic was published as fourteen book collections that consistently made it to the New York Times bestseller’s list. The humour in Calvin and Hobbes is subtle, observational, mildly subversive and is expressed through the many adventures that Calvin has with Hobbes, at school, in the woods behind his house and make-believe alter egos as Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man and Tracer bullet. The success of the comic however has been attributed its ability to defy age and time, and appeal to both children and adults. “While as a kid I liked the slapstick humour, as I grew older I enjoyed the cultural and political references he makes,” says Shiva Nallaperumal, a comic book aficionado and graphic/type designer with the Indian Type Foundry Ahmedabad. “Though I am a kid who grew up in the 2000s I find this 80’s work as accessible and funny as the people who enjoyed it when it first got published,” he says.

When quizzed about the relationship between Calvin and Hobbes once, Bill Watterson remarked that he saw Hobbes as subjective reality than as a doll that springs to life in Calvin’s imagination. “That’s how life works, we all see a different side to it,” he said. Sharanya Gopinathan a student of Law and Gender Studies, SOAS, London loves the comic especially for its philosophy.“ I just love the gentle unobtrusive philosophy and wisdom each strip is loaded with. It makes you laugh not only at the kid and comic but yourself and the strange world around.” Calvin’s rants on human nature, pop culture and his curiosity abut the natural world are balanced by the quiet dignity and intelligence of Hobbes, making their conversations a delight to read and ruminate thereafter.

Calvin and Hobbes are supported by an amusing motley of secondary characters including Calvin’s parents, Rosalyn the babysitter, Moe the school bully, Mrs Wormwood the disgruntled schoolteacher and Susie Derkins his classmate. Interestingly, the reader is not given any information about the parents, their names, professions or even the city they live in, thus defining their roles only as the exasperated mother and the father who satiates Calvin’s sense of wonder. Calvin has a mild crush on Suzie that he chooses to express by annoying her, a dynamic that is perhaps true of modern day romance.  Siddarth John, an animator based in California drew inspiration from Calvin to create his own character Spitz. For others, like Shankar Swaminathan, a new parent, the conversations between Calvin and his dad, an amusing motif in the series, sparks interest. “The comic is infused with lessons on parenting and dealing with children, he says. But would he like a Calvin at home?  “ Of course not. Calvin is always adorable as someone else’s’ child, “he laughs.

Bill Watterson, a recipient of the ‘Reuban Award for outstanding cartoonist of the year twice is known to be a recluse. He chose not to appear in the documentary “Dear Mr Watterson’ and has given only two interviews so far. Watterson declined to give merchandising rights believing it would turn the characters into celebrities who need to be profitable and compromise the spirit of the comic.

A part-time cartoonist himself, Shiva Nallaperumal is astonished at the process that Bill Watterson might have gone through as an artist. “He was full of ideas, despite having the same constraints that it had, to involve this kid, his environment, his parents and an imaginary world. It’s a strict framework but he was able to explore so much within that.” Some of the recurring themes of the comic include the snowmen Calvin builds, conversations with his dad, his grouse with the educational system, television the ‘20^th century drug of choice’ and the good vs. evil debate portrayed through Calvin’s love for Christmas. In one strip Calvin selling a ‘swift kick in the butt’ for one dollar is shocked that business is terrible, given that ‘everyone he knows, needs one!’

Calvin and Hobbes enthusiasts are a legion and they have been collecting many quirky facts about the strip. For instance, did you know that Calvin is ambidextrous, multilingual and a fan of Batman, the Star Wars and Bugs Bunny but hates Disney? Have you noticed that Hobbes never calls Calvin by name? Saturday mornings begin with the cereal ‘Sugar frosted chocolate bombs’ and ‘ Hamster Huey and the Gooey Gablooey’ is his favourite bedtime story?

These thirty years may have been about friendship, but as Bill Watterson says it’s also about “finding your own meaning of life, it’s not easy but it’s still allowed, and I think you will be happier for the trouble”,

- Originally published in The Sunday Magazine. The Hindu on 29th November 2015