Bill Watterson published his first Calvin & Hobbes strip on 18 November 1985 and ended it with his last strip on 31 December 1995. Calvin and Hobbes was a great strip.

Bill Watterson's full name is William B. Watterson II. He was born in 1958 and has spent the last several years of his life working as a professional cartoonist. Watterson grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio from 1976 to 1980 where he received a B.A. in Political Science. Watterson and his wife, Melissa, live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

As a cartoonist, Bill Watterson describes three comic strips which were tremendous inspirations to him:

"Peanuts" by Charles Schulz: "The most important thing I learned from Peanuts is that a comic can have an emotional edge to it and that it can talk about the big issues of life in a sensitive and perceptive way."

"Pogo" by Walt Kelly: "Pogo was a lushly drawn strip... [Pogo] is a wonderful lesson in what a lively, rich world the comic can present."

"Krazy Kat" by George Harriman: "In its singular, uncompromised vision, its subtle whimsy and its odd beauty, Krazy Kat stands alone."

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip which shares the wonderful qualities of these three comic strips, choosing as its fondation, the life of an ordinary six year old, spiky haired boy, Calvin. Calvin is the nightmare of any parent, babysitter or teacher.

"Calvin is an abnormally precocious child with an over active imagination, often illustrated by Watterson as prehistoric fantasies, in which Calvin's teacher migh be a triceratops, ready to gobble him up, or his mother a gila monster, forcing him into a primeval river when she is actually only trying to coax him into the bathtub. Calvin also fancies himself as "Spaceman Spiff", who speeds through the universe, encountering new and bizarre life forms. Not so fantastic, but equally amusing, is Calvin's day to day life, peopled by such figures as Susie Derkins, the little neighbor and schoolmate whom he endlessly taunts and disgusts; his father, the subject of countless Calvin generated (and negative) "popularity polls"; and Moe, Calvin's thick headed bully nemesis and "the only third grader who shaves". Calvin also spends special times with his tiger buddy Hobbes, often meandering dangerously in a wagon or sled, taking philosophical spring or fall walks, plotting against a sadistic babysitter, or holding special tree house club meetings, where the only two members wear newspaper hats.

Calvin is, in short, a sensitive character, who remains a kid at heart

Some Oddball facts about Calvin and Hobbes!



  • Calvin's parent have three cars. Two hatchbacks, one red and one purple, and one sedan of unknown colour. Calvin has two favorite cereals, Crunchy Sugar Bombs, and Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs, although he is forced to eat oatmeal, and sometimes Bran.



  • I noticed that sometimes Calvin has a watch an in the previous panel he doesn't. In the comic about the anonymous letter I noticed that even when Hobbes is sitting he is taller than Calvin but when he stands up he is the same height as when he is sitting. I noticed that Calvin's bed is in different positions once by the window and once next to the door.



  • Q. Do you know how many sofas Calvin's family has?

    A. They have 8 different sofa's in Calvin's house.



  • Q. What is Calvin's robotic doctor's name?

    A. Doctor 5 40.



  • Q. What is Calvin's monstor snowman called?

    A. The Torment Of Existance Weighed Against The Horror Of Nonbeing.



  • Did you know that Calvin writes with both hands? Look for him writing with his left hand. And most people may have noticed this, but in the Duplicator story, as the duplicates run into the box to get away from Calvin's mom, in one panel there is one too many Calvins (seven instead of six), and the extra calvin does not have a striped shirt



  • In many strips, our hero has five fingers. Others show him with only three

    or four fingers! Also, you say that Calvin is ambidextrous.

    Well, most of the characters in the strips are. Look for Susie, Calvin's

    mom, etc. One more fact. We all know that Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs is

    Calvin's favorite cereal. However, in a strip from Yukon Ho!, Calvin states,

    "I won't eat any cereal that won't turn the milk purple. Chocolate Frosted

    Sugar Bombs turn the milk brown.



  • Between two different strips, Susie's handwriting changes. In an early story from Calvin and Hobbes, Susie passes a note to Calvin which she says to pass to Jessica. Being sneaky, he reads the note, but then he embarrasses himself by finding out that the note WAS to him, written to insult him for reading the note! (I still love the punchline.) If you look at the handwriting of the note, you'll see that the handwriting is wobbly and bouncy, very similar to Calvin's. In a story four years later, which you can find in The Revenge of the Baby Sat, Calvin sends Susie a note to tease her after he has inadvertently gotten her into trouble and sent to the front of the classroom. After reading the note, Susie starts writing an even nastier note back, which gets her into even MORE trouble! But if you look at the handwriting of the note there, you'll notice that the handwriting is much different. It is extremely neat and easy to read. Not surprisingly, Calvin's penmanship doesn't change at all during the course of the strip.

    A Poem by Calvin

    My mother has eyes on the back of her head!
    I don't quite believe it, but that's what she said.
    She explained that she'd been so uniquely endowed
    To catch me when I did Things Not Allowed.
    I think she must also have eyes on her rear.
    I've noticed her hindsight is unusually clear.

    (Calvin)

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