Calvin and Hobbes



Calvin and Hobbes is a daily comic strip that was written and illustrated by American cartoonist Bill Watterson, and syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. It follows the humorous antics of Calvin, a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his sardonic stuffed tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher.[2] [3] At the height of its popularity, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide; as of January 2010,[dated info] reruns of the strip still appear in more than 50 countries. Nearly 45 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been sold.[1] [dated info]

Calvin and Hobbes is set in the contemporary United States in an unspecified suburban area. The strip depicts Calvin's flights of fantasy and his friendship with Hobbes, and also examines Calvin's relationships with family and classmates. Hobbes' dual nature is a defining motif for the strip: To Calvin, Hobbes is a live anthropomorphic tiger; all the other characters see him as an inanimate stuffed toy. Though the series does not mention specific political figures or current events, it does explore broad issues like environmentalism, public education, philosophical quandaries, and the flaws of opinion polls.

History
Calvin and Hobbes was conceived when Bill Watterson, working in an advertising job he detested,[5] began devoting his spare time to cartooning, his true love. He explored various strip ideas but all were rejected by the syndicates. United Feature Syndicate finally responded positively to one strip, which featured a side character (the main character's little brother) who had a stuffed tiger. Told that these characters were the strongest, Watterson began a new strip centered on them.[6] Though United Feature rejected the new strip, Universal Press Syndicate eventually took it.[7] [8]

The first strip was published on November 18, 1985,[9] and the series quickly became a hit. Within a year of syndication, the strip was published in roughly 250 newspapers. Before long the strip was in wide circulation outside the United States. By April 1, 1987, Watterson and his work were featured in an article in The Los Angeles Times.[7] Calvin and Hobbes twice earned Watterson the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year category, first in 1986 and again in 1988. He was nominated again in 1992. The Society awarded him the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988.[10] Calvin and Hobbes has also won several more awards. The 3,150th and final strip ran on Sunday, December 31, 1995.[9] It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!" Calvin exclaims as they zoom off over the snowy hills on their sled,[11] leaving, according to one critic ten years later, "a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#cite_note-12 ]

Characters
Calvin: Calvin is a fictional character, and is the protagonist of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Calvin demonstrates a level of wisdom, vocabulary and humor unusual for a six year-old boy. However, in many ways he is typical for his age: he absolutely hates baths, and fears and hates his babysitter, refuses to go to school, frequently disobeys his parents, and is lazy and selfish. Calvin is also a Creator Curator, and frequently loses himself in various fantastical worlds of his own imagining. On the rare occasions on which he applies himself, Calvin's projects in school are very well received, to his confusion or indifference. He shows relatively minor interest or success in interacting with any "real" characters, choosing instead to spend the majority of his time with Hobbes, with whom he frequently embarks on imaginary adventures, debates philosophical issues, plots various pranks against girls, and fights.

Hobbes: Hobbes is a character in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. He is Calvin's stuffed tiger and best friend, and is depicted with two distinct identities.