Calvin and Hobbes should be everyone’s favorite comic strip. But what makes it so special? Kaptain Kristian dives in to explain why the strip is so good. The argument centers around the idea that Calvin and Hobbes puts art before commerce, as all art should.
Created by Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes is wildly imaginative, as a story about a six-year-old kid and his stuffed tiger should be. But it also discusses things like gender inequality and environmentalism in ways that really make you think. Not focusing on current events or politics helped make the strip entirely timeless, but it was, and still is, thoughtful. And you can enjoy the strip as a kid and as an adult.
But it’s also how Calvin and Hobbes just stayed a comic strip that makes it extra-special. It was never commercialized to the point of becoming bastardized. It was never pawned off like Snoopy and Peanuts or watered down like Garfield. If you want to experience Calvin and Hobbes, you need to read the comic strip.