Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for November 06, 2015

This strip is a good example of what I never liked about the last years of Calvin & Hobbes. The social critiques not only were often very preachy——and I say that as someone who AGREED with most of them——, they often felt forced and shoehorned to me.

Calvin essentially became a mouthpiece for any idea Watterson wanted to ridicule or express disagreement with. To that end, the most gratuitous, strawman statements would be put into his mouth to be held up as things for the reader to shake their head at.

For a writer like Watterson who championed the importance of character integrity, it’s especially jarring because it comes off to me as forced and unnatural. This strip in particular feels wrong. Calvin LOVES physical activity. He LOVES getting his hands dirty and making things happen. To put gratuitous stuff in his mouth just doesn’t work, from my point of view.