Calvin and Hobbes

Happy Anniversary, "Calvin and Hobbes"! Apparently, it is the 25th anniversary of the great comic strip.

I have always loved "Calvin and Hobbes". Watterson managed to capture flawlessly the zany inner life of an imaginative child, and did it without being either condescending or overly cutesy. I love almost every strip he ever wrote. Yet when I recently discovered that Watterson is actually from Ohio, it added a whole new layer of meaning for me. The scenes where Calvin deals with snow and sledding, the colorful leaves in prints of autumn woods... all these things had seemed as fantastic to me as the adventures of Spaceman Spiff or Stupendous Man. Aside from spending a year and a half in Chicago area when I was quite young and well before "Calvin and Hobbes" started running, I had never lived in a climate that experienced real seasons with any sort of regularity or intensity. When I moved to Ohio, I discovered such things through the eyes of an adult but they served to illuminate so much about Watterson's writing and drawing. I loved it so much before, but love understanding it better now.

But I think that may just be me reacting to genius.

I know you'll never read my blog, but thank you, Bill Watterson! You and your work touched and changed my life and made it truly better. Wherever you are, you should know that your fans respect and treasure what you have given us.