I particularly like his look in the final frame
The older I get the more I realize just how much Bill Watterson was right about everything
Honestly, this comic captures so much of the society we live in. And it has become so much worse too with the advent of social media.
That’s just bringing the cost down, the amount of donation requests and catalogs my 70-80 y/o parents receive on a weekly basis is astounding.
And my dad has been dead for 10 years and still getting tons.
Like at least 5+ pounds of mailers a week, most with those fucking annoying little envelope windows. Around thanksgiving it doubles or triples in weight with the extra catalogs, and crazy shit like dream catchers, (garbage) work gloves & plastic shopping bags, calendars, note pads, address labels, calendars, notepads (I can’t emphasize enough how many there are).
A $20 donation from a few people can’t possibly result in more than $1-2 making to people in need.
When you read this comic, it makes you realize that it shouldn’t have been surprising that Bill Waterston retired the strip suddenly and moved to a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere to paint watercolor landscapes.
Honestly, the fact that Calvin and Hobbes had an ending makes us all look more fondly upon it.
Bill Watterson’s approach was the exact opposite of what Jim Davis did, which was selling out completely with no regard to the actual quality of the comics. Garfield is basically a brand at this point, Calvin and Hobbes was art.
Jim Davis specifically made a character to sell shit. He did some interesting development with his comic for the first decade-ish, then unabashedly launched a media empire. Good for him, frankly-- not everything has to be high art and hawking shit to the masses is a valid way to live your life.
Throw in the fact the he appreciates (and has never tried to sue) derivative works like Garfield Minus Garfield or I’m Sorry Jon makes him ok in my book.
At least Jim Davis isn’t the Dilbert guy, though. And he doesn’t live in a Garfield shaped house (although maybe he has a Garfield shaped pool? I forget).
I’m a bit out of the loop what happened with the comic that was basically the office but broadcasted via newspaper
The look on his face in the last panel is possibly unique to this strip.
I suppose I have grown into Calvin’s parents
