MacGougan at Large

Notes on Children's Books for Grown-Ups - 5

Calvin and Hobbes

All right. Point taken. Calvin and Hobbes isn’t actually a book. It’s a comic strip. However, because it’s a comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995, you’re most likely to see it these days in the form of one or more books. Think of them as graphic novels.

Are they for kids or adults? The answer is Yes.

Of course, there will be naysayers on both sides. Some will say that any story focused on a six year-old boy and his stuffed tiger can’t possibly be for grown-ups. Others will look at the vocabulary and abstract concepts - to say nothing of naming the main characters after a 16th Century theologian and a 17th Century philosopher - and conclude that it can’t possibly be aimed at children.

One of the themes you will have noticed about Children’s Books for Grown-Ups is that they all have wonderful illustrations. We tell ourselves that they’re for the benefit of the kids, but of course grown-ups enjoy them, too. The great running joke through the Calvin and Hobbes illustrations is that we get two contrasting views. We see a character such as Spaceman Spiff as he appears in Calvin’s imagination and then - usually in the last frame - we see what Calvin pretending to be Spaceman Spiff actually looks like. 

Bill Watterson, who created Calvin and Hobbes, had a long-running battle with his syndicators, who wanted to merchandise the characters. This could have generated a ton of money for both Watterson and the syndicators, but he was adamantly against it. I find it inspirational that his artistic vision was so strong and protective, but it seems to me that his eventual success in this fight was a Pyrrhic Victory. 

The good news is that we don’t have to see Calvin as a sell-out, maybe riding the Met Life balloon next to Snoopy. The bad news is that the only time we see Calvin in public these days is in the form of bootleg car stickers where he is making a snarky face and urinating.