The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes (1990)

this is nearly perfect. watterson really gets parenting, childhood, friendship, and even touches on philosophical issues as well. i probably shared an equal number of comics with my son as i did with my wife. the drawings are amazing, and convey everything we need to know; i love their expressions so much. there are a few things that don't quite hold up in today's world, but these comics are over 30 years old and i don't fault him for that.

this was pure joy to read. ( )

This compendium collects two of the Calvin and Hobbes books, but even though we have already seen these mini stories before it is good to get a regular reminder about childlike living from the wise (yet strange) minds of this small boy and his pet tiger. Considering that the cover showed a glorious scene of the pair sledding down one of their favourite inclines, I assumed that this collection would have a lot of seasonal winter content; and yet I feel like the majority of the stories took place in summer! Watterson does cover all four seasons (mud in spring, crisp leaves in Autumn, mutant snowmen in winter, and the long days of summer), but the stories which stuck out in the collection were definitely of the summer variety. WE see Calvin run away to the Yukon (the main storyarc in Yukon, Ho!), suffer a rain-filled camping trip, and wax eloquent about how great it is to have nothing to do all summer - and to lament that Sundays in August are terrible because they remind him that school will be starting again soon. Overall this was another fun-filled set of adventures! ( )

Alas, this is the last Calvin & Hobbes book in our collection. Sigh. I'll have to go read something that's not a comic book. ( )

Can I offer you some Calvin and Hobbes in these troubling times?

This second collection features some great Spaceman Spiff, the beginnings of Calvin's magnificent snowman art, and the origins of Stupendous Man.

Honestly though, Calvin and Hobbes is just good for the soul. ( )

741.5