I read a little more than half of this material before Bill Watterson went on the first of his two sabbaticals, which is a shame because the strip truly plateaued once he came back. On another level, it's a realistic, sometimes cynical, look at the world through the eyes of a child. On one level, it's a look back at the unbridled imagination and enthusiasm that goes with being six years old and having the world at your disposal. Honestly, six or eight volumes would probably make for easier reading but this set is pretty damn impressive.Īs for the content, it's as magical as it ever was. The dimensions are slightly larger than the omnibuses for the 1990s.

The individual volumes lay flat for easy reading. The Sunday strips are shuffled slightly so they don't interrupt the flow of longer arcs, like the propeller beanie or the many camping trips. The colors are vibrant but not overdone, looking more like the Sunday strips would have originally looked if not printed on the cheapest newsprint imaginable. The pages are heavy duty and slick, built to last. Dates accompany each strip noting when it was originally printed. The dailies are in black and white and the Sunday strips are in color, as nature and Bill Watterson intended. This book collects every Calvin and Hobbes strip.

It was worth the wait.Īs everyone knows, Calvin is a six year old boy whose best friend is his stuffed tiger Hobbes. After a few years of having this on my wish list, my wife finally got it for me for Christmas. I'm a Calvin and Hobbes fan from way back so this set has been on my radar for quite a while. Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes I fell into Calvin and Hobbes' world in my 30s and intend to keep dipping back in every time life gets me down. The humour dances between many levels, brilliant visual comedy, erudite observation, poignant insight, laugh out loud slap-stick, and just damn feel-good stuff that touches everyone who has really lived. Thanks Bill.Ĭalvin and Hobbs captures a type of magic. It would lessen the work if he had carried on past the point the fire left him, repeating old themes too many times, and forcing us to watch as the life leached out of these beloved characters - perhaps even passing the torch on to contracted writers to continue milking the cash cow ad infinitum. He quit while he was ahead and left us something golden. I've read the entire thing a few pages at a time over the course of a some months and I was sad to come to the last wonderfully bound hard cover.Īlthough I was sad to reach the end I also applaud Bill Watterson for knowing the power in ending something. I bought this set for my boys a few Christmasses back - but really I bought it for me.

Calvin and hobbes the complete set