Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes, American newspaper comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995, chronicling the high jinks of Calvin, a six-year-old boy, and his pet tiger, Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes was renowned for its vivid portrayal of a child’s imagination.

In creating Calvin and Hobbes, cartoonist Bill Watterson (1958– ) drew inspiration from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and Walt Kelly’s Pogo, among other precursors. He named the main characters for the 16th-century theologian John Calvin and the 17th-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. The small central cast of characters remained essentially unchanged throughout the run of the feature. Joining the two title characters were Calvin’s frazzled parents—never named—Miss Wormwood, his long-suffering teacher, and Susie Derkins, a prim classmate and frequent target of pranks.

The heart of the strip was the relationship between the two characters for whom the strip was named. To Calvin, Hobbes was a life-size, walking, talking friend, sharing in the mischief but often questioning him or commenting wryly on his behaviour and attitudes. To other people, however, Hobbes appeared as a stuffed toy. Watterson maintained that Hobbes should not be interpreted simply as an imaginary friend, that the strip was more ambiguous.

Watterson steadfastly resisted the commoditization of his characters, refusing virtually all merchandising opportunities. At his insistence his syndicate placed unusual restrictions on how newspapers could tamper with the presentation of the longer Sunday strips, allowing him greater freedom to experiment with layout. In 1995 he announced that he was retiring his creation to pursue work with fewer constraints. By that time, Watterson had twice been awarded the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year (1986 and 1988), and Calvin and Hobbes had become the most popular American comic strip of its era.