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I think the problem with the future is not only that it keeps turning into the present, but that we all act like Calvin here and expect the future to be better and don't participate in making it better. I understand that there's only so much a six-year-old and tiger can do. I think we all feel as helpless as them sometimes. I certainly do. Hopefully, though, this year can be better, and we can figure out a way to make it so.
Happy New Year, folks.
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This isn't a New Year celebration tradition that I've heard of before, but Richard Thompson says he did it when he was a kid. The child inside me thinks that this might be fun to try, because who wouldn't want to try ridiculous things you read in comic strips? The adult inside me, however, thinks it would be far too loud and obnoxious, and that I would certainly be annoyed if someone else was doing it. So I probably won't. Then again, we will have my nieces over for New Year's. Maybe I can get them to do it.
Don't forget to admire the lines on that couch. I mean, look at those lines, people.
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While we're right in the middle of this decade, I still agree with Calvin here. Sure, we have some amazing technologies, but not nearly as much as we were promised. Calvin was expecting it back in 89, and it's almost 2015 and we still don't have any of that. I mean, at this rate there's no way that we'll have hover boards or power shoe laces by next November.
Anyway, please just sit and admire that first panel for a bit. A simple yet beautiful landscape. I sure hope those don't go away in the future.
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Mr. Danders, the guinea pig, is an odd character. He seems to have the ability to speak, and so do certain other animals and things in the Cul de Sac world. I'm not sure if this is merely in the mind of the children or if it's actually occurring, and it's never really explained. I guess it depends on what you want to believe.
Also, I love Richard Thompson's crosshatching. I mean, just look at it!
Richard Thompson, and Cul de Sac, have been a major inspiration for me. I love the writing and the characters, but I'm fascinated by the art. Those lines... I love those lines. It's so messy, but everything is where it should be, and it just looks right. Same with the lettering, which is unlike anything in comic strips. And look at those panel borders! I love Richard Thompson's signature, too. It's what you would expect from someone who draws this way.
I started out the month by posting a number of strips by Winsor McCay, who drew things very precisely, with very straight lines and strict perspectives. While I enjoy looking at that, the messiness of Thompson's drawing just draws me to it. I just enjoy the fact that it can look that way and still look right. There's nothing I would change about it. It doesn't need cleaning up. It's beautiful the way it is.
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Just a reminder to send thank-you notes to those who gave you presents for Christmas! Also, please consider this a thank-you note to anyone who gave me Christmas presents. They were very appreciated.
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The fact is, no matter how bad they are, most every kid is going to end up on Santa's "Good" list and get at least one present from him on Christmas. I'm sure many a parent has wanted to give their child a lump of coal, but thought better of it because they want them to have a good Christmas. Perhaps that means that Christmas should not only be a time of giving, but also forgiving.
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This has always been my favorite Calvin and Hobbes Christmas strip. It evokes all the feelings of Christmas and Christmas Eve, as well as the feeling of friendship, the central element of Calvin and Hobbes. It's also interesting because it's quite different from any other Calvin and Hobbes strip. Instead of a rowdy six-year-old getting into trouble or philosophizing, it's simply a calm scene described in a poem.
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When I was a kid, my love of comic strips and desire to be a cartoonist came from reading Calvin and Hobbes. The older I got, the more I appreciated it, and the more ways I was able to appreciate it. The writing and artwork were of a quality that had not been seen in newspapers for many years, and after it ended, it would still be a few years before any comic strip would compare to it, at least in my mind.
One thing that Bill Watterson always did at Christmas season was show the difficulties Calvin always had with Santa Claus. As a six-year-old kid, he obviously believes in Santa, and often writes letters to him, as we see here. He is often troubled by the need to be on Santa's "Good" list, though his only motivation for doing this is to receive more presents. This should give us pause to consider our own actions. Are we being good because we want to be good, or to receive some kind of reward for doing so?
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The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, but often they are a time of disappointment. Sometimes, like in this strip, it's not about the gifts but about the friends and connections that we have, or don't have. Thankfully, Charlie Brown shows us that, despite his disappointments, he can move on and make something good out of his holiday season. I wish I was as resilient as he is.