It has been almost 10 years since a boy and his tiger friend went sledding on a snowy winter morning and at the same time left the comic pages, devastating fans all across the United States. People have speculated what sorts of adventures the dynamic duo has been up to in its magical world, but nobody, not even its creator, knows for sure. After 10 anxious years of speculation, Calvin and Hobbes will finally make a return, although it isn't quite in the fashion that everybody had been hoping for.
Instead of a brand new adventure, Bill Watterson has opted to go along the same path as two other popular defunct comic strips (Gary Larson's The Far Side and Charles Schulz's Peanuts) and came out with The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Still, though this set contains nothing new (with the exception of an introduction by Bill Watterson), it is a worthy addition to any fan's collection.
Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes ran in American newspapers from Nov. 18, 1985 to Dec. 31, 1995 with two extended breaks. Within those 10 short years, the strip evolved from just another comic to a legitimate American classic. Even without any licensed merchandise (everything you see related to C&H with the exception of books is illegal), Calvin and Hobbes has entered the mainstream. This is a testament to Watterson's skills as a comic strip artist.
But of course, we've grown up with Calvin and Hobbes, so its greatness has become an established fact. The question should be if The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is any better than the 11 Calvin and Hobbes books that already have been released. The answer is a definite "Yes." Certainly, there isn't any difference in terms of content. If you've read all 11 Calvin and Hobbes books, you've already read just about 96% of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.
However, there are obvious advantages to owning The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Instead of having 11 thin and lightweight collections, you have the complete collection in three thick and sturdy volumes. Complete also includes unique prologues to the three Calvin and Hobbes treasuries (Essential, Authoritative and Indispensable) and a special introduction from Watterson explaining his life before, during and after Calvin and Hobbes.
In addition, each strip is dated (something that the previous 11 books never have included). This isn't important per se, but it's a cool addition that one can use to find out which comic ran on a particular day. Most important is the fact that all three volumes of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes are bound in hardcover. The previous collections were all paperbacks, so the books would slowly decay with overuse. On the other hand, Complete has a longer shelf life.
The fact that Complete is bound in hardcover and that it packs 10 years worth of comics in 1,440 pages, however, gives it extra weight. In fact, the entire collection is 22 pounds. Its $150 price tag means that if you already own every Calvin and Hobbes book, you'll probably want to save your money unless your books are falling apart. For everybody else, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is the ultimate way to get your Calvin and Hobbes fix.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
