WE ARE NOT INSANE, JUST RECKLESS

My most favorite comic strip – EVER! Calvin and Hobbes never fails to make me laugh -sampai I could be so engrossed while reading the comic book, worlds around me just fade. But you’ll hear my recurrent explosion of laughter complete with me either holding my stomach or wiping tears off my eyes. Well, at least until my mum tells me she thinks I’m crazy and asked me to keep quiet. Even after that, you’ll still be able to hear my muffled laughter…ready to burst out loud anytime. That’s Calvin and Hobbes to me. My essential endless laughter medicine!

What I like about Calvin is his sarcasm and wit. Err allow me to rephrase what I’ve just said. Calvin isn’t sarcastic – at least I don’t think he intentionally means to be. I guess he is just a little too intelligent for his age. For a six year old boy, there’s not much filter between his brain and mouth. I think that’s what I really enjoy about him – that he has no sense of restraint. Outgoing, freewill and rambunctious! And indeed very creative!

As for Hobbes, he is Calvin’s best friend! From everyone else’s point of view, Hobbes is just a stuffed tiger, Calvin’s imaginary friend. But he looks as real to me as Calvin is. I love their sense of bond and friendship, their sense of codependency to each other. Sometimes, you’ll see Hobbes being a bit cruel to Calvin. He has this habit of pouncing on Calvin the moment he arrives home from school, which always leaves Calvin with scraps and bruises. You will also find that whenever Calvin makes a statement or comes up with a wild idea (like a game, a rule) Hobbes has something contradictory to say to it. I think it’s only because Hobbes is much more rational and aware of the consequences than Calvin, but he seldom interferes with Calvin’s troublemaking beyond a few indirect warnings. Instead, he joins in the fun! After all, it’s Calvin who will get in trouble for it. Hobbes is also sarcastic when Calvin is being hypocritical about things he dislikes.

I have a few collections of Calvin and Hobbes comic books and I love all of it! But one distinctive favorite of mine is when Calvin learns about death when he finds a baby raccoon on the ground; a touching series that runs from page 94 – 96 of “Something under the Bed is Drooling”. It makes you go “Aawwhhh” at the end of the strip.

It’s sad to admit that some of my collections were borrowed any never returned back to me *sigh with heavy heart*. So this list is what used to be my collection of Calvin and Hobbes (some I still have, some are gone never to be traced back again):

1. Something under the Bed is Drooling
2. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury
3. The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book: A collection of Sunday Calvin and Hobbes Cartoons
4. The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury
5. Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons
6. Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
7. There’s Treasure Everywhere
8. It’s A Magical World
9. The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

I will COMPLETE my collection! That’s a promise I gave to myself. And I don’t mean by just buying The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Hardcover: October 4, 2005, Andrews McMeel Publishing). I shall have all 18 collections! Including this one of course!

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

Here’s a few comic strip to get you started:

To me, Calvin and Hobbes are indispensable! Always have been and always will be.