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Calvin and Hobbes For Parents

As a parent, and a geek desperately clinging to his childhood, this image really speaks to me.

I’ve been a huge fan of Calvin & Hobbes since the early days of its publication.  I’ve got my own inner-Calvin, so I really connected with the daily strip.  I was very wrapped up in the series back then and was about crushed when Bill Watterson retired.  Now years later, I’m raising two children and passing on my own childhood interests to them.  On top of the emotional impact of the image, I gotta say the artist did a phenomenal job mimicking Watterson’s style.

Makes me want to shed some parental-man-tears.

Originally found at MotivatedPhotos.com.  My thanks to SGhoul for sending me this image.

15 thoughts on “Calvin and Hobbes For Parents

  1. Oh man, that image makes me so sad. Before I scrolled down to the text, I thought Watterson had drawn it.

    Very well done piece, I bet Watterson would like it, since it seems to capture the mood of the strip perfectly.

  2. Beautiful, beautiful piece of art – full of pathos; brought a lump to my throat. One of the single most moving things I’ve seen on the old Interwebs of late… or maybe it’s just me 🙂 Thank you for sharing.

  3. I dunno, I understand the sentiment and all…and as a father of 3.5yo and a 6mo, I can certainly relate…

    …but looking at the pic, I just seems so wrong to me. Maybe it’s the fact someone else other than Bill drew it, or I just don’t like seeing Calvin all grown up.

  4. Agree with Brian; the message is nice, but the art is a bit too “off” to pass as Watterson’s.

  5. Is it just me or does that girl look an awful lot like a cross between Calvin and Susie Derkins?

  6. Parental man tears are the worst! My daughters and I bond on a geek level pretty regularly, and every so often some pop-culture goodness will sneak in a sucker punch. For example, the whole girl-empowerment angle to the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes on a whole new meaning when you watch it with your daughters. I’m pretty sure I kept them from seeing those parental man tears welling up!

  7. Yep, *sniff* here, too. Man, Calvin can’t be a father while I’m still playing my own kind of Spiff whenever I need to relax from work… and yes, Jamie, I too think the girl looks suspiciously like Susie :))

  8. I’ve always suspected Calvin was in love with Susie. Maybe they married and that’s their kid 😀

  9. Hobbes looks like he doesn’t want to leave Calvin 🙁 but he’s got lots more fun ahead of him 🙂
    And yes, I’m welling up too!

  10. I just cant see Calvin being so skinny and grown up.. As a huuuuge Calvin and Hobbes fan i want to hold on to the perpetual 6 year old image of Calvin.. I just cant see him grow up.. I would not mind reading a 100 reruns of the old C n H strips.. But grown up Calvin without Hobbes please excuse..

  11. It was an emotional take …. A plausible arc…but none of the genuine fans want to go there.
    We will always remain hopelessly stuck in the time warp of young Calvin with “his” hobbes.
    Maybe Watterson also meant it to remain so, that is why he retired the strip itself.

    But a reminder of where we are stuck up …. Missing them all over again.

    Sniff!!

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