The Comic Strip

Out of all the comic strips that I read for class, Calvin and Hobbes stuck out to me the most. One of the things that I found interesting about Calvin and Hobbes was its childlike mood. Garry Trudeau wrote a forward for one of the Calvin and Hobbes collections and in it he mentions Watterson’s  ability to accurately depict what it’s like being a child. He presents the idea that those looking to go back to their youth should just read Calvin and Hobbes. This really hit me while I was reading through the strips. It was like the story was alive with this infectious childlike energy that sucked me in. The way Watterson depicts Calvin is so interesting, funny, innocently mischievious, and relatable that it made me feel like I was 6 years old again.

I think the comic strip format acts as a perfect outlet for this story and only enhances the childlike feeling of it. The quickness of 4 panel strips creates short individual narratives that are reminiscent of childhood. As a child you don't really look too far ahead, and most instances in your life don't always connect or lead into one another other perfectly. Your attention is so fleeting and your imagination is so all over the place that often you can just jump from one thing to another without question. While reading the strips consecutively, as a collection, and jumping from one part of Calvin's life to another, I felt like a kid jumping from one thing to the next effortlessly. This combined with Watterson's accurate and entertaining characters creates a believable and charming world that one can get lost in. I think that this could still be accomplished in other formats, but the story might lose some of it's childlike spirit without the quick storytelling that comic strips are able to provide.