Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 22, 2010

LOL, poor Calvin!

Since when have you ever been good, Calvin?

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠

GM, Santa Grog!

Strange how I can ‘see’ the expressions on Calvin’s face.

Love how Susie has thrown with so much energy that her hair is ‘dancing’. (I couldn’t think of a better adjective).

It’s not nice to hit a girl with anything Calvin.

Wow, you have to get up awfully early to comment on C&H. It’s not even late here on the left coast.

Boy that one slushball of Suzy’s managed to cover Calvin’s entire head. He’s mortified that she would do it, and mad that he didn’t do it to her first. He’s got slush all over his head and he’s still worried about impressing Santa.

Dontchajustloveit!

((Somebodyshort**, I got up at 1:15, and saw the middle part of the eclipse when the moon was amber clored.

Although Hobbes has a point, I agree, being good is no fun.

I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, also.

Good morning Marg, Hobbes, and all.

Let her have it Calvin!!!!!!

Neither Do I Calvin!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look on the bright side Calvin - Susie’s gonna get coal now because she threw that snowball at you.

Who should get the slushball, Susie or Hobbes?

GM everyone.

^^ No, Susie was justified in her actions – it was a preemptive strike!

Poor Calvin, stuck on the horns of a dilemma…

Are we sure those horns are of a dilemma… or of a little devil?

Poor Calvin. There is no right action available.

THIS good!!

If it were just a snowball, I’d say go for it, Calvin. The slushball thing is definitely in the naughty column, even in revenge.

**Good morning Marg! Good morning Fran and Kizzzy! Good Morning L’Wolf! Good Morning Grog!**

How many heads of state have had this same problem, I wonder.

It’s a case of destroying weapons of local destruction before they can be used.

Hilarious! I’ve always loved Calvin. An example like this shows why it’s one of the finest comics of all time.

Pursuant to yesterday and the day before: Calvin hasn’t quite disproven my analysis of his motives. He only picks on Suzie. Why? Can’t be because she’s the only girl he knows. He uses her as the prototype of all “slimy girls” precisely because she’s the one who threatens him the most as an INFJ girl. She, like Hobbes, is his unconscious mind embodied, which makes him terribly uncomfortable.

Possibly true to her developing INFJ-girlhood, Suzie crushes Calvin more often than not in a snowball fight :)

And true to his developing ENFP-boyhood, Calvin finds his peculiar brand of mischief-making has put him between a rock and a hard place. Again. :P

It’s no accident that Hobbes likes Suzie and vice versa. That’s one of the major clues that Calvin really is secretly attracted to Suzie despite himself.

When he duplicates his “good side” in his transmogrifier, that “side” is INFJ too.

And finally, one of the strongest proofs of a person’s Jungian type is what thought process plays out as his “mischeivous child” and gets him into fixes like this one. If bmonk is in the building: INFPs don’t get into such trouble in quite this way (misuse of logical frameworks). ENFPs and ESFPs do, and we can rule out the second because ESFPs don’t have the strong need for fantasy that Calvin does.

(my apologies for making your eyes glaze over)

It’s funny, Suzie looks like a younger version of Calvin’s mom in the first panel. More food for psychoanalysis!

I think there are not so many people who are realy deeply evil. Most are so half half, a part of good and a part of evil and they have to fight for being good!

Calvin should go ahead and let her have it.

It’s not like Santa hasn’t seen the way Calvin’s acted from January through November. Just because he’s ”trying” to behave now doesn’t mean Santa’s gonna be fooled…

The whole thing is a snow job Calvin.

INFJ? I took a personality test and failed :-D

Just hit her and get it over with calvin.

Nabuquduriuzhur said, about 10 slushballs ago

Virtue’s no fun, Calvin…

Well, I’d say, “Virtue’s no fun–as long as you are feeling forced to be good.”

But it is hilarious!

@Johannan, I did get into trouble this way in my childhood on occasion–and I was/am as introverted as they come.

Destiny23, “You Beat Me to the Punch” - Mary Wells “…it was a preemptive strike!”

Nabuquduriuzhur, Are you saying that “virtue is not its own reward”? That might be true, but Calvin has ‘reward’ from Santa at stake here, or so he thinks. BTW, I generally appreciate your occasional comments (which is not to exclude the ‘present’ one).

Good morning to All!

I suspect that all of us saw this coming, and it’s even more hilarious because of that.

Johanan, my eyes glazed over at the phrase “Persuant to yesterday…” and are still glazed over. I’m beginning to feel like a doughnut. ;-)

Go for it Calvin.

Wow, look at how fast that girl runs. Good luck catching her Calvin.

Puddleglum2 said, about 2 dilemmas ago

Nabuquduriuzhur, Are you saying that “virtue is not its own reward”? That might be true, but Calvin has ‘reward’ from Santa at stake here, or so he thinks.

I think that Calvin is weak: he knows, and even in part wants, what is good, but is unable to will and do the good. He’s not really vicious (wanting the bad), and is certainly not virtuous or strong–hence his anguish at being torn between things he wants, the good and the bad.

Since he is weak, virtue is not strong enough in him to be its own reward.

Hobbes but out. Calvin slush ball at ready, target steady let it fly. Santa , will understand .

Virtue is its own punishment.

Way to go Susie, Calvins needed some of his own medicine for a long time, GO GIRL!!

gofinsc, Did you get that line from The Devil’s Dictionary? :o)

bmonk, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil that I would not, that I do.” Romans 7:18,19 Even the Apostle Paul apparently had a problem with virtue being its own reward, as noble as it sounds. Ultimately, it’s the hope of the resurrection that makes virtue, suffering, or anything else worthwhile. “If in this life only, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable (or most to be pitied). I Corinthians 15:19 “…if the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” - I Corinthians 15:32b BTW, Isaiah beat Epicurus to the punch on the above saying from Isaiah 22:13 about 700 years BC.

Calvin - in light of the fact that all of us are SIN positive, whether or not we would publicly admit it, we all feel the way you do…so we love you anyway….

I don’t know, Puddleglum–I find that, where I am not tempted to sin, or where sin has been overthrown by grace, virtue is its own reward.

Being honest means I don’t have an elaborate system of stories and lies to keep track of–who knows what and who I need to keep in the dark–I can just live in the truth and let it happen as it will.

Being chaste means I don’t have to play all the games with every pretty face that comes along–I can love them as they deserve. (And it can even freak some out, which is really fun in its own way.)

But we only find that point when we are truly virtuous or strong enough to simulate virtue.

And Calvin sure ain’t there yet! (Hobbes is much closer to it in many ways.)

The best part of this strip is the first frame where Susie hits him so hard his beanie, gloves, and shoes come off! LOL!!!

Calvin is still young enough that he is still learning how to be good. Hopefully, when he is an adult he will be a good person. Unfortunately, some people never do, or want to, become a good person.

Calvin, we know you let Suzie get you because you really like her, Kissie Kissie

@MerryMarg - I got up to check the eclipse at 2 am and it was full overcast here. :(

Happy Holidays to all!

Good Heavens: Between the holy, chaste and righteous (and self righteous) on this site I think there are very few of us who actually read this comic to enjoy it. It is a wonderful comic. I love Calvin good or bad. I love Hobbes because he loves Calvin good or bad. I even love Suzie, even when she smacks Calvin with a slushball. I guess I am one of the sinners. I am not always holy, right, chaste or righteous. Lord help me. (and He does, most of the time) According to a lot of you I am headed straight to Hell. In any event, I think Calvin is making his mistakes while he is VERY young. I think he will turn out OK in the end with Hobbes’ help. Have some faith in him folks.

Thanks rakkav, I needed a nap. And God forbid we just see the humor without the psycobabble, or higher lessons to be learned.

Oh, don’t forget about ENFJ, ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ, ENTP, INTP, ENTJ, INTJ, ESTP, ISTP, ISFP. I’m looking forward to another nap.

hi all i,m back will be in here more often now a verry merry Christmas to everyone

Wait…..because some of us explore the underlying issues very deeply, we’re not enjoying this? This exploration is precisely where we find our enjoyment. And we love it at face value, also.

That’s like looking at two people playing chess and saying, “Why don’t you do something fun.” Don’t assume that, because it bores you, everyone feels the same way.

Even if Calvin does throw a slushball, he’s six, so I think he is entitled to some self-indulgent fun every now and then.

@ thebird55 - after being criticized for being too analytical and being asked why I even bother to read this strip, I appreciate that last comment. I read C&H because it’s the funniest d*arn comic strip in the modern era. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t analyze if I want. Goodness! And a quick perusal over the comments from others over the last several days shows that I’m not close to being the only one.

I don’t mean to come down on anyone. Some people want entertainment that they don’t have to think about, and some like to think for their entertainment.

To each, his own.

Calvin, you don’t see a girl like that twice in a century. Look at the arm she’s got!

@pattybf, we do enjoy the comic–we just also like to analyze it to death. Like this recent Freefall…

^Agreed

thebird55, nicely put.

FWIW, I’m an ENFJ - Extroverted-iNtuitive-Feeling-Judging.

No idea who that makes me like in the Potter universe. Probably Neville Longbottom.

Wiseguy411: As this is the first time I’ve been online all day today and Calvin is always my first stop, I looked back at all the comments left after mine on yesterday’s forum and saw the one you left for me (therefore, I left you one there in return).

I believe you misunderstood what I was trying to say. If you still don’t see where I’m coming from regarding my post yesterday, then I don’t know what else I could possibly say to make it any clearer. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Meanwhile, if you’re going to criticize me for something I said that you don’t like or agree with, then at least get the quote right!

Thank you and Merry Christmas.

Maybe Santa will bring us both grape jelly guns if we are good Calvin. Of course, that might cause a whole new dilemma for next year.

Calvin’s snowman-head sequence is priceless. LOL!!!

GretchensMom,

It appears that I did not get your meaning, but I am open to enlightenment.

In all, A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Humbug: Grape jelly guns???? Can I get one too?

I just can’t see the fun in analyzing a strip. It would be like having to write a book review. And that was never fun to me. Besides there are too many good strips to read to bother taking time to analyzing a single strip to death.

Well said pattybf. I guess the reason I like Marg’s comments is because even tho she is generally the first to comment, she sends a KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Nice cute concise comments. Thanks Marg.