Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 15, 2018

Just follow the stars.

If they can survive Mars, they can survive Venus or Mercury.

NO U-TURNS IN SPACE!

Captain’s log Stardate 2018: We are now lost thanks to my tiger!

I’m not good at astronomy, but how many light-years are between Earth and Mars? Calvin and Hobbes would be middle-aged or even ancient by the time they arrived to their final distention.

Calvin – just connect the dots in front you. That should do it.

If your life can flash before your eyes, then a Martian adventure can also flash before your eyes. Yesterday his wagon went off a ramp.

Maybe Bill Watterson has read Olaf Stapledon’ “Stars Maker”

Somehow a song with “Hitch your wagon to a star” springs to mind, don’t remember the rest of it…

No Calvin; remember, Hobbes brings the food, you bring the map!

Just look for the red planet.

Notice: the inexperienced traveler should always plan his/her trip in advance to avoid dangerous route changes Calvin forgot to read the ‘fine print.’

It’s not that far away. Think of the satellites and Landers we have sent there.

What the hell was that?

Calvin Ball 1…

They’ve gone to Plaid!

Wait a minute, Mars is the other way!

And another fine piece of comic strip art from Watterson. The curvature of the Earth extended across the frames to show their path through space, with a little slice of the moon in the last panel to reduce the blackness.

When you pass the red Roadster you are half way there.

I hope Calvin understands orbital mechanics!

First the food and now Hobbes is being blamed for forgetting the map? If I was Hobbes, I’d get off at the first available planet.

Calvin, you’ll be astounded when you discover just how precise your calculations need to be for this.

Let’s see, escape velocity is seven miles per second, plus they’re still breathing in the icy vacuum of space. Impressive.

And no real man..or Tiger would ever stop and ask directions! ;o}

Was this Bills last issue?

Why can’t they make wagons like that anymore?

Oddly enough, this cartoon has taken on a “Donald A. Wollheim” like feel. One of my favorite D.A.W stories was:The Secret of the Martian Moons.

Apparently a lack of air in space doesn’t seem to bother Calvin. Oops! This is in his imagination.

Seriously? Light-years between planets in the same solar system? Well, you’re right about not being good at astronomy. How long do you think it takes a ray of light from the sun to reach the Earth? (Just under 8.5 minutes, by the way. That’s minutes, not years.)

Addendum: please not the qualification “solar system.” The galaxy, the Milky Way, that contains our solar system is about 100,000 light-years in diameter. (And it’s rather ironic that we’re not even near the center of our galaxy, but sort of a backwater – the Orion Arm.)

This is ridiculous there is no way you can make it into space that fast within 1 day and how are you breathing in space? You can’t breathe in space without a space suit. Silly Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin’s trip planing isn’t really very good, but then I suspect he doesn’t plan for anything. More of a live in the moment type of guy.

Just wet your finger and put it in the wind. No?

Shoulda hung a left in Albuquerque..

This kind of storyline should lay to rest the idea that Hobbes is “real”. He’s about as real as the idea that a toy wagon can reach escape velocity, or that a boy can breathe in the vacuum of space, or steer the wagon to Mars with no navigational instruments or thrusters.

No light years around 40+ million miles. A light year is a lot farther than that. The nearest star to us is 4 light years away. At the speed of light it would take 4 years to reach the nearest star. Mars can be reached in less than a year.

Just follow Elon’s car…

Somehow this makes me think of of Elon Musk ….