I see I’m not the only one who immediately saw today’s strip as a rip-off of Calvin. It’s just not as funny. Danger pay for Michael Patterson? Hardly. He might be mean-spirited towards his sister, a bit energetic and messier than his obsessively-cleaning mother can bear, but dangerous? To judge from the glum expressions on John and Elly’s faces in the final panel, I guess that’s what they think. If they’d been laughing, at least we could assume that Elly just made a light-hearted joke about their sometimes rambunctious six-year-old.
This strip was from the ’70s. Calvin & Hobbes was written in the ’80s. Be kinda hard to rip off an idea from a comic strip that wasn’t even written yet.
The rich author of the Harry Potter series is being sued (again) by the estate of another author who wrote about a boy wizard before her. They claim that she used his ideas for her own books.
I earned much of the down-payment for my first car by the time I was 16, simply by babysitting the worst-behaved children in our neighborhood. The job paid VERY well.
By the time I came along the family had long given up on female babysitters, including my own sisters - the job required stamina, muscle and a certain amount of heft.
The bullies at my junior high never messed with me, because it was known that I was one of the few who could handle that brood…
In art, as well, there is nothing really new to be done , which may be why some so-called artists do outrageous things they call “art”. There are always more ways to do something good, even if variations are slight. That movie where Muset (sp?) was painted by famous artists after her makeover, gave me the idea to paint Cuddles in the styles of Chagall, Neiman, Monet, O’Keefe and even converting the pigeons in a Picasso to parrots. I have those posted in my Webshots.
Michael is certainly no Calvin. It seems like every mom that has boys that I’ve talked to has said their boys are fearless and much wilder than their girls, but danger pay? This one is clealy exaggerating for the chuckle factor.
royman said, about 4 hours ago
“This strip was from the ’70s. Calvin & Hobbes was written in the ’80s. Be kinda hard to rip off an idea from a comic strip that wasn’t even written yet”
For Better or For Worse might have started in 1979. Then the strips about John and Elly going to parent-teacher night were drawn in 1981. Then Calvin & Hobbes appeared, ran for a beautiful yet limited time and ended gracefully rather than dragging on and on past its sell-by date. In 2008 Lynn Johnston decided to throw the Pattersons back to 1979 and add a few new strips to pad out storylines which she thought could use further explanation. Today’s helping is one of those pad-out strips. It is not older than Calvin and Hobbes. It is, at best, about six weeks old, as Lynn Johnston says she does her daily strips six weeks before they appear in the papers. Thus, ripping off Calvin and Hobbes is perfectly possible.
When my oldest son got to the age where he was frequently “too big for his britches” we quit hiring teen girls to babysit, and starting hiring his 6’4” 300lb. uncle. The grocery bill was higher, but we didn’t have to worry about our son misbehaving.
Summerdog: perhaps that rich author of the Potter books did a better job than the “com” plantive.
Its been said that George Lucas stole the Star Wars saga from an animation called the “Adventures of Orin” Its not the idea, its the execution, and perhaps the timing. I’ve lost count of how many fantasy series reminded me of The Lord of the Rings.
I would say “Why doesn’t John and Elly just dump their kids off on Connie the way she does them?” but given Lawrence’s broken leg coupled with the fact that Connie’s not a very good mother (she doesn’t seem to care about her own child at times so I sure wouldn’t want her in charge of MY kids!), I don’t guess that would be a very good idea. But danger pay for Michael?!? That really IS a C&H rip-off!!! While Michael does seem fairly smart at times for a child his age, how is he anywhere NEAR the level of intelligence, cunning or imagination that Calvin is?!?!? It’s not only ridiculous … it’s not even close!!!!!
as i am scrolling down I was going to say agreed BigHug. then I scrolled down more, changed my mind, and decided to say agreed, AdamsFamily1MW.. then i did the same thing to Ji2m, Susan001, Doctor Toon, etc.
buzzdog, that’s hilarious.
Maizing, if that’s true, then how come all those comics aren’t copying each other?
If you want to get nasty about suing people, Jil Murphy could sue J.K. Rowling on the grounds that the Harry Potter books “ripped off” her earlier (and very popular) Worst Witch series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheWorstWitch
SUSAN Excuse me as a sexist pig, but I always thought MAN with a capital M incjuded both genders. Are you saying women are not included under Man? I guess we need two words to describe one species. Odd we don’t do that with any other species.
Excellent point Joe. Besides, the best comedians have been stealing each others’ material for millenia. In the early days of TV, with many of them having made the switch from vaudeville, There were some that were proud of having “stolen” their material from someone else, and others who were proud that it had been stolen from them.
Where I come from they call it combat pay instead of danger pay. Same concept though.
ComicDetectiveDA over 14 years ago
Oh, honestly! Michael can’t be THAT bad!!!
MontanaLady over 14 years ago
Tom Cruise
Val Kilmer
screaming F-14’s
Danger Zone!!!!
BigHug over 14 years ago
I’m surprised they didn’t call Roslyn. If she can handle Calvin Michael is a breeze. But she’s very expensive.
AdamsFamily1MW over 14 years ago
I see I’m not the only one who immediately saw today’s strip as a rip-off of Calvin. It’s just not as funny. Danger pay for Michael Patterson? Hardly. He might be mean-spirited towards his sister, a bit energetic and messier than his obsessively-cleaning mother can bear, but dangerous? To judge from the glum expressions on John and Elly’s faces in the final panel, I guess that’s what they think. If they’d been laughing, at least we could assume that Elly just made a light-hearted joke about their sometimes rambunctious six-year-old.
hildigunnurr Premium Member over 14 years ago
Joe-Allan, well why not? Calvin and Hobbes is known around the world.
CaMabe over 14 years ago
He’s a boy, isn’t he?
royman53 over 14 years ago
This strip was from the ’70s. Calvin & Hobbes was written in the ’80s. Be kinda hard to rip off an idea from a comic strip that wasn’t even written yet.
lewisbower over 14 years ago
DOC TOON Same with novelists Man’s relationship to Man Man’s relationship to God Man’s relationship to Nature Man’s relationship to Himself
What else you gong to write about?
summerdog86 over 14 years ago
The rich author of the Harry Potter series is being sued (again) by the estate of another author who wrote about a boy wizard before her. They claim that she used his ideas for her own books.
BuzzDog over 14 years ago
I earned much of the down-payment for my first car by the time I was 16, simply by babysitting the worst-behaved children in our neighborhood. The job paid VERY well.
By the time I came along the family had long given up on female babysitters, including my own sisters - the job required stamina, muscle and a certain amount of heft.
The bullies at my junior high never messed with me, because it was known that I was one of the few who could handle that brood…
vldazzle over 14 years ago
In art, as well, there is nothing really new to be done , which may be why some so-called artists do outrageous things they call “art”. There are always more ways to do something good, even if variations are slight. That movie where Muset (sp?) was painted by famous artists after her makeover, gave me the idea to paint Cuddles in the styles of Chagall, Neiman, Monet, O’Keefe and even converting the pigeons in a Picasso to parrots. I have those posted in my Webshots.
freeholder1 over 14 years ago
I have to get here earlier.. My zone comment is gone.
lightenup Premium Member over 14 years ago
Michael is certainly no Calvin. It seems like every mom that has boys that I’ve talked to has said their boys are fearless and much wilder than their girls, but danger pay? This one is clealy exaggerating for the chuckle factor.
AdamsFamily1MW over 14 years ago
royman said, about 4 hours ago “This strip was from the ’70s. Calvin & Hobbes was written in the ’80s. Be kinda hard to rip off an idea from a comic strip that wasn’t even written yet”
For Better or For Worse might have started in 1979. Then the strips about John and Elly going to parent-teacher night were drawn in 1981. Then Calvin & Hobbes appeared, ran for a beautiful yet limited time and ended gracefully rather than dragging on and on past its sell-by date. In 2008 Lynn Johnston decided to throw the Pattersons back to 1979 and add a few new strips to pad out storylines which she thought could use further explanation. Today’s helping is one of those pad-out strips. It is not older than Calvin and Hobbes. It is, at best, about six weeks old, as Lynn Johnston says she does her daily strips six weeks before they appear in the papers. Thus, ripping off Calvin and Hobbes is perfectly possible.
1148559 over 14 years ago
If she is ripping off Calvin and Hobbes, then she is also ripping off the following cartoons:
1) Dennis the Menace 2) Adam @ Home 3) Grand Avenue 4) Family Circus
I could continue… the list goes on and on. As others have said, it’s an old joke.
Smiley Rmom over 14 years ago
When my oldest son got to the age where he was frequently “too big for his britches” we quit hiring teen girls to babysit, and starting hiring his 6’4” 300lb. uncle. The grocery bill was higher, but we didn’t have to worry about our son misbehaving.
littledutchboy over 14 years ago
Everyone is so critical today. Did we all miss our hugs??? Ophelia missed her nap!!!
lorelei6361 over 14 years ago
Summerdog: perhaps that rich author of the Potter books did a better job than the “com” plantive. Its been said that George Lucas stole the Star Wars saga from an animation called the “Adventures of Orin” Its not the idea, its the execution, and perhaps the timing. I’ve lost count of how many fantasy series reminded me of The Lord of the Rings.
lorelei6361 over 14 years ago
Oops should have finished reading Burgandy’s reply
summerdog86 over 14 years ago
The 16 year old who wrote ERAGON got his ideas from many popular, previous sources. It’s pretty plain. He put them altogether to write his own story.
I have heard that about Star Wars.
I don’t care where the inspiration comes from…..I just enjoy the final result. And spend lots of money on books.
Gretchen's Mom over 14 years ago
I would say “Why doesn’t John and Elly just dump their kids off on Connie the way she does them?” but given Lawrence’s broken leg coupled with the fact that Connie’s not a very good mother (she doesn’t seem to care about her own child at times so I sure wouldn’t want her in charge of MY kids!), I don’t guess that would be a very good idea. But danger pay for Michael?!? That really IS a C&H rip-off!!! While Michael does seem fairly smart at times for a child his age, how is he anywhere NEAR the level of intelligence, cunning or imagination that Calvin is?!?!? It’s not only ridiculous … it’s not even close!!!!!
pilover3.1415926 over 14 years ago
as i am scrolling down I was going to say agreed BigHug. then I scrolled down more, changed my mind, and decided to say agreed, AdamsFamily1MW.. then i did the same thing to Ji2m, Susan001, Doctor Toon, etc. buzzdog, that’s hilarious. Maizing, if that’s true, then how come all those comics aren’t copying each other?
notbugme over 14 years ago
If you want to get nasty about suing people, Jil Murphy could sue J.K. Rowling on the grounds that the Harry Potter books “ripped off” her earlier (and very popular) Worst Witch series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheWorstWitch
Dkram over 14 years ago
0phelia said, about 4 hours ago
“I find this comment section boring and redundant.”
Not to mention repetitive.
sorry, couldn’t resist.
\\//_
lewisbower over 14 years ago
SUSAN Excuse me as a sexist pig, but I always thought MAN with a capital M incjuded both genders. Are you saying women are not included under Man? I guess we need two words to describe one species. Odd we don’t do that with any other species.
James Lindley Premium Member over 14 years ago
Excellent point Joe. Besides, the best comedians have been stealing each others’ material for millenia. In the early days of TV, with many of them having made the switch from vaudeville, There were some that were proud of having “stolen” their material from someone else, and others who were proud that it had been stolen from them.
Where I come from they call it combat pay instead of danger pay. Same concept though.