Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 06, 2011

Only at night, Calvin.

Another example of the battle between Watterson and the syndicate.

A monochrome kid in a full colored world.

put the light on calvin….

Cathy Guisewite and Charles Schulz should have ended their strips sooner than they did. They were past their peak when they retired. Bill Watterson ended his strip at the appropriate time. Nobody can stay at the peak forever.

Here are some thoughts on black and white thinking. Some of you will really like them, and some of you will really hate them. There is no in-between. (Just kidding.)

“Black and white” is a confusing term in our language. When we talk about black and white photography or black and white movies, what we really mean is grayscale with many shades of gray – not true black and white.

But today Calvin is in true black and white, with no shades of gray. Everything in the picture is either black or white. There is no in-between. Consequently, we see vague impressions of Calvin and the world around him, but we are not fully seeing reality.

That’s how true black and white thinking is – one extreme or the other, with no shades of gray in-between, and certainly no color. Some people are very uncomfortable with black and white thinking, but others are very uncomfortable without it.

Black and white thinkers feel that, in order to be comfortable and make sense of the world, they need to have clear-cut, simple answers for everything, especially in areas such as politics and religion. And they feel a need to label other people in simplistic, clear-cut ways as one extreme or the other, as either good or bad, as either right or wrong.

However, Calvin’s world today is analogous to the world of black and white thinkers. Not only is it devoid of color, it does not even include shades of gray, making it impossible to see things as they truly are.

Even if we are not true black and white thinkers, all of us have black and white tendencies at times. If we are afraid of seeing issues, beliefs, and people in their “full color” with all of their complexities, uncertainties, and nuances, then as a first step, we should at least strive to see them in a few shades of gray. Otherwise, we have only vague impressions to go on, which prevent us from fully seeing reality.

– Hobbes

No matter how hard you fight to retain a black and white world, color will always bleed into your life. Enjoy those colors and know that you’re never stuck in a dilemma, there is always many other options out there.

And some people are completely blind, devoid of black, white, or any spectrum of color and still see more than those who think they see it all so clearly.

The older I get the grayer things get.

Hobbes is correct: Cathy Guisewite and Charles Schulz should have ended their strips sooner than they did. They were past their peak when they retired. Bill Watterson ended his strip at the appropriate time. Nobody can stay at the peak forever.

It is always easiest to tell when someone else is past their peak.

I used to have black and white mornings with colour around lunch time in my younger days. When I got older and smarter I cut back on my drinking. Every thing is fine now.

Isn”t it funny how we used to drink to make things pretty, and when we quit, things got pretty?

If I got nothing else ouit of the strips today, I will never again worry I’m getting too long-winded. (yes, that’s a shot)

This strip was originally made when Watterson and his syndicate were fighting over making Calvin and Hobbes licensed goods. I commend Watterson for the fact that while other comic strips jumped at the chance to make stuff out of their work, Watterson tinkered with the idea of doing so but ultimately decided against it. Of course, that did lead to some of the infamous pirated goods like the “peeing Calvin” window decals.

Black and white! A very good comment, Hobbes!

Unfortunately, there are only shades of gray.

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠!

I think Hobbes has been dipping into the Red Bull!

IV drip, morelike

And all I could think of was the Baldo strip which was only in color - no black at all.

Darkeforce, I remember a failure mode in old analog color TV sets where the “Y” (black and white) would quit working but the chroma information was still getting to the CRT. This would result in only color with no greyscale information seen on the screen. You could make out what was going on, but it sure looked strange.

Hmmm, shades of gray describe Value so when calvin see’s the light his Chroma has little Value when deeply Hue-struck. good for you, Calvin. hooooo

Of course he sees things in black and white. He’s seven years old. Kids don’t develop critical thinking skills until their teens … if ever.

legaleagle48 -yeah…Artist! Who do they think they are trying to control the “fruit” of their efforts. Almost as bad as LAWYERS!!!

Reminded me of the customer who asked if the laser printers we sold printed black and white. No, we would answer patiently, they only print black.

Ironically Charles Schulz, who so loved his Peanuts strip and characters, died in his sleep the very night before his last strip appeared in print. I think people can die of a broken heart. He was dying anyway, but I think that hastened it, perhaps that was best.

That is sad, Fellow Baby. I didn’t know that.

Even if Charles Schulz had lived longer, a big part of him would have died on the day of that final strip.

But his legacy lives on in strips like Calvin and Hobbes, which would not be the same without Schulz’s pioneering work.

None of us can create in a vacuum (unless we are cartoonist astronauts). We all build upon the creativity of those who have gone before, and we all hope to leave a legacy for others to build upon in the future.

Wow! Wake up on a Sunday morning to read the funnies and wind up in a college lecture. Wish I could get re-certification credit for attending this class!

The first two panels at the top of the strip with the title are a perfect example of genius in comic strip artwork.

Wow! Calvin understands the physics of light better than most of my students and he’s just 7! I wish my students were just 1/2 as smart as Calvin. Have a great day and GO GREEN BAY!

Good point, Calvin. But coming from you won’t change your Dad’s opinion, unfortunately!

G’Afternoon, Grog, Marg & Mike!

bat007, Genius, I wholeheartedly agree

@ Magnamax, your ‘shot’ was dead on, and I think you’re correct also regarding the drip being on a Red Bull IV.

@ BobtheBandGuy, Yes, sometimes it’s far from funny here. Mostly due to, to quote RCMinor, the “hyperventilated lectures”.

Sometimes it’s nice to just see the humor, not only in the comic, but in the attempts to counsel the lives of it’s readers.

…i am 9 yrs older than my “little” brother; i found it fascinating to watch (especially through his 16th and 24th years) how he slowly came to realize that the world was NOT all black and white, but almost entirely shades of grey…i feel he adapted pretty well. Anyway, my (pretty obvious) point here is, that the ability to see life in grey is really learned through experience.

Tigers learn very quickly that if they see the world in black and white, the tigers and the zebras will all look alike, and hunting becomes way too complicated.

Maybe Bill was just running low on ink …

That BLUE BIRD, somebody please, explain it!

@Hobbes, I try to see the world in black and orange, with just a bit of white.

Hi Night-Gaunt49

Yeah, I was thinking of those tigers who travel on safari to Africa. Sometimes they get hungry during the tour.

Speaking of black and white, how about this cartoon?

And you don’t, dad?

Right, Dad thinks of what Calvin does only in terms of black and white. If it’s not perfect, it’s perfectly wrong.

True, exoticdoc2. Many times the degradation we see in morals is due to what is called ‘gray areas’. But you’re correct, right is right, and no shading will turn the truth from what it is. Even if it takes time for science to catch up, all along the truth was the same.

Thank You, Hobbes

Watterson is the true heir to Immanuel Kant.

Calvin might see things as black & white, but he still manages to mess around on the gray line in-beteen the two.

I haven’t been Calvin’s age for, well, more years now than I care to remember. But I’m a lot like him in that I still see things as pretty much black and white too. Something is either right or it’s wrong … and to me, there is no other shade for it. The world is a beautiful place with all its lovely colors but in my opinion, “gray” is still just an excuse to skirt around the truth so that your conscience bothers you less for doing what you absolutely know is wrong.

I am awed by the intelligent and insightful comments posted here by folks who know and use the English language well. I have read so many comments elsewhere on other subjects, by seemingly ignorant people who cannot spell or use proper grammar, and worse, offer hateful or obscene comments. I was starting to think that the English language and the ethics of America was going down the toilet until I read the comments here. Thank you everyone for restoring my faith in humanity!

Ditto

only sometimes……..