Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 01, 2011

Try though you might, good Calvin…

Hobbes is enjoying this immensely.

He’s the only one that is, by the look of things …

I don’t think Calvin has anything to worry about.

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠!

Hobbes is being slick. He knows Susie wouldn’t take good Calvin seriously and is having fun teasing Calvin. LOL!!!

Calvin should know that he has nothing to worry about.

Stop him!!!!

This has to be one of the best comics of all time for facial expressions. It’s a true gift for someone to be able to write funny scenarios AND be able to draw beautifully. Watterson had/has that gift. I do have to wonder though, why hasn’t Suzy commented on Calvin’s much neater than usual appearance?

Worry not, Calvin. Your reputation is much too great.

Suzie might be thinking Calvin is “April-Fool-ing” her

One way or another, this has to end badly.

Good Calvin cannot understand Suzie’s rejection….his look is shear bewilderment! Love it!

If good intentions come from good Calvin, then the road to hell will manifest from normal Calvin. We’ll see a showdown soon enough!

As cymbol pointed out, this was Watterson at his best. It is so much fun to enjoy these strips again, and notice everything that went into them.

Susie knows the “real” Calvin

wonder how would hobbes turn out on the ethnicator..considering he already has a soft corner for susie :-)

Dogsniff - I don’t get your meaning. Suzi and Good Calvin committing double suicide is certainly not an option.

Why do they call them “mash notes”?

In the absence of our philosiphical friend Hobbes, I pose this question:

If we take the “comic fantasy’ factor out, and revert our thinking to the fact that the strip takes place in the real world and we are simply witnessing the machinations of Calvin’s imagination, what are we seeing? Is the good-Calvin the REAL calvin, imagining what would be happening at home between the Calvin-prime and Hobbes, or are Calvin and Hobbes merely imagining what would happen if there was a good duplicate out in the world?

Mom, Mrs Wormwood, and Suzie have all “seen” the good-Calvin, so my opinion is that all the interaction between C&H at home is the imagination part of the story, while Calvin is play-acting as good for some reason.

Thoughts?

And furthermore, Dallas, if this would be the “real” Calvin bringing (what I would call “mush”) notes to Susie, it supports the contention of some that Calvin harbors a deep-down attraction for Susie. The suggestion that in a real-life scenario, Calvin and Susie might be destined for a future romantic encounter may have some merit.

[Jung]Good Calvin is Regular Calvin’s Shadow, a depository of all the character traits that Calvin has repressed and disavowed over the years.[/Jung]

He could have split personality disorder, but it’s unusual for the two personalities to be aware of each other.

Finally the C&H Movie. My dreams have come true. http://images.gocomics.com/calvin-and-hobbes-movie/

I think you’re referring to “multiple personality disorder”, since “split personality” essentially means schizophrenia. Multiples, though one personality might not be aware of another, generally are aware of each other, and may intentionally call forth the appropriate personality for dealing with life’s different situations. Such is not the case here. The wrong personality has appeared to deal with Susie … just sayin’

@ Ray C- I believe they are called MASH notes because of that game that kids sometimes play that is supposed to forecast the future- it decides whether you’ll live in a Mansion, Apartment, Shack, or House (hence the name) and it also determines who you will marry, so it is associated with love.

Good One Pritch!! It is right up there with the website that is auctioning off the guitar that Bob Dylan played at Woodstock

One of the younger restraining orders I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

Commenter COMICSGO (I think) must have gotten his/her avatar from that first panel. Surprised he/she hasn’t commented yet today.

Suzie knows Calvin well enough to resist this imposter. She could grow up to be firm and bossy,poor Calvin he will have to get used to it ,like the rest of us.

Now “Pearls Before Swine is” having a bad hair day. I smell a rat, and so do the animals in the comic. …And Susie is more than a hair off in her judgment of “good” Calvin.

No big smootches from that girl!

Calvin did irreparable damage to the “relationship”.

Sorry duplicate Calvin. Nice try… :-(

Poor duplicated “Good” Calvin … he just can’t convince Susie he’s sincerely in love with her no matter how hard he tries!

:-(

Ray C: According to UrbanDictionary.com, a “mash note” is “a love letter, particularly a hot and steamy one” — so you can see why “Bad” Calvin is so upset and desperate to stop “Good” Calvin from giving it to Susie. While he believes his real, true feelings for her are hate and disgust, we all know better, don’t we?!?!?

;-)

I’m beginning to “get” Suzie - she is going to turn out to be a seriously high-maintenance woman - most certainly someone that Calvin, much less any other normal male, should avoid at all costs…

khpage why do you say that?

This is hysterical and I love the expressions too.

Uh oh!

Ah Young love the irony of the day from me is that i am a complete social outcast at age 17. Yay me and my anti-socialness.By the way how do you put a picture on your account.

So, how did everyone like the little April Fool’s Day joke that gocomics played on all the Calvinophiles? We not only got played, we got Rickrolled at the same time. Well done, gocomics! :)

I’ll bet if “good” Calvin would cry big sopping tears, and begged like a dog on his hands and knees, she’d believe…

See, I told you Calvin. No matter how you look at it, your is truely evil.

Somehow, Night-Gaunt49, I have real difficulty taking anything you just said seriously. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and tall tales are the stock in trade of religious deception.

Would you be willing to bet your life on the truth of what you just said, if necessary?

From the other characters’ perspectives, Hobbes is Calvin’s stuffed tiger. From Calvin’s point of view Hobbes is an anthropomorphic tiger, much larger than Calvin and full of independent attitudes and ideas. When the perspective shifts to any other character, readers again see merely a stuffed animal, usually seated at an off-kilter angle and blankly staring into space. Watterson explains:

“When Hobbes is a stuffed toy in one panel and alive in the next, I’m juxtaposing the ‘grown-up’ version of reality with Calvin’s version, and inviting the reader to decide which is truer.”

Hobbes’ true nature is made more ambiguous by episodes that seem to attribute real-life consequences to Hobbes’ actions. For example, Hobbes plays a game of pouncing on Calvin the moment he arrives home from school, an act which always leaves Calvin with bruises and scrapes that are evident to other characters. Hobbes also manages to tie Calvin to a chair in such a way that Calvin’s father is unable to understand how he could have done it himself.

Therefore, it is necessary to conclude that we cannot simplify strips into terms of everything being in Calvin’s imagination. It is more the concept of people perceiving things differently than a toy coming to life.

serenasakitty - when you don’t have enough money to pay attention this is definately the case…Atma got it on the money as well….

I want the movie!!!!

What’s a boy ta do?

Climb back into that transmogrifier and travel back when you came…