Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 17, 2022

Mom and Dad are always around because they never stop thinking about you, Calvin.

Apparently this storyline was a metaphor for Bill’s previous licensing fights according to the Tenth Anniversary Book.

Gee, I wonder how this “experiment” will end…

thinking the monsters’ non-existence will make them go away? yet somehow Hobbes still exists to Calvin, but not those in Calvin’s social circle (his parents, Susie, Miss Wormwood, Rosalyn, Moe… uncle Max)

If you prefer being devoured by monsters, knock yourself out

One would think you’d rather have your parents around than the monsters. At least your parents won’t want to make a midnight snack out of you. The lesser of two evils.

Maybe Calvin should ask the monsters to stop thinking about him?

Instead of thinking about monsters, think about sheep. Count sheep. Then the math monster and sheep monster appear.

Telling someone not to think of something does NOT work. The best way to get someone to think of something is to tell them not to think about it!

Let’s smoke a joint and contemplate this, yea?

Bishop Berkeley, feel free to chime in anytime.

Quantum mechanics, Schrödinger’s cat?

It’s a wonder that the tiger in the bed wouldn’t scare the monsters away.

That’s like saying if you ignore a bully, he’ll stop plaguing you.

Doesn’t happen!!

Spray holy water before going to bed, perhaps they will vanish!

Hobbes has a way to to comfort Calvin…not!

In reversal, there’s nothing wrong with imagination, Calvin. Just learn how to control it.

It may be ironic that Hobbes is considering that the Monsters may be figments of Calvin’s imagination as many readers think Hobbes is part of Calvin’s imagination. I used to think that myself.

The very first Calvin and Hobbes strip that I read began with Hobbes drawn as a stuffed tiger. Mom checked for the Monsters Under The Bed but refused to check the closet. She said, “I’m sure there are no monsters in the closet, Calvin. Goodnight.” Calvin replied, “Goodbye.” I then saw the living Hobbes for the first time and then he and Calvin got out of bed and switched the lights on and opened the closet door so that the light destroyed the monsters. “By Golly, no monsters are going to get us tonight! Wither and die, blood-sucking freaks of nature!” Dad came in and yelled at Calvin for getting out of bed and putting the light on. Hobbes was back to being drawn as a doll as he had been when Mom was present. Calvin’s closing line was “We need some way to shrivel him up!”

Because Hobbes was drawn as a doll, I assumed that the living Hobbes and the Monsters were part of Calvin’s imagination. After a few months, I saw that there are Calvin and Hobbes strips which show that Hobbes is alive when Calvin isn’t present and that he talks directly to us. He cannot see Calvin but he can see us and speak to us.

I still largely believed that Hobbes was part of Calvin’s imagination but I started to look out for strips which showed Hobbes without Calvin. They all showed he was alive. The one possible exception was the strip which showed that Hobbes was left behind on Calvin’s bed when Calvin and his parents went to a wedding. It was later pointed out to me that Hobbes wasn’t drawn as a doll. We could only see his tail.

This is actually excellent advice. The best way to rid yourself of monsters is to ignore them and banish them from your thoughts.

Mom going with a variation of “I Think Therefore I Am”?

soooo… that means her theory is bogus then. thee experiment is a failure before it started.

Since when has the advice, “Just don’t think about it.” ever worked?

I’ve suddenly realised there are monsters right here, under this comic strip. I’m out of here!

Being swallowed whole and then, they spit your bones and PJs out? Cool!

Logic can take you to some strange places, Calvin.

Easy peasy to take care of monsters under the bed. Just remove the legs off your bed, and then the monsters won’t fit.

Horatio: "O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! "

Hamlet: “And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

William Shakespeare

Even in this very stressful situation, Calvin, with Hobbes help, logically arrives at a sound analysis of the way the world works.

Monsters that keep you up never go away Calvin, they just change names: Car Payment monster, Mortgage Monster, Mother In Law Monster. . . .

I dream about monster guitar licks

I have an answer for my monsters, they’re scared of me…

Obtrusive thoughts.

What if you stop thinking about Hobbes? He will turn into a stuffed toy?!

The story goes about a man whose flying carpet would only work if he did not think of the word “elephant”…

The secret to mental health is be able to not think about the “monsters”. The only sure-fire, non-chemical method to break frightening thought cycles is any form of exercise that requires you to be in complete control of your body. That is what your brain evolved to do first and best.

If you do enough of it each day, you will fall into an exhausted, healthy sleep.

Sorry, pastry is not part of the process.

How old is Calvin now? About 46

Monsters that keep you up never go away Calvin, they just change names: Car Payment monster, Mortgage Monster, Mother In Law Monster. . . .

Hobbes – the voice of reason in Calvin’s imaginary world.

There’s a tiger in the bed. Seems like he could deal with the monsters.

State into the ceiling, Calvin! Yeah, that’s the ticket!

I won’t think about it tonight, It will drive me crazy. I’ll think about it tomorrow….at TARA! —-Scarlet O’Hara….(more or less)