Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 03, 2024

Cliches — the worst kind of torture.

Calvin, er I mean, Spiff prefers physical pain.

I can see why Calvin doesn’t want to be there. He would rather play outside then listen to that

For once, Calvin displays an appropriate response.

Calm disussion, eh? I don’t remember any calm discussions. More like loud harangues.

Horrible YukBarf! A great name for a monster! I thought Calvin was going to be eating dinner!

Young People Today …

Who the he11 does Calvin’s father think he is—Ward Cleaver?!

Poor Calvin, where is Hobbes in these space adventures?

And for the next step of the torture: They have the Derkins over for dinner.

“Virtue is its own reward” because it has to be—all you will get is the satisfaction of having acted rightly. No one else will even notice.

My boys hated these rational discussions from my wife. They remember them to this day (and they still turned out OK).

The defendant is sentenced to death by aphorisms.

Nightmare!

Suffering on top of suffering.

Yukbarf LOL

Torture builds character….

Actually, worse, ‘Dad Platitudes’ . Heard quite a few of them when I was growing up—they didn’t make sense UNTIL I reached adulthood then I started ‘spouting’ them to my ‘off spring’ ! ! ! !

Eh me is suffers for years. Me character shoulda been one of biggest building by now.

“Life is tough and suffering builds character.” As usual, Calvin’s Dad has got it wrong. He should have said, “Life can be tough but suffering can build character.” That is a way of sweetening a bitter pill and trying to make good of a bad situation. Of course, when it is Calvin’s Dad who is suffering, he complains about it just as Calvin does.

Dad’s lectures…my kids had numbers for mine…they used to say “Oh, no it’s 43 he must really be mad.”

Have a seat in THE COMFY CHAIR! And we’ll begin our discussion….

yeah, go to be careful of those Yukbarfs!

In this comic, Calvin’s dad reminds me of Captain Kirk talking a computer to death.

“Your odoriferousness” I have to use that in conversation more.

Next comes “The Good Ol’ Days”

Yea !! Spaceman Spiff is passing through. Great panel today.

On the other hand, I don’t remember Dad ever giving me ‘the speech,’ but Mom? That’s a whole other story.

Classic.

Yeah, Dad really aggravates me here. Call me a wimp, but I would think that you would want your only child to AVOID unnecessary suffering!

My parents do this to me all the time. I’ve learned to tune them out.

That’ll teach Calvin for calling his Dad a “Talking Blob of Oozing Slop!”

Ah, the evil Yukbarf-we meet again…

Rotary phone on blob’s desk

Recruit training: the best and worst character (and muscle) building scenario.

I miss Spaceman Spiff (and Watterson’s alien landscapes).

I’ve often wondered…how can I trade all that character I’ve built for cash?

You do have to wonder what Dad’s upbringing was like that helping Calvin build character is a priority to him. We can think of him being sanctimonious, and yet feel that Calvin did something to bring this on. There really is no good or bad guy here.

Those wholesome principles can be really tough.

Calvin’s dad implying that suffering is a virtue is wrong. However, it’s extremely important to be able to deal with adversity and realize that the universe “owes” you nothing, and you can’t expect to have things handed to you. Labeling such truths cliches doesn’t make them untrue.

When my kids do something wrong, we sit down and talk about it, and talk, and talk, and talk. I imagine they’d rather have their nails torn out. It’s a good deterrent.

Calvinistic claptrap.

Cruel and unusual punishment!

I think I recognize that Yukbarf creature. Yes! he was our 45th president!

The Comfy Chair!! The Comfy Chair!!

Hitting him with the “and when I was your age…” is cruel.

Quite possibly the best alien name in the Spiff strips.

Another appearance of the Charlie Brown lamp.

Bill is a great artist and had a funny sense of humor.

Geez, nothing but cliche after cliche from the Dad, complete with a “when I was your age” story! (Though I would assume when the Dad was Calvin’s age, he was a LOT like Calvin.)

My dad’s talks were usually about the trouble he got into when he was a kid. My mom claimed she never caused any trouble.

OH THE HORROR!!!

I like this Sunday strip. It’s very good

Not much of a breeze if that smoke column from his space ship is vertical like that.

BUT is it GOOD character ?

Or, just read him some Vogon poetry.

When I was your age we didn’t bring guns to school to slaughter our schoolmates! We had to use bows and arrows. Spears. The occasional mace.

I had to walk to school… In the snow…. Uphill…. Both ways….

I hated lectures like that when I was growing up, I finally told both parents this when I was 16:Your conservative values are not my liberal values no matter how much or how often you lecture me. So how about we agree our values are different and neither one of us is incorrect?"

They sat back stunned. Never got another lecture ever.

Oh, the humanity…..