I was scouring the web for something funny and I encountered a web gem (pardon ESPN...I couldn't resist). A site is currently posting classic Bill Watterson! Watterson is the brain and the hand behind the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes". For those who don't know the character Calvin, he is a hyperactive, wildly imaginative boy, who has a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, as a sidekick imaginary friend.
The strip is a wonderful blend of intelligent insight and vivid flights of possibility. Watterson has a way of being able to make a point without clobbering you with the POINT. He lets the scene unfold to show us our attitudes. He also shows what it's like to be a child again. Calvin is often lazy and not always the easiest kid, but his mind stretches out like one big fertile plain--there's a lot of things growing.
Today's post (3/23) is a great example. Calvin shows the new, improved transmorgifier to his sidekick. Hobbes plays the "straight man" and remarks that it's just a water pistol. However, to the boy, it's a way to change an ugly bedspread into an iguana. Of course, it doesn't have to be an iguana. It can be anything Calvin adds. That's what I love about the comic strip: it really can be anything.
Check it out:
Calvin and Hobbes on Gocomics
No comments:
Post a Comment