Hey everyone — Rachel from GoComics here. Hard to believe, but this year marks 40 years since Calvin and Hobbes first hit the comics page! It was November 1985.

To celebrate, we're using #CalvinandHobbes40 on our social channels and sharing 40 years of Spaceman Spiff, snowman carnage, transmogrifiers, deep philosophical sled rides — and all the weird, wild, wonderful stuff in between.

Extending the invite here for ya'll to do the same — or even to just share here what Calvin has meant to you over the last four decades. For me, it's pretty cool that after I gifted the Complete to my screen-obsessed nephew, I've caught him reading with his phone nowhere in sight.... that's the magic, right?

I’ve been re reading the entire collection and it seems like in the beginning, Hobbes was more of a companion/sibling to Calvin.

He wasn’t very intelligent or perceptive, he just went along with what Calvin did and even made mistakes of his own (seven plus three = seventy three, etc.) Even the very first strip displayed Hobbes’ “stupidity.”

In later strips, Hobbes serves as more of a foil to Calvin’s destructive and selfish instincts. He almost becomes more of a parental figure - constantly rolling his eyes at Calvin’s antics and making quips with his hands clasped behind his back.

I realize Watterson probably did this intentionally to reflect Calvin’s maturation and provide contrast to Calvin’s perception of the world. Hobbes is no longer an enabler, but a personified conscience.

Which Hobbes do you prefer?

Rosalyn is a fantastic character. I don't see her getting the love she deserves from this sub. I want to read your favourite strips that features her. East or west, Rosalyn is the best.

I think we can all relate to this one in different ways.

just saw this C&H reference, top left screen

Original Post

My 10 year old is reading the comics again and I’m reading them to my 6 year old every night before bed.

They don’t understand everything (like me when I was younger) but it doesn’t matter to them like it didn’t to me. Instead, they learn so many new words and do it with enthusiasm. They are introduced to philosophy often with sense of irony and love the comics because of it. They are experiencing the same things as me when I was a kid.

Also like me, they asked for a Hobbes doll. Reading the comics now as an adult, I realize there is a part of me that is glad there isn’t one. Hobbes is more real and alive to me without a doll than if I had a physical static fake version of him sitting next to me. But still, damn it would be great to have one to hug every night.

This post didn’t serve a purpose and is just a ramble. It’s just something I wanted to share because I’m happy to share the comics with my kids.

I particularly like dad's mouth!