CALVIN AND HOBBESBill Watterson'A day full of possibilities'
The final Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, published
on December 31, 1995. (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
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On November 9, 1995, Bill Watterson published a letter alongside the strip telling readers that he was ending Calvin and Hobbes. "For readers," Michael Hingston writes "this was another shock and for some a betrayal."
But Hingston, the author of Let's Go Exploring: Calvin and Hobbes (Pedersen, ECW Press, 2018), believes Watterson always intended Calvin and Hobbes to be finite.
"The sense I got from talking to Watterson's editor was that the syndicate knew very early on that Watterston wasn't going to do this forever," he says.
That's not what fans were expecting. They grieved.
"Watterson stepped away fairly suddenly. He gave about a month's notice and he never moved on to another strip. And that's tough," says Hingston.
In the final strip, Calvin and Hobbes and their toboggan are the only colour on a white field of snow.
"That last strip is on a Sunday and Watterson's very clever to draw it in black and white," says Hingston.
It's not sombre. There's a strange levity, a feeling of infinity, and of release.
"It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on," Hobbes remarks.
"It's about possibility," says Hingston.
"So Calvin and Hobbes take off down this hill and they disappear into almost literal nothingness. And who knows what's out there," he says.
A generation of kids has grown up since that final strip appeared. With no merchandising or movies or cartoon specials, fans continue to buy the anthologies and read and share Calvin and Hobbes with new readers. They're doing exactly what Calvin told us to do in the final frame.
They're still exploring.
Michael Hingston says the strip was like a 10-year manifesto from Watterson, challenging the reader to explore the infinite in their imagination.
"When the strip disappeared," says Hingston, "[Watterson] wasn't taking it from people; he was leaving it for them to fill in the gaps themselves."
Every day is a day full of possibilities. Grab your toboggan and hold on.
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