Calvin And Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson’s Birthday

To me Bill Watterson's birthday is a good enough reason to celebrate the day after the Fourth of July. Watterson's cartoon Calvin and Hobbes may be one of the most brilliantly written and imaginative strips ever created.

Perhaps it's the fact that I can identify so closely with Calvin that I really enjoyed the daily adventures of Calvin and his stuffed/real tiger Hobbes. Watterson captured the essence of a small boy with a vivid and sometimes very disturbing imagination. That would be me, as well as Calvin.There were so many great lessons I learned or lived through this daily feature in the comics.

Whether it was Calvin's constant attacks to attract the attention of Susie the girl he had a crush on, the constant battle to pay attention in school and the battle that raged between his need to learn and his desire to explore between his ears or the enigmatic relationship between parents and children, Watterson wrote it, drew it and captured it everyday in three or four panels.

Perhaps the  most meaningful episode of Calvin and Hobbes was the final strip. In very Calvin-like term it explained to the reader why Watterson was retiring from the daily grind of the series. I hope all of us will reach that point in our lives when we realize that what we have given so much too over the years is now bigger than what it really needs to be. Sometimes it is best to wipe the slate clean or  pull out a fresh sheet of paper and begin from a new beginning.

Happy Birthday Mr. Watterson it was very cool to know that somebody who never met me knew so much about me.