Comic Strip - Calvin and Hobbes Analysis

COMIC STRIP- CALVIN AND HOBBES ANALYSIS
This classic comic strip by Bill Watterson titled “Calvin and Hobbes” features Calvin,
a cheeky young boy normally accompanied by his imaginary tiger friend, Hobbes,
who in actuality is a soft toy. Hobbes is known to be an anthropomorphic tiger and
Calvin is often seen to be doing all sorts of activities with Hobbes which would
usually be done alongside an actual friend. Calvin has been given the imaginative
freedom to bury his loneliness and emptiness in his tiger, Hobbes, none but a soft
toy. Watterson's own childhood experiences and his memories of growing up played
a significant role in shaping the themes and characters of "Calvin and Hobbes. The
creator here has used different elements of a comic strip such as panels, gutters and
speech bubbles. This Calvin and Hobbes comic strip exhibits such elements- the text
and image work together to shape meaning and hence, provide the reader with an
enhanced understanding of the comic.
The most important but simple feature of a comic strip, a panel can seem to have an
impact on the message of the comic strip. The first panel seems to have a lot of
white space in between and is also the largest panel out of the typical eight-panel
comic strip. This drives the reader’s attention directly to fall upon the text. The
speech bubble by Calvin’s Father functions as the introduction forming a scene in
the mind of the readers and of what can be expected in the later panels. However,
the author has not added a panel around two speech bubbles. Bill Watterson in an
extremely beneficial way hasn't added a border which increases the gutter. The
camera angle in the borderless panels also portrays the extreme front angle which
has not been done for the rest. This draws the reader's attention to exactly what the
character in the 4th, Calvin’s Father has to say.
This 1989 comic strip created by Bill Watterson showcases the family setting of a
typical family living in the late 80’s. As seen by the readers the initial panels itself
have a normal family layout, with the father enjoying the sunset on his porch at the
time of sunset. The mother is seen to be working immensely, despite being tired and
frustrated with the amount of work she has.
The character of Calvin throughout the various comic strips, can be analysed as a
child who is not happy. His childhood is filled with sorrow despite being surrounded
by his family as seen in this following comic strip. This may seem to be an ideal
conversation between a curious child and his father, however, when Calvin questions
his father about a fact any child would be interested to know about, instead of giving
the right answer he demotivates and creates confusion in his child's mind which
would probably last for many years to come. His lost face in the last panel after
shows exactly how he feels. When he says “The world is a complicated place,
Hobbes”. The fact that a child at such a young age states these words brings out his
unhappy condition. The comic is a testament to the loneliness that Calvin faces and
the last panel is a clear justification for this statement. Calvin still at the end of the
day chooses to sit beside his imaginary pet tiger and talk to him about his feelings
rather than his parents or friends. This brings out the sorrow and emptiness in his
life. There is a deep meaning behind this, the fact that even his pet does not bother
to look at him while Calvin expresses his feelings, the reply that is even given by
Hobbes can be judged to say that he did not care as well.
Thus, in conclusion, the author Bill Watterson has been successful in conveying his
message of sorrow, and emptiness in Calvin’s life and illusion in this comic strip,
using just texts and images in addition to using the different elements of a comic strip
such as panels, gutters and speech bubbles to do the same. The comic strip may be
filled with colours symbolic of happiness and love but the idea behind the comics is
extremely dark which the author tries to portray via the different features.

Comic Strip - Calvin and Hobbes Analysis

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Comic Strip - Calvin and Hobbes Analysis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

COMIC STRIP- CALVIN AND HOBBES ANALYSIS

You might also like