“Dear Mr. Watterson” (a love letter to Calvin & Hobbes)

The last lazy days of Winter Break. Before returning to the academic reality,  I have been taking pleasure in doing some intense reading of the complete  ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ collection. And it hit me: What if I wrote a letter to its creator Bill Watterson? I can’t send it though because no one knows where he lives now. From what I understand he was always a private person. He decided to end his “Calvin and Hobbes” strips in 1995 despite its growing popularity. He didn’t want it to be just commercial entertainment. It had much more depth and meaning than many people saw and believed. From my perspective he always looked for an individual take on life with each little story created, something that had sensibility, that wouldn’t rely on autopilot. So here it is:

Dear Mr. Watterson,

I can’t believe I am actually writing a fan letter to you! Although I have little hope that this letter is ever going to reach to you, I am doing this as an impulse out of the enthusiasm of being a fan.

I don’t even know how this happened, quite frankly. All I know is that now I can’t wait to see what the next page of the entire C&H collection brings. I got it for Christmas and I think it’s the best present ever.

If you asked me “Why do you consider yourself a fan of my strips?” I would simply answer “Because it captured my heart”. And that is exactly what I look for when trying out something for the first time, be it a new dish, a new book, a new dress, a new piece of music or even meeting a new person. That heart connection was instant when I read the first strip: it was Jan 1st 2022, I was attending a party on a boat and far from having fun, I was feeling miserable and lonely. Luckily, my nowadays fiancé kept me company over text messages sharing comic strips of Peanuts, Far side and…Calvin and Hobbes! It was love at first sight. He had been a long time admirer of the strips and thanks to him now I am too. Come to think about it, I am a much more passionate fan than he is. I don’t know if the actual non-fun circumstances had a role in it but it felt so comforting discovering the adventures of a 6yo and his best friend stuffed tiger. His effervescent imagination reminded me of my own childhood when for most of the time I would pick dolls and stuffed toys to be my playmates. I felt better in their company and in my own world.

I cannot thank you enough for putting your heart and soul out for 10 years, every day creating, reinventing and illustrating a new strip. I most certainly can tell the amount of deep thought you must have spent coming up with yet another humorous line, seed of wisdom, drawing. I most certainly can tell that THAT was most of your life! It is magical how time flies by when I start reading and analyzing your artwork lines and colors: how did you manage to get that particular expression of fear, excitement, wonder, anger, annoyance, goofiness? What inspired you for certain dialogue scenes? Were you as mischevious as Calvin when you were his age? Did you ever have a stuffed toy like Hobbes? So many questions start pilling up….

I was so happy to discover that the inspiration for Hobbes was your own cat Sprite. Seeing some of the fuzzy, warm poses of the cat and then Hobbes’ I was struck by the resemblance!

What I particularly adore about the strips is that more than being just a comic strip collection to amuse the eyes and the mind, ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ has that philosophical side that addresses human nature and the meaning of existence in this vast universe. Through a non-pretentious dialogue it comes up when least expected. For example, when Calvin asks  “Do you think there is a God?” I instantly found myself pausing for a long time and thinking about the answer; or more likely, some possible answers. Not that I hadn’t thought about that particular question before! Of course, I would laugh with such joy when Calvin does something silly or says something that annoys the adults or even creates havoc. His pure imagination and raw sense of self get him into trouble but also help him find his way every day. I see something uplifting in the fact that he pictures himself sometimes as ‘The Hero’ against the ridiculous social adult world. And definitely that is no easy task!

I do love the intense childish teasing between him and his classmate Susie. I mean it’s so much easier for these kids to bully each other than admitting that they have feelings of affection for one another.

Clearly, your Calvin has a multifaceted personality. With so many alter egos that get to be triggered and nourished by the outside world like Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, a pirate, an alligator, a dinosaur, a bird even a bug, I love that his imagination bursts with playfulness and creates pretty much any ‘superhero’ or ‘antihero’ possible. The world is his oyster indeed! However, I also think that the most present and obvious alter ego is Hobbes. I picture Hobbes as being Calvin’s wise voice of conciusness that sees things as they are and tries to tamper Calvin’s impulses, for his safety. The wit, sarcasm, naughtiness and even selfishness of Calvin are counter balanced by his honest compassion, care and sensitivity (for example, when he mourns the death of the baby raccoon and gets angry at why did that had to happen). When events of this nature occurs he starts questioning the meaning of things to naturally gain insight. After all, he is a growing little human being!

Oh, how fortunate I feel to explore this kind of material and to be reminded about the knowledge that contributes to our constant exploration of the world.

My heartfelt gratitude, always.

Big Fan,

Madalina