Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection [Paperback]

Bill Watterson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Calvin & Hobbes | Publication Date: September 1, 1994

Reprising the wide-open landscape format of, The Days Are Just Packed, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat chronicles another segment of the multifarious adventures of this wild child and his faithful, but skeptical, friend. If the best cartoons compel readers to identify themselves within the funny frames, then all who enjoy Calvin and Hobbes are creative, imaginative, and ... bad, bad, bad! Calvin, the irascible little boy with the stuffed tiger who comes to life are a pair bound for trouble. Boring school lessons become occasions for death-defying alien air battles, speeding snow sled descents elicit philosophical discussions on the meaning of life, and Hobbe's natural inclination to pounce on his little friend wreaks havoc on Calvin's sense of security. Calvin's the kid we all wish we'd been. Sassy, imaginative, far more verbal than his parents can manage, Calvin is the quintessential bad boy -- and the boy we love to see. He terrorizes little Susie, offers "Candid Opinions" from a neighborhood stand, and questions his parents' authority. "What assurance do I have that your parenting isn't screwing me up?" he demands. Calvin and Hobbes manages to say what needs to be said about childhood and life: "Eww, mud," says Calvin. "Look at this gooshy, dirty, slimy, thick, wet mud ... Bleecch ... Talk about a kid magnet!"

Editorial Reviews

Review

[A] wry collection. DAILY MAIL --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Bill Watterson is the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, one of the most popular and well-regarded cartoon strips of the twentieth century. Calvin and Hobbes appeared in newspapers from November 1985 until Watterson's retirement in 1996.

Online:

gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836217691
• ISBN-13: 978-0836217698
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 12 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Comic Strips

More About the Author

Bill Watterson is the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, one of the most popular and well-regarded cartoon strips of the twentieth century. Calvin and Hobbes appeared in newspapers from November 1985 until Watterson's retirement in 1996.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More C&H fun!, October 30, 2003

By 

Giant Panda (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection (Paperback)

Fans of Calvin & Hobbes who used to read the newspaper strip in the 80s and 90s will find great pleasure in reading this collection of C&H comics. These witty comics about the 6-year old Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, named after the famous philosophers, will amuse people of all ages. The perceptiveness and humor of Watterson deserve the highest of cartoon awards, while his artistic creations exude hilarity. This cartoon is perhaps one of the most piercing yet funny critiques of modern society.

This book has more encounters with Mrs. Wormwood, when Stupendous Man saves the day. More snowman fun and more snowballs against Susie. Students in particular will like this book since it has many creative ideas for dealing with homework.

Note that there are two series of C&H collections: individual wide-format albums, each covering an entire year of strips (will call it "regular"), and the vertical aspect ratio "treasury series" which covers selected comics from two regular C&H books. Note that C&H ran for a year in newspapers, so there's 10 regular books and 5 treasury books. Though the cartoons are slightly smaller in the treasury collection, each treasury book is far thicker and contains more strips than a regular book, and is furthermore less expensive, so treasury books are a real bargain. "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat" belongs to the regular series and was published in 1994.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the last great newspaper comics..., June 6, 2004

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection (Paperback)

Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes seems to be one of the last of the great newspaper strip panel comics. It's hilarious while also being insightful, poignant, and bitingly satirical. As most readers know, since Watterson has written it elsewhere, Calvin is named after John Calvin "a sixteenth century theologian who beleived in predestination". Hobbes also has a famous historical namesake in Thomas Hobbes, the seventeeth century author of "Leviathan" whose most famous saying is that life in a state of nature would be "Nasty, brutish, and short". From such a foundation, readers can expect more than a wacky strip full of slapstick, puns and sitcom-type pet or baby humor. There is much more, because Calvin and Hobbes, like all of the great comic strips, has depth. Reading just a handful of strips reveals this.

This collection from 1994 includes a great satire on conceptual art (Calvin tries to sell Hobbes a landscape in a Sunday strip); a great satire on corporate philosophy (Calvin ends up telling his mother that he needs to be subsidized); Hobbes sends Calvin anonymous insults in the mail ("Most people have secret admirers, you have a secret detractor"); "Stupendous Man" invades Calvin's class to take an exam in Calvin's place (he still flunks); one of the best is a single panel strip in which Calvin asks his parents "What assurance do I have that your parenting isn't screwing me up?"; There are also loads of Watterson's great Sunday strips. Watterson is definitely one of the last cartoonist artists that fully appreciated the boundaries (or lack of them) of the color Sunday strip. Calvin's imagined dinosaurs, aliens, parodies of "Judge Parker" type strips, and multicolor tiger battles are amazing works of cartoon art. It's difficult to find anything that even comes close on today's incredibly shrinking Sunday comics page.

Bill Watterson remains heavily elusive. What has he been doing since he voluntarily quit Calvin and Hobbes? Internet searches (at least cursory ones) don't elucidate much (one mentions that he is an intensely private individual - no doubt). Hopefully he's planning another amazing strip. Whether we hear from him again or not, in the end, we can be happy that he took up cartoonist's pen and graced the newspapers with at least one more great strip.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Calvin and Hobbes, October 18, 2006

By 

Amber A. Mull (Bonney Lake, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection (Paperback)

This collection has a few of my favorites in it (especially the girls/bugs analogy - priceless!) Great for any age - I read C&H starting around age 7 and I still read it today! I enjoy it just as much, though I see it from a unique perspective now. Every kid should grow up with this.