Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (Paperback)

by Bill Watterson (Author) "VERY GRIM, CALVIN, YOU'RE STILL HAVING OATMEAL..." (more)
Key Phrases: daily strips

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The 2001 Festival Of Cartoon Art at the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library will feature Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. The exhibit will be called "Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995." It is scheduled to run September 10, 2001 to January 15, 2002. Andrews McMeel will publish the exhibit catalog that will reprint all 36 of the works in the exhibit, and it will include an essay by Mr. Watterson abou this work on the strip, plus his comments on each of the strips in the display. This book is a must-have for all Calvin and Hobbes fans.

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740721356
• ISBN-13: 978-0740721359
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,736 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine compliment to the C&H enthusiast's collection, October 3, 2001

By	Sam Machkovech (Texas.) - See all my reviews

Watterson hand-picked each Sunday strip in this book and provided a 3-5 line commentary on most of the strips. The chosen strips are split about halfway between the old format and the later, "non-bordered" format, and the selected Sunday strips are certainly representative of C&H's style and character.

Some of the commentary is very similar to what's found in the 10th anniv. book, but most of it is newly informative and interesting. As an aspiring comic-stripper, I found Watterson's comments very useful in bettering my approach to the design, coloring and plot of a comic strip, more so than what he says in the 10th anniv. book.

The collection begins with an essay from Mr. Watterson about his perspective on C&H 6 years removed, and it's probably my favorite part of the book. Also included are the non-colored sketches of each strip on its neighboring page. Since these sketches are reprinted in color, you can see the erasures, griddings and white-outs; a nice touch, for sure.

Comic strip enthusiasts are going to grab this book no matter what I say (and well they should), but more casual readers may be happier reading this book at the bookstore for free instead. It's short and contains comics already printed in the many C&H collections, but it's certainly suited for the C&H fan who wants more. I think it's very kind of Mr. Watterson, a man who never wanted the fame C&H garnered him, to offer his time and comments for this collection. As a lover of the comic arts, I genuinely thank him for helping make this book happen.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminded me of how much I miss this strip!, January 13, 2002

By	J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This beautifully printed and put together collection is the companion to an exhibition of Calvin & Hobbes strips at Ohio State University. While it doesn't comprise any new material, it is a must have for every Calvin & Hobbes fan for a variety of reasons.

First, each cartoon is presented with the original, black and white sketch on the left, and the final, colored version on the right. It is genuinely fascinating to see what color can do for a strip, and it was likewise interesting to observe the number of revisions that Watterson made.

Secondly, Watterson's introduction and his notes, which accompany many of the strips, offer wonderful insight into what the strips were meant to portray, and the artistic challenges he faced. While this is similar to what he did in the Tenth Anniversary book, it is obvious that he has gained some perspective over the last six years, and his thoughts are rather more contemplative as a result.

Finally, this book is a much needed burst of nostalgia for the trying times we live in. While it has only been six years since the last strip, it feels like much longer. There's something about Calvin & Hobbes that just exudes innocence and a simpler life. It was genuinely refreshing to revisit Calvin's world, and I am now greatly looking forward to rereading all of the collections. If you likewise long for the days when you could open up your newspaper and read this strip, you won't be disappointed by this collection.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT fun and VERY educational!!!, June 17, 2002

By	Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Loved it! Loved it! LOVED IT!!!

I'm one of those people who read Calvin & Hobbes when it was at its peak, but sadly took it for granted. You can't give a book a greater tribute than to say it makes you want to order the person's OTHER works....and we should be grateful Bill Watterson's output for this now-defunct classic strip is still available in book collections. And this collection is one of the BEST.

This book works on several levels...or, should I say, works PERFECTLY on several levels:

--THE HUMOROUS LEVEL: The humor remains of a "cutting-edge" quality not seen in many comic strips (today's strip Zits is a great one). But it's humor that works on several levels, a la Rocky & Bullwinkle: adults get "more" of the hilarious verbal and (quite frequently) non-verbal jokes while kids get enough so they love it, too.

--THE CRAFTSMANSHIP LEVEL: This book, originally created as a catalogue for Sunday pages on display at the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Lab, boasts his original uninked black and white drawings (you can even spot some White Out!) on the left side and the completed "product" (fully inked drawings) on the right side. You can see how each strip evolved. You soon realize that color selection is in itself a vital crafts/artistic decision.

--THE ARTISTIC LEVEL: Watterson has a SUPERB 7-page essay about his strip at the beginning of this book. But there's a LOT more to learn as you go through the strips. Under each completed strip he explains a bit about what he was trying to do: why he changed "okay" to OK, how he tried depicting personalities, how a given strip's characters became more three-dimensional, his experiments with verbal and sight jokes, how a strip was inspired by local scenery, his struggle over what kinds of pads to put on the tiger's feet ..even his attempt to use cubist art in one strip.

How do I know this book works on several levels? As I write this my 10-year-old nephew Greg is visiting. He immediately took this book, looked at it and said, "Oh, I've seen these! I love this!" and wanted to read it NOW. He was fascinated by the notes under the strips...and I told him that this is a book he can not only read for pure FUN but can also probably read for reading credit at school, since this is much more than "just" a Calvin and Hobbes collection...which in itself would be better than many comic collections on the market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. YOU'LL READ IT AGAIN AND AGAIN!