The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes) (v. 1, 2, 3) [BOX SET] (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

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An Excerpt from Bill Watterson's Introduction:

"I’ve loved comic strips as long as I can remember. As a kid, I knew I wanted to be either a cartoonist or an astronaut. The latter was never much of a possibility, as I don’t even like riding in elevators. I kept my options open until seventh grade, but when I stopped understanding math and science, my choice was made. There is great personal satisfaction in attending to detail and quality, and I remain very proud of the standards the strip met day after day. I also liked the responsibility of knowing that, succeed or fail, it was all my own doing. This approach kept the strip very honest and personal--everything having to do with Calvin and Hobbes expressed my own ideas, my own values, my own way. I wrote every word, drew every line, and painted every color. It’s a rare gift to find such fulfilling work and I tried to show my appreciation by giving the strip everything I had to offer."

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From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. [Signature]Reviewed by Art SpiegelmanBy the 1980s the once glorious newspaper comics section had become a wasteland, ravaged by shrinking space, editorial timidity and other ills. The real excitement in my medium had moved to the fertile margins of the alternative press. Bill Watterson, as uninterested in underground comix as I was in the mass media's bland concoctions, marched directly into the wasteland and made the comatose syndicated strip form kick up its heels and dance.From 1985 until Watterson abandoned it at the height of its popularity 10 years later, Calvin and Hobbes echoed the classic strips the artist most admired. Stirring the richly conceived characters and efficient drawing of Peanuts with the visual virtuosity and linguistic playfulness of Pogo and Krazy Kat, he applied his intelligence and supple cartoon skills to come up with a creation beloved by the millions who still mourn its passing.Now, a decade after his demise, six-year-old Calvin has a fitting monument—a lavishly produced three-volume boxed collection of all the strips, which weighs as much as a tombstone. Following in the wake of Gary Larson's The Complete Far Side, and with a 250,000-copy "limited edition" first printing, the publisher realistically predicts that this book will be "the heaviest and most expensive book ever to hit the New York Times best seller list." While not as exquisitely wrought as Walt and Skeezix, the recently launched reprinting of Frank King's epic run of Gasoline Alley, or as intimate and dignified as Fantagraphics' ongoing republication of all 50 years of Peanuts, this luxurious set is dressed for success and deserves an honored spot on the happily expanding shelves of strip reprints.The Complete Calvin and Hobbes offers two intertwined narratives. One details the friendship between Calvin—the egotistical, feverishly imaginative, wised-up young tyke with the vocabulary of a Yale lit major—and his animal familiar, Hobbes. Hobbes is seen by Calvin's parents as a nondescript plush toy and by Calvin and the reader as a pouncing and amiable "real" tiger—Calvin's slightly-more-sensible better half. The crosscutting between private and shared reality gives the strip its vitality.The autobiographical introduction by the notoriously reclusive Watterson kicks off another tale about the collision of private and shared realities: the story of an ornery artist's battle to explore his craft within the claustrophobic confines of a few inches of newsprint space. The beleaguered Watterson fights the strictures of brutal daily deadlines, skirmishes with editors to win more space for his often graceful Sunday pages, slugs it out with his syndicate to keep his creation from being reduced to a stuffed doll. The later strips begin to dwell obsessively on the horrors of our dumbed-down commodity culture, and there's something poignant about the artist's hopeless struggle to work within the confines of mass culture while simultaneously critiquing it. These books offer a testament to Watterson's dedication and to the medium's ability to keep reinventing itself against all odds. (Oct.)Art Spiegelman is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1440 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740748475
• ISBN-13: 978-0740748479
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 11.3 x 5.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 23.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (379 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1,169 of 1,194 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Minor flaws don't take away from this--the ultimate collection., October 4, 2005

By	eunibird (tweets) - See all my reviews

(I just received this today--The Complete Calvin and Hobbes! 10/4/05)

4.9 Stars

The collection consists of 3 books within one slipcase. Each page notes the date(s) of original publication of the strip(s) on that page. The strips have an appearance of being imposed on the page separately in respect to their original publication dates. This differs from other Calvin and Hobbes collections/treasuries; within those pages you find the strips laid out as a combined whole without distinction between each strip. There are also, of course, the wonderful watercolors by Watterson which appear occasionally, on pages respective of content and chronological order.

Book One starts with a 14-page introduction/forward written autobiographically by Watterson on his view of comics and his relationship with Calvin and Hobbes. Includes photo of Sprite and a few other comics/early works by Watterson, as well as an early version of Calvin and Hobbes. Book One includes all the comics of 1985-1988; Book Two 1988-1992; Book Three 1992-1995.

This is definitely an archival collection and not ideal for constant casual perusing, though the attractiveness makes it hard to resist. The printing, layout, paper, binding are beautiful but any wear and tear would be heart-breaking. This leads me to describe one drawback: these books aren't really hardbound books. They look so, because of their hard covers, but actually they are what's called "cardboard articles", meaning the pages are not stitched to the spine, and instead glued. Albiet, this is common book binding practice, but I'm sure most of us wouldn't have minded paying some more for real hardbound articles for the sake of longevity in preservation. So although this collection is best left for archival purposes, it's unfortunate they are not exactly archival quality.

Despite the books being cardboard articles, the pages are easy to open up without damaging the fabric covered spine due to the generous space and horizontal orientation. However the images of Calvin and Hobbes on the front and back faces of the slipcase are printed on separate squares of paper glued to the surface, rather than integrated, or printed directly on. This is something I realized as I slid the collection onto my bookshelf and found I had to be careful or the sides of those squares might catch and lift a bit.

The total collection weighs about 22.5 lbs, which makes it a bit awkward to handle. This wouldn't be such an issue except the books are snugly fit within the slipcase, meaning they're a bit difficult to extract without having to tilt the case forward a bit. It would be ideal if the slipcase had round cuts on the top and bottom corresponding to each book so one's fingertips could pry out the books with ease.

The bottom line is that for Calvin and Hobbes fans who want to own a nice comprehensive collection, imperfections are there, but not enough to deter. The beauty of the pages and the excitement of owning this make those issues mere minor annoyances. It is also the ideal purchase for those who are new to Calvin and Hobbes. At one concise and reasonable price you get the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. This collection is sure to please. Yes, I admit, I am a bit prejudiced by my absolute adoration for this boy and his tiger.

101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Pages are Falling Out, January 20, 2006

By	Matthew Gore (Memphis, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love this strip and I was very excited to see it collected completely in a lovely boxed set. I have only one fault with the item but it is a big one. For a set of this nature and for this price, you would think the publishers could have spent a few extra bucks and given the thing a proper binding! I've read through the collection only twice and the spine is already cracked on volume one and a page has actually come out! How much could a real stitched binding have added to the price? I plan to send my books off to Southern Binding and have them sewn. It will cost me about $30 but I believe it will be well worth it in the long run. Still, I'd rather have paid a few more buck up front.

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STUPENDOUS!!! But MAN, its heavy..., October 18, 2005

By	Dinesh A. Gomes (San Jose, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Don't think I could add a whole lot more to what's already been said about the collection.
However, one point thats been slightly understated is the weight. The package is big, heavy and unweildy. With each book weighing just over 7 lbs., God Forbid if you drop one of 'em on your foot.
Also, if you're buying the collection to READ the stories, it would make more sense to buy the individual books (as many fans, including myself already have the other books and bought this as a collectors item - this is something you want preserved, not dog-eared in a year). There is a website out there that specifically lists which of the C&H books you would need to have in order to own every single strip without duplicates.

But having said all that, and aside from any doting fanglorious discourse, what I really liked about the collection was that:
1) Since it has the strip in chronological order, its the first opportunity to watch how Bill Watterson's artwork and style evolved over the years. It also gives you the chance to see when new characters and alter-egos of Calvin were introduced into the strip- I was a kid when C&H ran in my newspaper so I dont remember whether Rosalyn came in right from the beginning or at the end of the series, etc.
2) The lengthy preface by the reclusive Watterson is itself worth the cost of the book. Hearing his take on how the strip came about, his philosophy on things and his piece on why he was against merchandising the characters, are all priceless bits of information. Happy Reading!
An intersting bit of C&H trivia - Hampster Huey & the Gooey Kablooie really is a book (and you can buy it on Amazon too!).