The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book (Paperback)

by Bill Watterson (Author) "Comics are a wonderfully versatile medium..." (more)
Key Phrases: early strips, popular strips, Krazy Kat, Spaceman Spiff, Miss Wormwood

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Now that Bill Watterson has retired from drawing syndicated cartoons, the only way to get our Calvin and Hobbes fixes is through his book collections. The 10th Anniversary Book is particularly notable, because in addition to getting some of his most wonderful cartoons, we also gain a sense of Watterson as a person.

Approximately one-tenth of the book contains essays about matters great and small--from cartooning to life--and stories about the inspiration behind some of his greatest strips. Not surprisingly, Watterson shines through as a being of considerable integrity, and the cartoons gain in depth thanks to his commentary. And, of course, the cartoons in the other 90% of the book are alternately side-splitting hilarious or touching. Happy Anniversary, Bill, and good luck with whatever it is you are doing now!

Product Description
In a tenth anniversary celebration, the creator of "Calvin and Hobbes" discusses the art of cartooning, explains how he creates his immensely popular comic strip, and presents his favorite moments from the series's ten years. Original. 1,500,000 first printing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; 10 Anv edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836204387
• ISBN-13: 978-0836204384
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,006 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best retrospective collection, September 4, 2002

By	Glen Engel Cox "www.engel-cox.org" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The announcement last November that Bill Watterson would be retiring his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year should not have surprised anyone--at least, anyone who has read the recently released The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book. Like Gary Larsen's Pre-History of The Far Side, this volume provides a retrospective collection selected by the author, with notes on the origin and evolution of his creation. Both cartoonists annotated the books themselves, explaining the writing process and the business of cartooning. Larsen, though, as happy with his medium--his retirement was a factor of creative burnout rather than frustration with the limitations of the comics page of today's newspaper. That frustration with the four panel strip was the reason for Berke Breathed's early retirement, and is quite likely the reason for Watterson's as well. Watterson believes in the comic as a real art form--and in his hands it often was--but the dynamics of the business, both the physical limitations on the drawing and the way the economics is split between artist and newspaper with a syndicate go-between, restricted the full expression of his art.

The Tenth Anniversary Book is not a depressing collection, although it is quite serious in its examination of the ten years of the strip. Watterson reveled in his creation, and the work that he produced was always of the utmost quality. This collection has some of the most joyful moments of the past--Spaceman Spiff is there, as well as Stupendous Man, the Replicator, and the dreaded Babysitter. The amazing thing isn't that Watterson is retiring, but that he could spend ten years producing such work as fresh and imaginative as his debut.

While I am sad to see Waterson and Calvin and Hobbes retire, I have hope that we have not seen the last of either. The rise of the "graphic novel" and its acceptance in the United States (the form has always been popular in Europe [Tintin, Asterix] and Japan [magna too numerous to list]) offers Watterson the format that he deserves, where he can be enjoyed and appreciated as one of the most innovative sequential artists of the later 20th century.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watterson Philosophizes, January 2, 2004

By	Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When I bought this "Calvin and Hobbes" book I had a hard time getting into it at first. The first eighteen or nineteen pages contain more prose and philosophy than it does art, and I've always bought "Calvin and Hobbes" books for the humor. I really felt as though the philosophy and description that Bill Watterson was describing was a distraction, at first. But the more I read the more I started to get into "Calvin and Hobbes" from Watterson's perspective. Looking at the evolution of "Calvin and Hobbes" as described by Watterson, and his travails with syndicators, I have a new perspective on what it takes to create a strip like "Calvin and Hobbes."

The art and the strips are outstanding, as with the other "Calvin and Hobbes" collections, but this time we also get to see Watterson's perspectives on various characters. Some of Watterson's observations about various characters are as funny as the strips themselves. Watterson makes a rather succinct comment regarding Moe the bully. I'll leave you to read the comment, but it's hilarious.

Watterson offers comments on all the major characters along with key details about each. Moe, of course, being a simple moron bully, requires minimal description, but the other key characters have a history associated with them. Watterson provided a bit of a compliment to his wife in his description of Susie Derkins. I also agree with Watterson that I suspect that Calvin does have a mild crush on Susie. Watterson offers nearly a half a page of comments on both Calvin and Hobbes that are interesting reading.

I also enjoyed the selection of various strips over ten years of the strip, showing the evolution of the strip and the characters. It's interesting to see how the quality of the strip has improved in ten years as Watterson continually perfected the characters. Being a cartoonist is clearly much more difficult than I ever thought it was.

I will miss "Calvin and Hobbes" since Watterson has retired the strip. However, all the collections are still available, and I think they will continue to be fresh in the decades to come. The insight Watterson has provided in this book is valuable for hard core fans interested in Watterson's viewpoint on his creations. If you are uninterested in Watterson's perspective, you can always skip over it and read the strips! I highly recommend this book for all "Calvin and Hobbes" fans.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your collection isn't complete without this book, April 4, 2001

By	Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, I put off getting this book because I thought it was merely a best of collection I didn't need since I had all the others. Boy was I wrong! This book is a wonderful insight into the mind behind my favorite strip of all time.

Bill Watterson spends the first part of the book talking about everything from character names and personalities to his fights to keep his characters from being over commercialized. While I wish there were more products available, I do respect him for sticking to his principles on this. He also talks about the format of the Sunday strips.

The rest of the book is a collection of strips, starting with the very first. What is interesting here is Mr. Watterson's commentary. Whether it's the idea behind or an amusing story that happened because of a strip, it's all very entertaining. It also brings out some of the themes talked about it the strip. He also discusses the ideas behind such staples as the wagon, Calvin's box, and Spaceman Spiff.

I truly miss this wonderful strip because of its creativity and insights into our American culture. This book shows the behinds the scene story in an entertaining and informative way.