The Indispensable Calvin And Hobbes (Paperback)

by Bill Watterson (Author) "I made a big decision a little while ago..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'good jokes and unusual twists.' SUNDAY TIMES 'The sad thing about this eagerly awaited annual is that I know that already one Jersey bookshop has sold out of it.' JERSEY EVENING POST --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
They're back: Calvin, the six-year-old dirty tricksmeister and master of indignation and his warm, cuddly philosopher sidekick, Hobbes, a tiger whose idea of adventure is to lie on his back by the fire and have his stomach rubbed. In six short years this unlikely due has captured the hearts, the minds, and, most of all, the funny bones of America. They are the msot phenomenal success story in syndication - and publishing - history. In only six years, they appear in more than 2,100 newspapers worldwide, and Calvin and Hobbes wins as many readership polls as Calvin has excesses. All seven of Bill Watterson's collections have sold a million copies within a year of publication. This treasury collection contains a never-before-published full-color section, as well as the cartoons appearing in The Revenge of the Baby-Sat and Scientific Progress Goes "Boink." All Sunday cartoons are presented full-page and full-color.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (June 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836218981
• ISBN-13: 978-0836218985
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,922 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calvin and Hobbes Ranking System---#1, May 26, 2004

By	Big Erik (USA) - See all my reviews

This treasury is far and away the best of the entire Calvin and Hobbes Collection. I own every book, and have recently reread them all, and without a doubt this is the very best. For one thing, it was written right in the middle of Watterson's C&H career, which means that the writing and ideas are still fresh, while super-improved drawings and Sunday strips have just begun. Second of all, Watterson must have been on a powerful creative streak, because there is an amazing number of stories within the "Indispensible" collection. There are three Rosalyn babysitter tales, the bug collection story, the bat project, two camping trips, G.R.O.S.S. adventures, the burglar break in, the car down the hill, multiple Stupendous Mans, multiple Spaceman Spiff getaways, the duplicator going "boink" and creating more Calvin's, a rare, great Tracer Bullet story, Calvin defying gravity and size, Calvin on the baseball team, and a time machine adventure to the dinosaur age. The sheer amount of stories here is unheard of for a C&H collection, and the best part is that almost every one is fantastic. Thirdly, the Sunday strips are in color, which is a huge plus. Fourthly, Calvin's parents have finally been rendered as three dimensional and sympathetic individuals, a characteristic that had been lacking in the earlier books. Last of all, as always, these comics are frequently hilarious, sometimes touching, and always entertaining. This collection personifies those characteristics to the nth degree, and is without a doubt the best Calvin and Hobbes for anyone to buy. If you're looking for other good C&H books, I would also recommend the Essential Collection (first two books, funny yet lacking in drawing), Snow Goons, Psycho Jungle Cat, Treasure Everwhere, and the 10th Anniversary. I hope this was helpful both for prospective buyers, and old fans looking back.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable! What else can I say?, October 30, 2003

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

Fans of Calvin & Hobbes who used to read the newspaper strip in the 80s and 90s will find great pleasure in reading this treasury 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 starts out with Calvin praying for snow so he can engage in one of his favorite hobbies: sledding, and then his other favorite hobby, throwing snowballs at Susie. Aside from the snowman exhibition, this book is a must-have since it covers the founding of C&H's GROSS (the Get Rid of Slimy girlS club). This also has the hilarious series about the time Calvin's personal gravity polarity reversed, and the episode when the Transmogrifier becomes the Duplicator.

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. "The Indispensable Calvin & Hobbes" belongs to the Treasury collection, and was first released in 1992.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watterson at his best!, December 31, 1998

By A Customer

Once again the hero of Sunday comics makes yet another book filled with laughter in every page. I've read every ''Calvin and Hobbes" except for "Yukon Ho!" and "Attack of the Snow Goons" and I think this is the funniest one. The laughter will not stop. And in the begining of the book, Watterson puts together Calvin and Hobbes Poetry with subjects that appear in Calvin's comic strip life. It has strips with all of everyone's favorite characters such Susie Derkins, Moe, and Rosalyn. If you want a book with non-stop laughter and one that you can read over and over, this is truly the one.