Why 'Calvin and Hobbes' still delights comics fans
Bill Watterson's masterwork said goodbye 25 years ago, but its brilliance refuses to dim.
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post
February 3, 2021 — 2:17pm
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"A new year...a fresh, clean start!" a joyous boy in red mittens said a quarter-century ago this week, shortly before soaring forth on the most famous sled in American arts this side of "Citizen Kane." And just like that, the high-spirited 6-year-old and his best buddy were never seen again — at least not in new images.
Yet the beloved duo have never really left us.
"Calvin and Hobbes," one of the greatest strips ever to grace newspapers, blazed across the pages for a beautiful decade before heading off into the white space of our imaginations, trusting us to continue the next adventures in our heads. And to this day, the creation — once syndicated to 2,000-plus papers — is ever-present on bestseller lists, in libraries and nested on home shelves within easy reach of nostalgic adults and each next generation of young readers.