Chris's Calvin and Hobbes Web Site

This is a tribute to Calvin and Hobbes.

This page is dedicated to my 7th grade teacher, Mr. West.

Main Characters

Calvin is named after a sixteenth-century theologian who believed in predestination. Most people believe that Calvin is based on a son of Bill Watterson or memories of his childhood. He doesn't have any children and he was a quiet obedient kid, almost Calvin's opposite.
Calvin's best friend is a tiger named Hobbes. Named after a seventeenth century philosopher with a dim view of human nature. Hobbes was inspired by one of Bill Watterson's cats, a gray tabby named Sprite. Hobbes is a great friend to Calvin. He helps him when he gets in trouble and with his school work, and with many other things.
One of the things I noticed in Calvin and Hobbes was that Calvin's parents don't have names. Calvin's dad likes to go biking and on camping trips. Calvin's dad is a patent attorney like Bill Watterson's father. Calvin's mom is the daily disciplinarian. A job that taxes her sanity. But she does a great job raising Calvin. She helps Calvin with many school projects and sews up Hobbes when he has a tear.
Susie is earnest, serious, smart, and an A student. She was named after Bill Watterson's wife's family beagle. Derkins was it's nickname. She lives next door to Calvin and is a frequent target of water balloons. She also sits next to Calvin at school and tries to keep him from copying her answers. She thinks Calvin is pretty weird and annoying, but she is nice to him sometimes.
Miss Wormwood is named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. We see hints that she is waiting to retire, that she smokes too much, and that she takes a lot of medication. She seriously believes in the value of education. Needless to day, she is an unhappy person.
Bill Watterson says, "Moe is every jerk I've ever known. He's big, dumb, ugly, and cruel. I remember school being full of idiots like Moe. I think they spawn on damp locker room floors." One thing I've noticed about Moe, whenever he is speaking the letters are big and blocky, while everyone else in the strip, the letters are nice and neat.
Probably the only person Calvin fears is his babysitter, Rosalyn. Rosalyn seems to daunt Calvin's parents, using their desperation to get out of the house to demand pay raises. Rosalyn's relationship with Calvin is pretty one-dimensional and whenever she babysits, Calvin usually finds a way to annoy her.

That's All Folks

This Web Page is brought to you by

Chris Hartman

-and his mom.