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Zoran, a frequent commenter posted some great Calvin and Hobbes strips awhile ago and I've been meaning to link to them.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRMcEY0Zllhp9OVrhhM6c6WwwFgKY1_0Q0eLEq-Cn77aaylLC6V_2KwkslDzX2em0pIpsTGCxpUR8Asn-Nj7R2r4oxVRsQgBI-m8SOD7d8v6n4ZcfSIZiWzb3OwvY6LpWIe48gQ/s400/ch890512.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysCYYBC-LPPf7_LHY7b97yoOM5zojfDD07WwHzoresSdnJ3y3cnqydiHslR5CfuRON2xBtNYtiFdcqyS7-dGG1A1A6GQi4Nnqo9Xx1HXNXdIz7rgCSMQqSbzAuZRqM4wbruGdWQ/s400/ch920815.jpg)
I stopped reading comics strips in the 1970s when amateur artists began dominating the papers,
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5sBygQJIxp8_e7nmf_rpIK-y8zfyTHSjobuUb0aAnz1Utvu4ruvw168T9zS0EsDpIQVqk5m4PNB4WWkA9DEddtU5G4R53xl0ZD3dQAhAt-K3uOn4Oc5HX9NvMNdnBd7gtp1IRw/s400/guisewite_cathy_1.jpg)
but now and then I would notice a small handful of strips that stood out as the last lights flickering in the dim twilight of post-hippie decline of western culture.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZn22W_Ra_pji0bNYIsgo_qKf6ompU81QNA0Fr15V-P3nT-Nq3TeFog3ERGjXuxVtZHzAlBckIgAUw8ml4tbB-o1r0AVUzvvttjQMthtVr4DRRBuBA6addsBArWXHfRAd9jPVCbw/s400/ch921104.jpg)
One was "Shoe" by Jeff MacNelly
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YPeeYTVS1_2il8lNXU755p1HePiCnkjJ86nGVwzH9iAOsSWJajfH94OpyrfsC1EyiQnSvFgaEeKlPecCafCivQZ4kGbyXWVO7XX_snKZhze2PUWyTRuO-vf5FJt4-3P37tf7Jg/s400/51oK4BMo-wL._SS500_.jpg)
and later I noticed Calvin and Hobbes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpue8rJ3NB5NGy0OxOb4tl7rgMEiEngwCvS_hm1nAwg8TlBQT-WpEIt52rF6MQsED2_HPInjphFe1D-O7IrGbqN-_IlOYGyF8gbo0FABcxs4TGGFJ9H-G2lNWfDvpbJsQf5IBdQ/s400/ch950425.gif)
I don't know a lot about the strip or its creator, Bill Watterson, except that Calvin is obviously drawn really well. Zoran did this great post showing that he even uses lots of custom-tailored poses and expressions, rather than the simple cookie-cutter repeated frames that so many comic strip artists rely on. This is rare for comics strips in its whole history - let alone in the 80s or 90s.
http://unmitigatedaudacity2.blogspot.com/2009/01/great-calvin-expressions.htmlToo bad Watterson left the field when he seemed to have been its last hope.
Sorry these images aren't larger...