h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

At what could be considered the climax of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, the snowmen came to life. They helped Calvin to picket against Calvin's unfair Dad. One snowmen looked on in horror as he finds another mutilated by dad's car.

The snowmen call for the end of the world as they melt.
Whenever I think of Calvin and Hobbes, I think of the snowmen.

If you picked apart the stories you will find some interesting story constructions.
Dad is trying to get to work... plot.
Calvin is mad at his dad... subplot.
Snowmen are dying... subsubplot?
Hobbes is nowhere to be found...

Of course anyone can appreciate a kid who spends all of his free time messing with his parents. He makes a mess and blames Hobbes. He runs through the house in the nude. He makes Parent-Teacher conferences something his parents fear the most.

Calvin first appeared to be of his own originality and creation. But when Watterson had Calvin asking his dad, "How do they put weight limits on bridges?" His dad answered, "They drive heavier and heavier trucks until the bridge collapses, and then they build it all over again."

Whatever Waterson's moral of the story, we all realize that Calvin and his dad are intelligent, but pretty messed up.

Coming from a family with four kids, we didn't have time for imaginary friends. I would be interested in reading from anyone who was an only child to see if they enjoy the comics.

I don't know that I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has an imaginary friend. They're probably peeing on Ford or Chevy symbols.

Your bridge example - as well as Calvin's Dad's explaination of the Sun's movements ("it actually lands somewhere in Arizona"), you see that Calvin's dad is just like Calvin, though with the self control of a "normal" adult.

There's a poignant moment where the parents are chatting and dad says something along the lines of "when you're young you don't realise that adults are making it up as they go along as well..."

-Lucinda

That makes me mad, those stickers of Calvin peeing on the Ford logos and such. Watterson fought all through his career not to allow Calvin & Hobbes to be merchandised, which is why you don't see t-shirts and mugs and stuffed animals ad nauseum, and then someone comes along, makes a cheap copy of Calvin with an evil look on his face, and merchandises the hell out of it. Watterson himself had a bit in one of the anthologies where he complained about it, saying that "Calvin would never have that kind of malicious look on his face or do something like that."
-Rivaine

Absolutely.

Watterson has every right to be outraged.

The sad part is that it is now out of hand. I can't imagine that a patent trial could get those awful things off the market and off the back windows of cars. It is a sad waste of a very good comic strip, and a great character.

"This is so cool ..."

http://retrocrush.com/archive2005/calvinsnowmen