The Characters

Calvin is named after a sixteenth-century theologian who believed in predestination. Most people assume that Calvin is based on a son of mine, or based on detailed memories of my own childhood. In fact, I don't have children, and I was a fairly quiet, obedient kid - almost Calvin's opposite. One of the reasons that Calvin's character is fun to write is that I often don't agree with him", says Bill Watterson in The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book.

He goes on: "Calvin is autobiographical in the sense that he thinks about the same issues that I do, but in this, Calvin reflects my adulthood more than my childhood. Many of Calvin's struggles are metaphors for my own. I suspect that most of us get old without growing up, and that inside every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything his own way. I use Calvin as an outlet for my immatury, as a way to keep myself curious about the natural world, as a way to ridicule my own obsessions, and as a way to comment on human nature. I wouldn't want Calvin in my house, but on paper, he helps me sort through my life and understand it."

Calvin must be a real nightmare to his parents. Living in his own small world, he has certain ideas and gets into adventures Mom and Dad do not believe in. Turning in one of his alter-egos like Spaceman Spiff, Tracer Bullet and Stupendous Man, Calvin sees the world from another perspective. These situations are used by him to control the present when is has problems to deal with, or when he is just getting into trouble. Often Calvin just makes things worse while being one of his alter-egos.

We see that Calvin hardly has any friends in the strip. Most things he does with his best friend Hobbes. With him he can play baseball with their own rules, form G.R.O.S.S. meetings, play Calvinball and have snowball fights.

IN THE anniversary book, Bill says: "Named after a seventeenth-century philosopher with a dim view of human nature, Hobbes has the patient dignity and common sense of most animals I've met. Hobbes was very much inspired by one of our cats, a gray tabby named Sprite. Sprite not only provide the long body and facial characteristics for Hobbes, she also was the model for his personality. She was goodnatured, intelligent, friendly, and enthusiastic in a sneaking up and pouncing sort of way. Sprite suggested the idea of Hobbes greeting Calvin at the door in midair at high velocity.

With most cartoon animals, the humor comes from their humanlike behavior. Hobbes stands upright and talks ofcourse, but I try to preserve his feline side, both in physical demeanor and his attitude. His reserve and tact seem very catlike to me, along with his barely contained pride in not being human. Like Calvin, I often prefer the company of animals to people, and Hobbes is my idea of an ideal friend.

The so-called "gimmick" of my strip - the two versions of Hobbes - is sometimes misunderstood. I don't think of Hobbes as a doll that miraculously comes to life when Calvin's around. Neither do I think of Hobbes as the product of Calvin's imagination. The nature of Hobbes's reality doesn't interest me, and each story goes out of its way to avoid resolving the issue. Calvin sees Hobbes one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way. I show two versions of reality, and each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it. I think that's how life works. None of us sees the world in exactly the same way, and I just draw that literally in the strip. Hobbes is more about the subjective nature of reality than about dolls coming to life."

Being the best friend of Calvin, Hobbes helps Calvin with certain problems. We can think of Hobbes making Calvin's homework, help him to avoid Moe and make maps and secret codes for G.R.O.S.S. But like most friends, Calvin and Hobbes also have their argues and fights. One well-known fact to all readers is the pouncing of Hobbes when Calvin returns from school. Hobbes also spoils some of the G.R.O.S.S. plans by being a spy for the enemy (Susie): Hobbes will do anything for a tummy rub.

Calvin's dad has been rumored to be a self-portrait. All my characters are half me, so it's true in some ways, but Calvin's dad is also partly a satire of my own father. Any strip about how suffering "builds character" is usually a verbatim transcript of my dad's explanations for why we were all freezing, exhausted, hungry and lost on camping trips. These things are a lot funnier after twente-five years have passed."

"CALVIN'S mom is the daily disciplinarian, a job that taxes here sanity, so I don't think we get to see her at her best. I regret that the strip mostly shows here impatient side, but I try to hint at other aspects of her personality and her interests by what she's doing when Calvin barges in.

Early on, Calvin's parents were criticized by readers for being unloving and needlessly sarcastic. (Calvin's dad has remarked that what he really wanted was a dog.) At the time, I think it was unusual for a comic strip to concentrate on the exasperating aspects of kids without a lot of hugs and sentimentality to leaven it. We usually only see Calvin's parents when they're reacting to Calvin, so as secondary characters, I've tried to keep them realistic, with a reasonable sense of humor about having a kid like Calvin. I think they do a better job than I would."

"SUSIE is earnest, serious, and smart - the kind of girl I was attracted to in school and eventually married. "Derkins" was the nickname of my wife's family's beagle. The early strips with Susie were heavy-handed with the love-hate conflict, and it's taken me a while to get a bead on Susie's relationship with Calvin. I suspect Calvin has a mild crush on her that he expresses by trying to annoy her, but Susie is a bit unnerved and put off by Calvin's weirdness. This encourages Calvin to be even weirder, so it's a good dynamic. Neither of them quite understands what's going on, which is probably true of most relationships. I sometimes imagine a strip from Susie's point of view would be interesting, and after so many strips about boys, I think a strip about a little girl, drawn by a woman, could be great."

Susie is always Calvin's "target". In the summer, Calvin forms G.R.O.S.S. meatings to bug her, and in the winter he throws snowballs at her, whenever he gets the chance. Susie likes to have tea-parties, or play house with Calvin, Hobbes and Mr. Bun, her stuffed rabbit, and although Calvin doesn't like girls, we sometimes see him playing with Susie.

"AS A few readers guessed, Miss Wormwood is named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. I have a lot of sympathy for Miss Wormwood. We see hints that she's waiting to retire, that she smokes too much, and that she takes a lot of medication. I think she seriously believes in the value of education, so needless to say, she's an unhappy person."

Calvin makes her job very hard: lot's of strips show Calvin in the class-room as Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man or a dinosaur. Miss Wormwood probably can't really handle Calvin, counting the times Calvin is sent to the principal.

"PROBABLY the only person Calvin fears is his baby-sitter. I put her in a Sunday strip early on, never thinking of her as a regular character, but her intimidation of Calvin surprised me, so she's made a few appearances since. Rosalyn even seems to daunt Calvin's parents, using their desperation to get out of the house to demand advances and raises. Rosalyn's relationship with Calvin is pretty one-dimensional, so baby-sitter stories get harder and harder to write, but for a later addition to the strip, she's worked pretty well."

Bill Watterson: "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."