It’s hard to think of a comic strip more beloved than Calvin and Hobbes. Ever since the strip was retired by Bill Watterson in 1995, rumors have gone around of an animated version, a comeback, you name it. But until that happens, we can at least now enjoy the strips on our phones, via the new ebooks.
It’s worth noting that the books are actually digital reprints of strip collections; The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, and The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes, specifically. Sorry, Scientific Progress Goes “Boink” isn’t available, yet.
Being a total nerd, I bought all of them on Kindle to test them out. And, honestly, they look pretty good! I was worried this was going to be a flagrant cash-in, where the pages were just scanned and fans were milked for $13 a pop. But the collections actually look very good; I browsed all three on my phone, my tablet, and my laptop, because I’m that guy, and the strips were crisp and readable on all three.
I will say phones are probably not the best medium simply because of Watterson and how his process works. Calvin And Hobbes was a very inventive and unique strip, and Watterson didn’t believe in sticking to a format if it didn’t suit his story, so some strips will need a bigger screen to read them in one go. But there are no serious issues that I stumbled across, which is nice considering what could have happened.
In short, you can now get a massive dose of childhood nostalgia via your phone, and you should do so. If for no other reason than we all need a little Calvin and Hobbes now and again.
(image courtesy of Universal Press Syndicate)