History MisaimedFandom / NewspaperComics

** Fans often debate whether Hobbes is real or fake -- that is, if [[LivingToys Hobbes really is a talking doll that can come to life]], or if [[ImaginaryFriend everything Hobbes does is all in Calvin's head]]. There's evidence for both sides -- Calvin was once tied to a chair in a way he couldn't have done by himself, and Hobbes was once taken away by Susie while doing nothing to defend himself or reacting to her presence. But comic author Bill Watterson carefully avoided making such a firm distinction, intentionally keeping Hobbes and his sentience an AmbiguousSituation, and held that the argument defied the point of the strip.

** Fans often debate whether Hobbes is real or fake -- that is, if Hobbes really is a talking doll that can come to life or if everything Hobbes does is all in Calvin's head. There's evidence for both sides, but Watterson carefully avoided making such a firm distinction and held that the argument defied the point of the strip.

** Fans often debate whether Hobbes is real or fake -- that is, if Hobbes really is a talking doll that can come to life or everything Hobbes does is all in Calvin's head. There's evidence for both sides, but Watterson carefully avoided making such a firm distinction and held that the argument defied the point of the strip.

* Fans of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' often debate whether Hobbes is "real" or "fake". Watterson carefully avoided making such a distinction and held that it defied the point of the strip.
-->''[Calvin & Hobbes] is more about the subjective nature of reality than it is about dolls coming to life...''
** While he absolutely has moments of genuine philosophical insight, part of the fun of Calvin is supposed to be disagreeing with him, since despite his insight, he's still a bratty self-centered six-year-old. Yet many take Calvin's philosophy out of context as genuine, when Watterson often wrote him as a TakeThat to faux intellectualism and "pop psychobabble." The panels people cite as brilliant are often followed by a punchline where it's revealed that Calvin is just clinging to any philosophy that lets him claim greatness or avoid responsibility.

* For that matter, ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} himself. He acquired an ''immense'' fanbase in the late 1980s, including (arguably especially) even children. Being [[DeadpanSnarker a devastatingly funny quipster]] definitely helps, as does [[ThisLoserIsYou the "fat and lazy and proud of it" shtick]]. But none of that changes the fact that Garfield is not only a textbook example of CatsAreMean, but a card-carrying sociopath. (Don't believe it? Check out the strip in which Jon wonders if Garfield would risk his life to save his if the house ever caught on fire. Garfield had to leave the room briefly so he could ''laugh his head off''.) That said, the character was ''much'' LighterAndSofter in this period, especially in the [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends animated show]] and [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials specials]].

* The creators ''ComicStrip/{{Alex}}'' have had letters from people who chose to become bankers and stockbrokers because of the comic. They find this baffling as the strip is primarily a satire about the soulless, materialistic, egocentric nature of the world of finance.

-->''[Calvin & Hobbes] is more about the subjective nature of reality than it is about dolls coming to life...''

* For that matter, ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} himself. He acquired an ''immense'' fanbase in the late 1980s, including (arguably especially) even children. Being [[DeadpanSnarker a devastatingly funny quipster]] definitely helps, as does [[ThisLoserIsYou the "fat and lazy and proud of it" shtick]]. But none of that changes the fact that Garfield is not only a textbook example of CatsAreMean, but a card-carrying sociopath. (Don't believe it? Check out the strip in which Jon wonders if Garfield would risk his life to save his if the house ever caught on fire. Garfield had to leave the room briefly so he could ''laugh his head off''.)

* For that matter, {{Garfield}} himself. He acquired an ''immense'' fanbase in the late 1980s, including (arguably especially) even children. Being [[DeadpanSnarker a devastatingly funny quipster]] definitely helps, as does [[ThisLoserIsYou the "fat and lazy and proud of it" shtick]]. But none of that changes the fact that Garfield is not only a textbook example of CatsAreMean, but a card-carrying sociopath. (Don't believe it? Check out the strip in which Jon wonders if Garfield would risk his life to save his if the house ever caught on fire. Garfield had to leave the room briefly so he could ''laugh his head off''.)

* Darby Conley's ''GetFuzzy'' has attracted a moderately sized vegan high school and collegiate fanbase due to numerous appearances of PETA apparel. The catch? Bucky uses PETA as a shield for misbehaving under the guise of a revolt against whatever stick is up his butt during that installment, while Satchel is too dumb to know what they're really all about. This isn't official support from the organization - just many younger members without enough English courses under their belt to recognize the mockery of their hijinks. (And maybe a few who don't care.) Will usually occur in forums, blogs, journals, or news commentary box debates.
* BloomCounty:

** A similar thing happened with Bill the Cat. No matter what he did with the character, including making him a coke addict, a communist spy, an illegal arms dealer, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick's lover, people couldn't get enough of him. Breathed created Bill to be the anti-Garfield. Breathed must have failed to realize how many people in his audience hate [[CharacterizationTags comics!]]Garfield..

* An in-universe example in (possibly) ''Drabble'': the main character notes that he only realized how '''''very''''' conservative his father is when they went to see StarWarsANewHope and [[RootingForTheEmpire Dad cheered for Darth Vader]].

** FWIW, Rob ''is'' a vegetarian in the comic, regardless of his opinion (if any) on PETA.
*** Obviously not a supporter as PETA speaks against "exploiting" animals, even as pets, and he obviously owns pets.
**** No one can claim Rob is exploiting his pets. Bucky is flagrantly exploiting Rob and Satchel enjoys being Rob's pet.
** There are other reasons why one might not support PETA. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement Let's just leave it at that.]]
* [[BloomCounty Berke Breathed]] used to complain that, no matter how unsympathetic he made [[CasanovaWannabe Steve Dallas]] seem in ''The Academia Waltz'', many University of Texas students couldn't help but LOVE the character.

*** To give an example of how ridiculous this was at the time, a UC Berkeley student ran for an elected position at the school as Bill the Cat ''and won.''

** Catbert is likely an EscapistCharacter for some of those in the job.

* Many real-life human resource directors love Catbert from ''{{Dilbert}}'', despite him being a (usually) exaggerated caricature of how thoughtless and self-serving most HR directors are. Nonetheless, there still have been ''some'' HR directors out there that have asked Scott Adams to make Catbert nicer, so as to make the portrayal more fair. Thankfully, Adams has not abided their wishes.

* Many real-life human resource directors love Catbert from ''{{Dilbert}}'', despite him being a (usually) exaggerated caricature of how thoughtless and self-serving most HR directors are. Nonetheless, there still have been ''some'' HR directors out there that have asked Scott Adams to make Catbert nicer, so as to make the portrayal more fair. Thankfully, Adams has not abided their wishes.

** A similar thing happened with Bill the Cat. No matter what he did with the character, including making him a coke addict, a communist spy, an illegal arms dealer, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick's lover, people couldn't get enough of him. Breathed created Bill to be the anti-Garfield. Breathed must have failed to realize how many people in his audience hate [[CharacterizationTags comics!]]Garfield...

* An in-universe example in (possibly) ''Drabble'': the main character notes that he only realized how '''''very''''' conservative his father is when they went to see StarWarsANewHope and [[RootingForTheEmpire Dad cheered for Darth Vader]].

** A similar thing happened with Bill the Cat. No matter what he did with the character, including making him a coke addict, a communist spy, an illegal arms dealer, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick's lover, people couldn't get enough of him, which is especially ironic considering Breathed created Bill to be the anti-Garfield. Breathed must have failed to realize how many people hate [[CharacterizationTags comix!]]Garfield...

** A similar thing happened with Bill the Cat. No matter what he did with the character, including making him a coke addict, a communist spy, an illegal arms dealer, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick's lover, people couldn't get enough of him, which is especially ironic considering Breathed created Bill to be the anti-Garfield. Breathed must have failed to realize how many people hate [[CharacterizationTag comix!]]Garfield...

** A similar thing happened with Bill the Cat. No matter what he did with the character, including making him a coke addict, a communist spy, an illegal arms dealer, and Jeanne Kirkpatrick's lover, people couldn't get enough of him, which is especially ironic considering Breathed created Bill to be the anti-Garfield.

* [[BloomCounty Berke Breathed]] used to complain that, no matter how unsympathetic he made [[TheLeisureSuitLarry Steve Dallas]] seem in ''The Academia Waltz'', many University of Texas students couldn't help but LOVE the character.

* An in-universe example in (possibly) ''Drabble'': the main character notes that he only realized how '''''very''''' conservative his father is when they went to see StarWarsANewHope and Dad cheered for Darth Vader.