Calvin starts really getting into gum chewing as a hobby, utilizing a magazine to try to maximize what he gets out of chewing gum.
Tropes
- Author Tract: Bill Watterson was an avid fan of cycling, but was rather put off by the culture that he saw developing around cycling with regard to it becoming another way for corporations to sell products. The various magazines that Calvin mentions in this arc are a parody of the assorted cycling magazines of Watterson's day, and both the articles obsessed with inane minutiae of gum chewing and the ads trying to convince people they need some product that they didn't even know existed prior are Watterson expressing disdain for similar things he saw in cycling magazines.
- The Magazine Rule: Calvin subscribes to Chewing, a magazine for bubble gum chewing. Bill Watterson based it on the cycling magazines he reads, saying that the fake articles he writes for them are so close to the real thing it's hardly satire.
- Obsessive Hobby Episode: Calvin gets hardcore into chewing gum for this arc, and future strips show him continuing to be interested in it.
- Serious Business: Calvin takes his gum chewing very seriously, wanting to make sure he's chewing the right gum for him and maximizing his experience with his gum. An obvious parody of people who get too obsessed with their hobbies and allow themselves to get sucked into it to the point where it's not even fun anymore.
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Squick: Calvin tells Hobbes about his strategy for dealing with flavorless chewing gum. He just puts another stick in his mouth, and repeats this until there's so much gum in his mouth he can't even close his mouth or speak properly, drooling everywhere with an aching jaw. Hobbes is quite grossed out by it.
