When I was younger, I loved this strip. Rereading it, however, I've noticed that there is ONE really big problem that prevents me from enjoying it as much as I did before. That being that the strip is honestly kind of mean-spirited.
You see, this is one of those "Everybody is an unlikable jerk, the main character gets punished for this while everyone else gets off scott-free" things. Everyone in this strip is a whiny, short-tempered jerk: Calvin, Hobbes, Susie, Calvin's parents, Miss Wormwood, Rosalyn, Moe... it's hard to sympathize with the other characters for having to put up with Calvin's antics when they're eager to dish it back out.
But the strip is still genuinely funny and imaginative, and gives me a lot of nostalgia. This keeps me from disliking it.
Honestly a mixed bag
When I was younger, I loved this strip. Rereading it, however, I've noticed that there is ONE really big problem that prevents me from enjoying it as much as I did before. That being that the strip is honestly kind of mean-spirited.
You see, this is one of those "Everybody is an unlikable jerk, the main character gets punished for this while everyone else gets off scott-free" things. Everyone in this strip is a whiny, short-tempered jerk: Calvin, Hobbes, Susie, Calvin's parents, Miss Wormwood, Rosalyn, Moe... it's hard to sympathize with the other characters for having to put up with Calvin's antics when they're eager to dish it back out.
But the strip is still genuinely funny and imaginative, and gives me a lot of nostalgia. This keeps me from disliking it.