Last year it saw the light, under the title of “The great Calvin and Hobbes” and thanks to Astiberri, the first volume of a priceless retrospective on the Calvin and Hobbes characters created by Bill Watterson. Now, the same editorial publishes this continuation, which brings together under the protection of another reference those comics that were originally published in the form of strips and Sunday pages between March and December 1995. As it happened with its predecessor, the release turns out to be a product of obligatory acquisition and incalculable value, by presenting close to two hundred pages -in this case pressed in horizontal format- that affect with the usual caustic of the author in the equally seductive world of little Calvin and his inseparable friend, the tiger Hobbes.
Alternating full pages or the short strip as a means to specify those adventures and troubles that mark the daily evolution of both, the work shows a movement in which there is room for both entertainment and vital concerns. A shocking set that includes creative bathrooms, the game of Calvinbol, the benefits of summer, a fearsome bike, the exciting world of chewing gum (and a specialized magazine on the subject such as “Chewing”), or Calvin’s well-known devotion to snow, water balloons and the ever recurring fantasies with aliens. There is also room for characters with their own names, such as his long-suffering parents, Professor Woodworm, his classmate Susie Derkins, and even that Santa Claus with whom he maintains a strong love-hate relationship.
All of them appear in the experiences of Calvin and his beloved Hobbes, who, together and in full complicity, once again offer many life lessons, those capable of generating reflection as well as drawing an endearing smile on the face of anyone who decide to join the party; even to motivate both consequences at the same time. The very special imagination of Calvin and the irony of Hobbes come together, once again, in intelligent dialogues and a specific type of humor that acts as a plot during all the selected pages, which vary from color to black and white. The comic is committed to an always fun and endearing philosophy that, based on its more than obvious virtues, manages to recover any gray and nondescript day for the cause.
Watterson’s ability to show qualities in such a small space is commendable, as well as his exquisite expertise to continue delving into the universe of the protagonists, raising common ground between the two volumes without repeating himself or losing sharpness in the script. Calvin and Hobbes. A magic world“ It is a plea to the joy of living and relativize in pursuit of happiness, without cheap sentimentality or easy tricks. For this reason, the content penetrates after generating hopeful sensations that leave a residue in the grateful reader. A treasure in the form of cartoons that also works as a time capsule with which to revive those sensations associated with when we were children. Rarely has a title been so well chosen.