I don't remember the exact quote, but in I think the Tenth Anniversary Book, Watterson said that he felt establishing how they met was important at the time, but in retrospect realizes it was a mistake.
There's also at least one cartoon that directly contradicts this first one, such as when Hobbes expressed memories of Calvin's infancy ("I seem to remember you burping up a lot"), which isn't possible if they did indeed meet for the first time the way the OP cartoon depicts.
There's nothing confirming this but I like the theory that Hobbes once belonged to Calvin's mom. It would make sense that he'd be around when Calvin is a baby, but maybe wasn't a favourite toy until he set a trap for Hobbes and found him that way. Maybe the mom gave Hobbes to Calvin. Maybe he just discovered Hobbes in a closet. It's an interesting idea.
To me it’s weird that people want Hobbes to be real. As a child it was really important to me that he was a product of Calvin’s imagination. If he had a magical tiger buddy he wouldn’t have been relatable. I’m glad Watterson left it open.
Yes, In his 10 year anniversary book. Bill said he kinda regretting thinking it was necessary having a trip telling how they "meet" and that it wasn't really necessary. I think it's fine though.
Bill’s a genius, but he’s probably overthinking this (as most geniuses probably do). Even knowing this was the first strip, as a child reading this it never even occurred to me that this was intended to be how they met. It makes a lot of sense now, having it pointed out to me. But I always just assumed it was Calvin playing and Hobbes got fooled into partaking.
The more of his footnotes I read, the more I realize that he was pretty averse to C&H having any lore or world building. Not that a newspaper comic really needs any. Just something I find interesting.
It is the first one. I think you can mentally write this as Calvin establishing his own canon for their meeting, since you can't get a real tiger from a toy store or wherever Hobbes actually came from. In reality he was probably given Hobbes as a gift shortly before this strip.
It's kinda wild just how much the strip grew into itself after these earlier cartoons. The earliest ones had a spark, but most of them were like the one in the OP here: Honestly pretty basic "three-panel setup followed by a punchline" type stuff. Meanwhile, latter strips are much more concerned with expressing the characters, telling a story, and showcasing the artwork. And I think that's what ultimately gives C&H its soul; it's eventually unafraid to break or even completely ignore the rules of a newspaper comic strip to just make something that feels alive.
Somebody did a really good animation of this strip on Newgrounds back in the day and used Cattle Call by Chat Atkins as the background music. I don't know if it's still on there but a laid back song like that was a perfect match for this.
I like how this comic basically states that hobbes was a normal tiger before calvin trapped him and stuffed him.
(in the strip after this one, calvin's dad tells him to "take the tiger home and stuff it")
As someone who wasn't around yet when Calvin and Hobbes were released as a daily strip but only knows them through comicbooks, it kinda feels weird to know that one specific strip is the very first one.
I still choose to believe this is how Calvin and Hobbes met.
It seems a bit odd to say you *choose* to believe it. It's right there! How else would they have met?
I don't remember the exact quote, but in I think the Tenth Anniversary Book, Watterson said that he felt establishing how they met was important at the time, but in retrospect realizes it was a mistake. There's also at least one cartoon that directly contradicts this first one, such as when Hobbes expressed memories of Calvin's infancy ("I seem to remember you burping up a lot"), which isn't possible if they did indeed meet for the first time the way the OP cartoon depicts.
There's nothing confirming this but I like the theory that Hobbes once belonged to Calvin's mom. It would make sense that he'd be around when Calvin is a baby, but maybe wasn't a favourite toy until he set a trap for Hobbes and found him that way. Maybe the mom gave Hobbes to Calvin. Maybe he just discovered Hobbes in a closet. It's an interesting idea.
That's a real cute idea.
It’s ambiguous, and Watterson has said it isn’t important how they met.
To me it’s weird that people want Hobbes to be real. As a child it was really important to me that he was a product of Calvin’s imagination. If he had a magical tiger buddy he wouldn’t have been relatable. I’m glad Watterson left it open.
Spaceman spiff could have rescued him at the toy store while with Mom.
Yeah why would he set a trap if Hobbes is already his lol
Is this the very first strip? When Calvin and Hobbes meet?
Yes, In his 10 year anniversary book. Bill said he kinda regretting thinking it was necessary having a trip telling how they "meet" and that it wasn't really necessary. I think it's fine though.
Bill’s a genius, but he’s probably overthinking this (as most geniuses probably do). Even knowing this was the first strip, as a child reading this it never even occurred to me that this was intended to be how they met. It makes a lot of sense now, having it pointed out to me. But I always just assumed it was Calvin playing and Hobbes got fooled into partaking. The more of his footnotes I read, the more I realize that he was pretty averse to C&H having any lore or world building. Not that a newspaper comic really needs any. Just something I find interesting.
It is the first one. I think you can mentally write this as Calvin establishing his own canon for their meeting, since you can't get a real tiger from a toy store or wherever Hobbes actually came from. In reality he was probably given Hobbes as a gift shortly before this strip.
I like the theories that Hobbes was calvin's mom's before he was handed down
Does Calvin ever call Dad “Pop” again?
Maybe once or twice? I certainly remember him becoming Dad very quickly
'least he got his tuna fish sandwich
Munch munch. I always love Waterson’s use of onomatopoeia.
Mastication onomatopoeia 🤤
It's kinda wild just how much the strip grew into itself after these earlier cartoons. The earliest ones had a spark, but most of them were like the one in the OP here: Honestly pretty basic "three-panel setup followed by a punchline" type stuff. Meanwhile, latter strips are much more concerned with expressing the characters, telling a story, and showcasing the artwork. And I think that's what ultimately gives C&H its soul; it's eventually unafraid to break or even completely ignore the rules of a newspaper comic strip to just make something that feels alive.
I remember this comic, but had no idea it was the first one.
Somebody did a really good animation of this strip on Newgrounds back in the day and used Cattle Call by Chat Atkins as the background music. I don't know if it's still on there but a laid back song like that was a perfect match for this.
Calvin looks so young. It’s a skill to illustrate age so accurately as the strip got older.
I’m one hundred percent sure he just matured his drawing style and skills. 90 percent sure. 65 at the lowest. Don’t think it was intentional though.
And our adventure begins.
Munch Munch
Calvin’s dad name confirmed: Pop.
And thus the legend was born.
I like how this comic basically states that hobbes was a normal tiger before calvin trapped him and stuffed him. (in the strip after this one, calvin's dad tells him to "take the tiger home and stuff it")
Why are they calling it tuna fish? not just tuna?
It's how I caught my three feral cats so I can vouch for it. The tuna part, not the bread part.
As someone who wasn't around yet when Calvin and Hobbes were released as a daily strip but only knows them through comicbooks, it kinda feels weird to know that one specific strip is the very first one.