Calvin and Hobbes and Professional wrestling: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Calvin and Hobbes Original.png|200px|thumb|right|Calvin and Hobbes took many wagon rides over the years—this one showed up on the cover of the first collection of comic strips.]]

{{for|the video game|Pro Wrestling (video game)}}

{{Spoken Wikipedia-3|2006-01-29|CalvinAndHobbes1.ogg|CalvinAndHobbes2.ogg|CalvinAndHobbes3.ogg}}

'''Professional wrestling''' is the performance, management, and [[marketing]] of a form of [[entertainment]] based on elements of [[Greco-Roman wrestling]], [[mixed martial arts]], and [[theater]]. Modern professional wrestling usually features [[strike (attack)|striking]] and [[grappling]] techniques, which are modelled after diverse sets of global wrestling and [[boxing|pugilistic]] styles.

'''''Calvin and Hobbes''''' was a daily [[comic strip]] written and illustrated by [[Bill Watterson]], following the humorous antics of [[Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes character)|Calvin]], an imaginative six-year-old boy, and [[Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes character)|Hobbes]], his energetic and sardonic — albeit [[stuffed animal|stuffed]] — [[tiger]]. The strip was [[Print syndication|syndicated]] from [[November 18]], [[1985]] to [[December 31]], [[1995]]. At its height, ''Calvin and Hobbes'' was carried by over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of 18 ''Calvin and Hobbes'' books have been printed.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/pr_calvin.html| title=Andrews McMeel Press Release | accessdate=2006-05-03}}</ref>

Modern professional wrestling is commonly associated within a company (often referred to as a [[professional wrestling promotion|fed or promotion]]), where the participants create an entertaining show simulating a [[duel]]ing match. The level of realism can vary from [[sports entertainment]] (the American [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) promotion) to [[stiff (professional wrestling)|stiff]] style (the Japanese ''[[shoot wrestling#Shoot-style|strong style]]'' as exemplified by [[Antonio Inoki]]) to [[spot (professional wrestling)|spotfests]]. In [[Mexico]] the dominant style is the stylized, theatrical

The strip is [[Setting of Calvin and Hobbes|vaguely set]] in the [[contemporary]] [[Midwestern United States]], on the outskirts of [[suburbia]]. The ___location is apparently inspired by [[Chagrin Falls, Ohio]], where Watterson lived. On the back of the first ''Calvin and Hobbes'' treasury, Calvin is portrayed as a giant destroying downtown Chagrin Falls, holding the local popcorn shop in his hands. On another occasion, Hobbes recalls that Calvin's house is near the letter "E" in the word "STATES" on a map of the U.S. For more details, see [[setting of Calvin and Hobbes]].

[[Lucha libre]].

The question of whether professional wrestling is a sport comparable to its [[freestyle wrestling|freestyle]], [[Greco-Roman wrestling|Greco-Roman]], and [[Collegiate wrestling|collegiate]] counterparts can seem irrelevant, maybe even impossible, to compare as the key difference between both concepts is that professional wrestling's main focus is maintaining its audience and profiting as a business rather than as a form of athletic competition. The most obvious difference between the two styles of wrestling is that professional wrestlers are paid a set wage.<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/professional+wrestling Definition of professional wrestling]</ref>

Calvin and Hobbes themselves appear in most of the strips, though several have focused instead upon Calvin's family. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, educators, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif; Calvin sees Hobbes as alive, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal, a point discussed more fully in [[Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes character)#Hobbes' reality|Hobbes' main article]]. Unlike political strips such as [[Garry Trudeau]]'s ''[[Doonesbury]],'' the series does not mention specific political figures, but does examine broad issues like [[environmentalism]] and the flaws of [[opinion poll]]s.<ref name="astor1989">{{cite news | title=Watterson and Walker Differ On Comics: "Calvin and Hobbes" creator criticizes today's cartooning while "Beetle Bailey"/"Hi and Lois" creator defends it at meeting | publisher=Editor and Publisher | author=David Astor | date=November 4, 1989 | page=78}}</ref>

As opposed to more mainstream combative sporting events like boxing, a professional wrestler's athletic prowess and skills are utilized more to prevent injury than to inflict it. In many cases, the victim of an attack in a professional wrestling environment is required to do more athletically than the one performing the attack. If the wrestler absorbing the attack is less skilled or less athletic, they may injure their partner or even themself.

Because of Watterson's strong anti-[[merchandising]] sentiments<ref name="simple">{{cite news | title=Calvin and Hobbes Creator Draws On the Simple Life | author=Paul Dean | publisher=Los Angeles Times | date=May 26, 1987}}</ref> and his reluctance to return to the spotlight, almost no legitimate ''Calvin and Hobbes'' licensed merchandise exists outside of the book collections. Some officially approved items were created for marketing purposes and are now sought by collectors.<ref name="items">{{cite web | url=http://ignatz.brinkster.net/citems.html | title=A Concise Guide To All Legitimate (and some not-so-legitimate) Merchandise | accessdate=2006-03-16}}</ref> Two notable exceptions to the licensing embargo were the publication of two 16-month wall calendars and the textbook ''Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes''.<ref name="twch">{{cite book | title=Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes | id=ISBN 1878849158 | last=Holmen | first=Linda | publisher=Playground | year=1993}}</ref>

== Rules ==

However, the strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various "[[Counterfeit|bootleg]]" items, including T-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers, and window decals, often including obscene language or references wholly uncharacteristic of the whimsical spirit of Watterson's work.

The simulated nature of professional wrestling is only one of the many differences it has with traditional wrestling. Other differences can vary from company to company.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1119449 Difference between Japanese and American wrestling]</ref>

The assigned [[Referee (professional wrestling)|referee]] is often the one who controls the outcome of the match barring certain matches with special rules or for storyline reasons. A common storyline angle of this is a promotion owner or other high official modifying the stipulations of a match to invalidate a referee's decision, such as declaring it a no-disqualification match after a wrestler wins by disqualification. A "motto" in the pro-wrestling world used to describe the interpretation of the rules (actually more like loose guidelines) is: "You can't call what you don't see", implying that anything is justified as long as the referee doesn't see. This is often used as a plot twist to drastically change the momentum in a match. One of the better-known occurrences has a referee being "accidentally" knocked senseless or thrown outside of the ring (often referred to as a "ref bump"). While he's stunned, one wrestler, usually a [[Professional wrestling slang#F|face]], will suddenly have the match won, only to then have it robbed from them via outside interference, the use of a foreign object, or some other unfair means. The referee, unaware of what happened, will recover just in time to notice a pin that reflects the new situation, and make an arduous [[Pinfall (professional wrestling)|three-count]]. A variation on this finish, the [[Dusty finish|"Dusty finish"]] (after [[Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)|Dusty Rhodes]], who frequently used such finishes as a booker), has the substitute referee making the three-count in favor of the face, only to have it overturned by the original referee.

==History==

In addition to pinfall, a match can be won by [[Professional wrestling#Submission|submission]], [[Professional wrestling#Countout|count-out]], [[Professional wrestling#Disqualification|disqualification]], or failure to answer a ten count.

[[Image:Calvinhobbes honk.gif|thumb|right|Issue of [[Honk (magazine)|Honk]] magazine, featuring Watterson interview]]''Calvin and Hobbes'' was first conceived when Watterson, having worked in an advertising job he detested<ref name="detest">{{cite web |

url=http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm | title=Some thoughts on the real world by one who glimpsed it and fled |

first=Bill | last=Watterson | authorlink=Bill Watterson | year=1990 | accessdate=2006-03-16}}</ref>, began devoting his spare time to [[cartooning]], his true love. He explored various strip ideas but all were rejected by the syndicates to which he sent them. However, he did receive a positive response on one strip, which featured a side character (the main character's little brother) who had a stuffed tiger. Told that these characters were the strongest, Watterson began a new strip centered around them. The [[syndicate]] ([[United Features Syndicate]]) which gave him this advice actually rejected the new strip, and Watterson endured a few more rejections before [[Universal Press Syndicate]] decided to take it.<ref name="christie1987">{{cite news | title=An Interview With Bill Watterson : The creator of Calvin and Hobbes on cartooning, syndicates, Garfield, Charles Schulz, and editors | author=Andrew Christie | publisher=Honk magazine | date=January 1987}}</ref><ref name="simple" />

Punching is permitted as long as the wrestler's fist is open. This is probably the most ignored rule in WWE, as referees almost never disqualify a wrestler for throwing closed-fist punches. Instead, the referee simply admonishes the wrestler to stop, which is rarely successful. In addition, wrestlers may only kick with the flat part of the foot, and "low blow" only refers to actually [[groin attack|striking the crotch]]. If either wrestler is in contact with the ropes or if any part of the wrestler is underneath the ropes, all contact between the wrestlers must be broken before the count of five. This strategy is often used in order to escape from a [[Grappling hold|submission hold]], and also, more seldom, a wrestler can place his foot on (or under) the ropes to avoid losing by pinfall. Participants may try to abuse these rules, and it will often result in verbal or physical sparring with the ref.

The first strip was published on [[November 18]], [[1985]] and the series quickly became a hit. Within a year of [[print syndication|syndication]], the strip was published in roughly 250 newspapers. By [[April 1]] [[1987]], only sixteen months after the strip began, Watterson and his work were featured in an article by the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', one of the nation's major newspapers<ref name="simple" />. ''Calvin and Hobbes'' twice earned Watterson the [[Reuben Award]] from the [[National Cartoonists Society]], in the [[Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year]] category, first in 1986 and again in 1988. (He was nominated again in 1992.) Also, the Society awarded him the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988.<ref name="reuben">{{cite web

| title = NCS Reuben Award winners (1975-present)

| work = National Cartoonists Society

| url = http://www.reuben.org/ncs/archive/divisions/reuben2.asp

| accessdate = July 12 | accessyear = 2005

}}</ref>

===Pinfall===

Before long, the strip was in wide circulation outside the United States; for more information on publication in various countries and languages, see [[Calvin and Hobbes in translation|''Calvin and Hobbes'' in translation]].

In order to win by [[Pinfall (professional wrestling)|pinfall]], a wrestler must pin both his opponent's shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times. This is the most common form of defeat. Illegal pinning methods include using the ropes for leverage and hooking the opponent's tights, therefore they are popular cheating methods for [[Professional wrestling slang#H|heels]]. Such pins as these are rarely, if ever, seen by the referee and are subsequently often used by heels and on occasion by cheating faces to win matches.

===Submission===

Watterson took two extended breaks from writing new strips—from May 1991 to February 1992, and from April through December of 1994.

To win by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (i.e., leg-lock, arm-lock, etc.).

Passing out in a submission hold constitutes a loss by [[knockout]]. To determine if a wrestler has passed out in WWE, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to stop it from falling, the wrestler is considered to have passed out. At one point this was largely ignored, however the rule is now much more commonly observed. Often the third time, the WWE wrestler in the hold will fight their way out.

In 1995, Watterson sent a letter via his syndicate to all editors whose newspapers carried his strip. It contained the following:

Also, a wrestler can indicate a submission by "[[Submission (combat sport term)|tapping out]],"<ref>[http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/pro-wrestling2.htm Rules of professional wrestling]</ref> that is, tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent. The tapout was once common-place in professional wrestling, especially in the days prior to it becoming a predominately pre-arranged contest. However, following the decline of the submission-oriented catch-as-catch-can style from mainstream professional wrestling, the tap out largely faded, regaining prominence as a means of victory mostly in the face of the popularity of the [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]] in the early 90's.

::I will be stopping ''Calvin and Hobbes'' at the end of the year. This was not a recent or an easy decision, and I leave with some sadness. My interests have shifted however, and I believe I've done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises. I have not yet decided on future projects, but my relationship with Universal Press Syndicate will continue.

Much like traditional finisher maneuvers, a wrestler with a finisher submission is shown as better at applying the move, making it more difficult to get out of, despite some obvious similarity.

::That so many newspapers would carry ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is an honor I'll long be proud of, and I've greatly appreciated your support and indulgence over the last decade. Drawing this comic strip has been a privilege and a pleasure, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity.

===Countout===

The 3,160th and final strip ran on Sunday, [[December 31]], [[1995]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/pr_calvin.html| title=Andrews McMeel Press Release | accessdate=2006-05-03}}</ref> It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly-fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy!" Calvin exclaims in the last panel. "Let's go exploring!" <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/US/9512/calvin/calvin_hobbes.jpg | title=Newspaper cutout of the last Calvin and Hobbes strip | accessdate=2006-03-19}}</ref>

A countout (alternatively "count-out" or "count out") happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to 10 or, ocasionaly 20. The count is broken and re-started when a wrestler inside the ring leaves the ring.

If both wrestlers are outside the ring, the count will refer to both. If one of the wrestlers re-enters the ring, while the other remains outside, the count will continue for the one left outside. A common tactic, to buy more time outside the ring, is for a wrestler to re-enter the ring to restart the count, and then continue to fight outside the ring. If both wrestlers remain outside at the count of ten, both will be counted out. This is known as a double countout, or to a lesser extent, an "impossible draw".

===Syndication and Watterson's artistic standards===

From the outset, Watterson found himself at odds with the syndicate, which urged him to begin merchandising the characters and touring the country to promote the first collections of comic strips. Watterson refused. To him, the integrity of the strip and its artist would be undermined by commercialization, which he saw as a major negative influence in the world of cartoon art.<ref name="west1989" />

If both of the wrestlers are lying on the mat and not moving, the referee may issue a ten count. One wrestler reaching his knees will break the count. If neither wrestler reaches their knees or feet, it is considered a draw, also known as a double knockout, or incorrectly, an "in ring count-out."

Watterson also grew increasingly frustrated by the gradual shrinking of available space for comics in the newspapers. He lamented that without space for anything more than simple dialogue or spare artwork, comics as an art form were becoming dilute, bland, and unoriginal.<ref name="astor1988">{{cite news | title=Watterson Knocks the Shrinking of Comics | author=David Astor | publisher=Editor and Publisher | date=December 3, 1988 | page=40}}</ref><ref name="west1989" /> Watterson strove for a full-page version of his strip (as opposed to the few cells allocated for most strips). He longed for the artistic freedom allotted to classic strips such as ''[[Little Nemo]]'' and ''[[Krazy Kat]]'', and he gave a sample of what could be accomplished with such liberty in the opening pages of the Sunday strip compilation, ''The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book''.<ref name="cheapening">{{cite web | last=Watterson | first=Bill | authorlink=Bill Watterson | year=1989 | url=http://www.planetcartoonist.com/editorial/state_watterson.shtml | title=The Cheapening of Comics | publisher=PlanetCartoonist | accessdate=2006-03-16}}</ref>

The countout rule indicates that a wrestler cannot win a match while any part of his opponent's body is not in the ring. This allows escape from pinfalls and submission holds, by grabbing hold of one of the ring ropes, thus forcing the referee to break the hold or stop the count. This is also why the referee will start a count once a wrestler has reached the top rope; he is out of the ring area.

During Watterson's first [[sabbatical]] from the strip, Universal Press Syndicate continued to charge newspapers full price to re-run old ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strips. Few editors approved of the move, but the strip was so popular that they had little choice but to continue to run it for fear that competing newspapers might pick it up and draw its fans away. Then, upon Watterson's return, Universal Press announced that Watterson had demanded that his Sunday strip be guaranteed half of a newspaper or tabloid page for its space allotment. Many editors and even a few cartoonists, such as [[Bil Keane]] (''[[The Family Circus]]''), criticized him for what they perceived as arrogance and an unwillingness to abide by the normal practices of the cartoon business—a charge that Watterson ignored. Watterson had negotiated the deal to allow himself more creative freedom in the Sunday comics. Prior to the switch, he had to have a certain number of panels with little freedom as to layout (due to the fact that in different newspapers the strip would appear at a different width); afterwards, he was free to go with whatever graphic layout he wanted, however unorthodox. His frustration with the standard space division requirements is evident in strips before the change; for example, a 1988 Sunday strip published before the deal is one large panel, but with all the action and dialogue in the bottom part of the panel so editors could crop the top part if they wanted to fit the strip into a smaller space. Watterson's explanation for the switch:

The referee, in certain promotions, does not instrigate a count despite wrestler's being out of the ring. This is usually after a large bump, where both wrestlers are taken down. This is, in kayfabe, to allow the contest to continue as neither wrestler would benefit from the count due to both wrestlers being incapacitated temporarily. In reality, it is used to build supense in the audience and to allow the wrestlers to recover somewhat.

::I took a sabbatical after resolving a long and emotionally draining fight to prevent ''Calvin and Hobbes'' from being merchandised. Looking for a way to rekindle my enthusiasm for the duration of a new contract term, I proposed a redesigned Sunday format that would permit more panel flexibility. To my surprise and delight, Universal responded with an offer to market the strip as an unbreakable half page (more space than I'd dared to ask for), despite the expected resistance of editors.

Common slang for walking out of the ring and leaving your opponent standing there, only to get purposely counted out yourself, is known as pulling a "Broadway".

::To this day, my syndicate assures me that some editors liked the new format, appreciated the difference, and were happy to run the larger strip, but I think it's fair to say that this was not the most common reaction. The syndicate had warned me to prepare for numerous cancellations of the Sunday feature, but after a few weeks of dealing with howling, purple-faced editors, the syndicate suggested that papers could reduce the strip to the size tabloid newspapers used for their smaller sheets of paper. … I focused on the bright side: I had complete freedom of design and there were virtually no cancellations.

===Disqualification===

::For all the yelling and screaming by outraged editors, I remain convinced that the larger Sunday strip gave newspapers a better product and made the comics section more fun for readers. Comics are a visual medium. A strip with a lot of drawing can be exciting and add some variety. Proud as I am that I was able to draw a larger strip, I don't expect to see it happen again any time soon. In the newspaper business, space is money, and I suspect most editors would still say that the difference is not worth the cost. Sadly, the situation is a vicious circle: because there's no room for better artwork, the comics are simply drawn; because they're simply drawn, why should they have more room?<ref name="sundaypages">{{cite book | last=Watterson | first=Bill | title=Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 | month=September | year=2001 | page=15 | id = ISBN 0740721356}}</ref>

disqualification is called for a number of resons

* Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, choking or biting an opponent and repeatedly punching with a closed fist. These violations are usually subject to a referee-administered five count and will result in disqualification if not released before.

* Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. If a heel attempts to interfere but is ejected from the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there is usually no disqualification.

* Striking an opponent with a [[Foreign object (professional wrestling)|foreign object]] (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).

* A direct [[groin attack|low-blow to the groin]]. (unless the rules of the match/company specifically allow this)

* Laying hands on the referee or to an extreme case, often in special referee matches, laying any body parts on the referee.

* Attacking an opponent's eye, such as raking it, poking it, punching it out or other several attacks to the eye.

In practice, the rules of the fight are often violated without disqualification due to the referee being distracted and not seeing the offense, or the referee seeing the offense but allowing the match to continue. In the WWE, a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification and the referee's ruling is almost always final. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get knocked out during a match. While the referee remains "unconscious," rules are often violated at will. In some cases, a referee might disqualify a person under the presumption that it was that wrestler who knocked him out; most ref-KOs are arranged to allow a wrestler, usually a heel, to gain an advantage. For example, a wrestler may get whipped into a [[referee]] at a slower speed, knocking the ref down for a minute or so; during that interim period, the wrestler may pin his opponent for a three-count and would have won the match but for the referee being down. Also, the referee rarely disqualitfies the wrestler who knocked him down when the ref recovers.

Despite the change, ''Calvin and Hobbes'' remained extremely popular and thus Watterson was able to expand his style and technique for the more spacious Sunday strips without losing carriers.

If both participants (or teams) in a match continue to breach the referee's instructions, the match may end in a double disqualification, where both wrestlers or teams (in a [[tag team]] match) have been disqualified. The match is essentially nullified, and called a draw or, in certain storylines, a restart or extended wrestling period is made possible by an authority figure.

Since ending the strip, Watterson has kept aloof from the public eye and has given no indication of resuming the strip or creating new works based on the characters. He refuses to sign [[autograph]]s or license his characters, staying true to his stated principles. In previous years, he was known to sneak autographed copies of his books onto the shelves of a family-owned bookstore near his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. However, after discovering that some people were selling the autographed books on [[eBay]] for high prices, he ended this practice as well.

===Merchandising=Performers==

===Mens' wrestling===

Bill Watterson is notable for his insistence that cartoon strips should stand on their own as an art form, and he has resisted the use of ''Calvin and Hobbes'' in merchandising of any sort.<ref name="christie1987" /> This insistence stuck despite what was probably a cost of millions of dollars per year in additional personal income. Watterson explains in a 2005 press release:

The vast majority of professional wrestlers are men, and especially in the North American [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], where they are usually large in size, often to extremes (see [[Paul Wight|Big Show]]). Although the Big Show is just one example, there are others like [[The Great Khali]] and [[Umaga]]. Competitions or divisions are sometimes set up for men of similar wrestling styles. Styles include that of technical, brawling, high flying, and lucha. However, matches involving different divisions are created, and are never referred to as unusual or against any rules, despite large differences in height or strength.

::"Actually, I wasn't against all merchandising when I started the strip, but each product I considered seemed to violate the spirit of the strip, contradict its message, and take me away from the work I loved. If my syndicate had let it go at that, the decision would have taken maybe 30 seconds of my life."<ref name="amiv">{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/interview.html | title=Fans From Around the World Interview Bill Watterson | publisher=Andrews McMeel | accessdate=2006-03-16 | year=2005}}</ref>

===Womens' wrestling===

Watterson did ponder animating Calvin and Hobbes, and has expressed admiration for the art form. In a 1989 interview in ''[[The Comics Journal]]'', Watterson states:

Women have long participated in professional wrestling, first in woman-versus-woman matches that were low on the bill compared to mens' matches, and then later as [[manager (professional wrestling)|managers]] or [[valet (professional wrestling)|valets]] accompanying male wrestlers.

::"If you look at the old cartoons by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, you’ll see that there are a lot of things single drawings just can’t do. Animators can get away with incredible distortion and exaggeration [...] because the animator can control the length of time you see something. The bizarre exaggeration barely has time to register, and the viewer doesn’t ponder the incredible license he's witnessed."

Womens' matches are now very common, at least in North America, with some woman-on-woman matches being at the top of the card, for example - the Women's Championship match was the main event of a [[WWE Raw|WWE RAW]] broadcast at the end of 2004. However, in North American wrestling, men's competition is still much more highly valued and respected than women's wrestling.

::In a comic strip, you just show the highlights of action - you can’t show the buildup and release... or at least not without slowing down the pace of everything to the point where it’s like looking at individual frames of a movie, in which case you’ve probably lost the effect you were trying to achieve. In a comic strip, you can suggest motion and time, but it’s very crude compared to what an animator can do. I have a real awe for good animation.<ref name="west1989" />

Women sometimes tag-team with men in inter-gender matches, which are a common sight in North America. Due to the physical nature of the competition, inter-gender matches are rare.

After this he was asked if it was "a little scary to think of hearing Calvin's voice." He responded that it was "very scary," and although he loved the visual possibilities animation had, the thought of casting voice actors to play his characters was something he felt uncomfortable doing. Plus, he wasn't sure he wanted to work with an animation team, as he'd done all previous work by himself. Ultimately, Calvin and Hobbes was never made into an [[animated series]].

There are few women tag-teams, however sometimes a few women create a stable, for example - [[Pretty Mean Sisters|PMS]] and [[Vince's Devils]].

Except for the [[Calvin and Hobbes#Calvin and Hobbes books|books]], two 16-month calendars (1988–1989 and 1989–1990), and a children's textbook, virtually all ''Calvin and Hobbes'' merchandise, including T-shirts as well as the ubiquitous stickers for automobile rear windows which depict Calvin urinating on a company's or sports team's name or logo, are unauthorized. After threat of a lawsuit alleging infringement of copyright and trademark, some of the sticker makers replaced Calvin with a different boy, while other makers ignored the issue. Watterson wryly commented "I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] logo."<ref name="amiv" /> Some legitimate special items were produced, such as promotional packages to sell the strip to newspapers, but these were never sold outright.

Women rarely bleed in mainstream wrestling and mostly don't wrestle in violent and dangerous matches.

==Popular culture==

{{main|References to Calvin and Hobbes}}

Comedian [[David Spade]] has a tattoo of Calvin on his left bicep. It was given to him by actor [[Sean Penn]] during an interview on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref name="compl">{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/trivia.html | title=Calvin and Hobbes Trivia | publisher=Andrews McMeel | accessdate=2006-03-20}}</ref>

===Midget wrestling===

==Style and Influences==

''Calvin and Hobbes'' strips are characterized by sparse but careful draftsmanship, intelligent humor, poignant observations, witty social and political commentary, and well-developed characters that are full of personality. Precedents to Calvin's fantasy world can be found in [[Charles M. Schulz]]'s ''[[Peanuts]],'' [[Percy Crosby]]'s ''[[Skippy (comic strip)|Skippy]],'' [[Berkeley Breathed]]'s ''[[Bloom County]],'' and [[George Herriman]]'s ''Krazy Kat,'' while Watterson's use of comics as sociopolitical commentary reaches back to [[Walt Kelly]]'s ''[[Pogo]].'' Schulz and Kelly in particular influenced Watterson's outlook on comics during his formative years.<ref name="christie1987" />

[[Midget wrestling]] has been a unique aspect of professional wrestling, and can be traced to professional wrestling's carnival and vaudeville origins. In recent years, however, the popularity and prevalence of midgets in wrestling has greatly decreased mostly due to major wrestling companies depriving midget divisions of any form of wrestling storyline or feud, although the WWE broadcast of ''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown]]'' did feature a "Junior's division", in which midgets wrestled against each other, from 2005-2006. The "Junior's division" is no longer a part of ''Smackdown'' or the WWE. But it's still a popular form of entertainment in Mexican wrestling, mostly as a sideshow, so to speak. Some wrestlers may have their specific "mini me's", like Mascarada Sagrada and his midget counterpart Mascarita Sagrada, Alebrije has Quije, etc. Or there are cases in which midgets can become valets for a wrestler, and even get physical into a match from time to time, like Alushe, who often accompanies one of the greatest Mexican wrestlers, Tinieblas, or Kemonito, who is portrayed as CMLL's (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) mascot, and is also a valet for a popular wrestler on the rise called Mistico. The WWE wrestler Dave Finlay is often aided in his matches by a midget known mainly as a [[Leprechaun]], but listed as the "[[Little Bastard]]", who (in kayfabe) lives under the ring and often brings a spare [[Shillelagh]] to Finlay when the referee is somehow distracted. Finlay also occasionally throws the midget at his opponent(s).

Notable elements of Watterson's artistic style are his characters' diverse and often exaggerated expressions (particularly those of Calvin), elaborate and bizarre backgrounds for Calvin's flights of imagination, well-captured kinetics, and frequent visual jokes and metaphors. In the later years of the strip, with more space available for his use, Watterson experimented more freely with different panel layouts, stories without dialogue, and greater use of whitespace.

On an episode of Smackdown!, on February 16, 2007, Finlay's Leprachaun was attacked by the Boogeyman's own midget, thus creating a mixed tag match at No Way Out. Little Bastard and Finlay won the match at No Way Out, due to some controvercial reasons.

==Promotions==

Watterson's technique started with minimal [[pencil sketching|pencil sketches]] (though the larger Sunday strips often required more elaborate work); he then would use a small sable brush and [[India ink]] to complete most of the remaining drawing. He was careful in his use of color, often spending a great deal of time in choosing the right colors to employ for the weekly Sunday strip.

:''See: [[Professional wrestling promotion]]''

The organizations that schedule and produce professional wrestling performances are known as wrestling promotions. Currently, the only major wrestling organizations left in North America are the [[United States]] promotions of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] and [[Total Nonstop Action Wrestling|TNA Wrestling]] (TNA) and the [[Mexico|Mexican]] [[lucha libre]] promotions [[Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre]] (CMLL) and [[Asistencia Asesoría y Administración]] (AAA). Of these, WWE is by far largest and most influential throughout the world. While these organizations are the most prominent and popular, there are many other smaller, regional promotions known as "[[independent circuit|indies]]", many of which are official territories of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). Other major independent promotions include [[Ring of Honor]] (ROH), [[Pro Wrestling Guerrilla]] (PWG), [[Heartland Wrestling Association]] (HWA), and [[Combat Zone Wrestling]] (CZW).

Wrestlers from Canada are generally of comparable quality as those of the United States. Canada's promotions include [[Stampede Wrestling]], [[Border City Wrestling]], [[Pure Wrestling Association]], [[International Wrestling Syndicate]], [[UWA]], and [[Blood, Sweat and Ears]].

===Art and academia===

Watterson has used the strip to criticize the artistic world, principally through Calvin's unconventional creations of [[snowman|snowmen]]. When Miss Wormwood complains that he is wasting class time drawing incomprehensible things (a [[stegosaurus]] in a rocket ship, in fact), Calvin proclaims himself "on the cutting edge of the [[avant-garde]]". He begins exploring the medium of snow when a warm day melts his snowman. His next sculpture "speaks to the horror of our own mortality", inviting the viewer to contemplate the fleeting nature of life, much in the vein of [[Ecclesiastes]]. Over the years, Calvin's creative instincts diversify into sidewalk drawings ("suburban [[postmodernism]]").

Outside North America, there are other federations throughout [[Europe]] and also in [[Japan]], [[Australia]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Hawaii]] and the rest of the [[Caribbean]].

Watterson also directed criticism toward the [[academia|academic world]]. Calvin writes a "[[revisionism|revisionist]] autobiography", giving himself a [[flame thrower]]; he carefully crafts an "artist's statement", knowing that such essays convey more messages than artworks themselves ever do. ("You misspelled ''[[Weltanschauung]],''" Hobbes notes.) He indulges in what Watterson calls "pop [[Psychobabble (jargon)|psychobabble]]" to justify his destructive rampages and shift blame to his parents, citing "toxic [[codependency]]." Once, he pens a book report entitled, "The dynamics of interbeing and monological imperatives in ''[[Dick and Jane]]:'' a study in psychic transrelational gender modes." Displaying his creation to Hobbes, he remarks, "[[Academia]], here I come!" Watterson explains that he adapted this jargon (and similar examples from several other strips) from an actual book of art criticism.<ref name="watterson1995">{{cite book

| authorlink = Bill Watterson

| last = Watterson | first = Bill

| title = The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book

| publisher = Andrews McMeel

| month = October

| year = 1995

| id = ISBN 0-836-20438-7

}}</ref>

The traditional Japanese style differs from the American style in that it is portrayed more as a [[combat sport]] than as pure entertainment. The term ''[[Shoot wrestling#Shoot-style|strong style]]'' was coined by [[New Japan Pro Wrestling]] (NJPW) promoter Antonio Inoki. Inoki incorporated more martial arts and real fighting techniques to his arsenal, and performed the moves and strikes with more muscle stiffness than in traditional American style, in an effort to make his pro wrestling look more like a real fight. A style known as ''King's Road'' was created by [[Shohei Baba|Giant Baba]] which is similar but slightly different. This style is the dominant style used by [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]] (AJPW) descendants.

Overall, Watterson's satirical essays serve to attack both sides, criticizing both the commercial mainstream and the artists who are supposed to be "outside" it. Walking contemplatively through the woods, not long after he began drawing his "''Dinosaurs in Rocket Ships'' Series", Calvin tells Hobbes,

::The hard part for us avant-garde post-modern artists is deciding whether or not to embrace commercialism. Do we allow our work to be hyped and exploited by a market that's simply hungry for the next new thing? Do we participate in a system that turns high art into low art so it's better suited for mass consumption?

::Of course, when an artist goes commercial, he makes a mockery of his status as an outsider and free thinker. He buys into the crass and shallow values art should transcend. He trades the integrity of his art for riches and fame.

::Oh, what the heck. I'll do it.

Such sentiments echo Watterson's own struggles with his Syndicate over merchandising issues.

===Distorted reality=See also ==

* [[History of professional wrestling]]

Upon several occasions, Watterson began a strip with a distorted view of reality: inverted colors, all objects turning "neo-[[Cubism|Cubist]]", or the world turning to black-and-white without outlines, for example. Only Calvin is able to perceive these changes, which the reader can interpret as Calvin's way of seeing certain situations, issues and subjects which he has difficulty understanding or accepting.

===Terminology===

In the ''Tenth Anniversary Book,'' Watterson indicates that some of these strips were [[metaphor]]s for his own conflicts, typically against his Syndicate's desire to produce ''Calvin and Hobbes'' merchandise. Accused of only seeing issues in "black and white"(Calvin's reply of "Sometimes that's the way things are!" was directly taken from his response to this accusation)&mdash;''e.g.,'' crass commercialism versus artistic integrity, with nothing in between&mdash;Watterson chose to illustrate the situation literally, dropping Calvin into a world where everything ''had'' lost shades of grey. Conversely, the "neo-Cubist" strip emerged from the way Watterson found himself "paralyzed by being able to see all sides of an issue".

* [[Foreign object (professional wrestling)|Foreign object]]s (e.g. [[folding chair]])

* [[Professional wrestling aerial techniques]] (e.g. [[Shooting star press]], [[Moonsault]])

* [[Professional wrestling attacks]] (e.g. [[Leg drop]], [[Superkick]])

* [[Professional wrestling double-team maneuvers]] (e.g. [[Doomsday Device]])

* [[Professional wrestling finishers]]

* [[Professional wrestling holds]] (e.g. [[Boston crab]], [[Mandible claw]], [[Pinfall (professional wrestling)|Pinfall]], [[Sharpshooter (professional wrestling)|Sharpshooter]])

* [[Professional wrestling match types]]

* [[Professional wrestling tag team match types]]

* [[Professional wrestling tournament]]

* [[Professional wrestling school]]s

* [[Professional wrestling slang]]

* [[Professional wrestling throws]] (e.g. [[Backbreaker]], [[Brainbuster]], [[Chokeslam]], [[Cutter (professional wrestling)|Cutter]], [[DDT (professional wrestling)|DDT]], [[Facebuster]], [[Neckbreaker]], [[Piledriver (professional wrestling)|Piledriver]], [[Powerbomb]], [[Powerslam]], [[Stunner (professional wrestling)|Stunner]], [[Suplex]])

===PassageProfessional ofwrestling timeworldwide===

* [[Professional wrestling in Australia]]

When the strips were originally published, Calvin's settings were seasonally appropriate for the Northern hemisphere. Calvin would be seen building snowmen or sledding during the wintertime, and outside activities such as water balloon fights would replace school during the summer. [[Christmas]] and [[Halloween]] strips were run during those approximate times of year.

* [[Professional wrestling in Canada]]

* [[Professional wrestling in Japan]]

* [[Lucha libre|Professional wrestling in Mexico]]

* [[Professional wrestling in United Kingdom]]

* [[Professional wrestling in the United States]]

===Lists of wrestlers===

Although Watterson depicts several years' worth of holidays, school years, summer vacations, and camping trips, Calvin is never shown to age nor have any [[birthday]] celebrations (the only shown birthday was that of Susie Derkins). This is fairly common among comic strips; consider the children in [[Charles Schulz]]'s ''Peanuts,'' most of whom existed without aging for decades. Likewise, the characters in George Herriman's ''Krazy Kat'' celebrate the New Year but never grow old, and young characters like Ignatz Mouse's offspring never seem to grow up. Since this is such a common phenomenon, readers are likely to [[suspension of disbelief|suspend disbelief]], as most of them do about Calvin's precocious vocabulary, accepting that he "was never a literal six-year-old".<ref name="watterson1995" />.

* [[List of professional wrestlers]]

* [[List of professional wrestling stables]]

* [[List of real names of professional wrestlers]]

===Types of professional wrestling===

===Social criticisms===

* [[List of professional wrestling styles]]

In addition to his criticisms of [[Calvin and hobbes#Art and academia|art and academia]], Watterson often used the strip to comment on American culture and society. As the strip avoids reference to actual people or events, Watterson's commentary is necessarily generalized. He expresses frustration with public decadence and apathy, with commercialism, and the pandering nature of the mass media. Calvin is often seen "glued" to the television, while his father speaks with the voice of the author, struggling to impart his values on Calvin.

* [[Real Pro Wrestling]]

* [[Backyard wrestling]]

===Fantasy professional wrestling===

Hobbes also speaks on Calvin's unwholesome habits, but from a more cynical perspective; he is more likely to make a wry observation than actually intervene. Sometimes he merely looks on as Calvin inadvertently makes the point himself. In one instance, Calvin tells Hobbes about a story in which machines turn humans into zombie slaves. He then exclaims "Hey! What time is it?? My TV show is on!"

* [[E-wrestling]]

===Radio programs===

Calvin's taste in films is another way in which Watterson criticizes American culture. Films which Calvin has attempted to watch include ''Attack of the Coed Cannibals'', ''Cannibal Stewardess Vixens Unchained'', ''Killer Prom Queen'', ''Vampire Sorority Babes'', and ''Venusian Vampire Vixens.''

*[[Dave Meltzer#Wrestling Observer Live|Wrestling Observer Live]]

*[[talkSPORT]]

Calvin, as a whole, often appears to be obsessed with the less desirable aspects of pop culture, whereas Hobbes seems to serve as a mouth piece for the author.

*Monday Night Countdown, as featured on www.lordsofpain.net

* The Wright Report coming March 1st, 2007 to www.Wrestlingcountry.com

Furthermore, in times Calvin is the one doing the critisizing of culture. For example, when Calvin and Hobbes stumble onto a heap of litter, they get angered at the people who polute the world. This is another way of critisizing American society.

*[http://www.4swf.com Smart Wrestling Fan Wrestling Review Show Podcast]

==The main characters==

===Calvin===

{{main|Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes character)}}

[[Image:Calvin & Hobbes - Calvin.png|right|Calvin]]

Named after 16th century [[theology|theologian]] [[John Calvin]] (founder of [[Calvinism]] and a strong believer in [[predestination]]), Calvin is an impulsive, imaginative, energetic, curious, intelligent, self-centered, and often selfish six-year-old, whose last name the strip never gives. Despite his low grades, Calvin has a wide vocabulary range that rivals that of an adult as well as an emerging philosophical mind. He commonly wears his distinctive striped shirt. Watterson has described Calvin thus:

*"Calvin is pretty easy to do because he is outgoing and rambunctious and there's not much of a filter between his brain and his mouth".<ref name="williams1987">{{cite book

| last = Williams | first = Gene

| year = 1987

| title = Watterson: Calvin's other alter ego

| work = [[Cleveland Plain Dealer]]

}}</ref>

*"I guess he's a little too intelligent for his age. The thing that I really enjoy about him is that he has no sense of restraint, he doesn't have the experience yet to know the things that you shouldn't do".<ref name="simple" />

*"The socialization that we all go through to become adults teaches you not to say certain things because you later suffer the consequences. Calvin doesn't know that rule of thumb yet".<ref name="west1989" />

[[Predestination (Calvinism)|Calvinistic predestination]] as a philosophical position basically entails the idea that human action plays no part in affecting a person's ultimate [[Salvation#Christian views of salvation#Protestantism|salvation]] or [[Damnation#Religious|damnation]]. Calvin's consistent gripe is that the troublesome acts he commits are outside of his control: he is simply a product of his environment, a victim of circumstances.

===Hobbes===

''Main article: [[Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes character)]]

[[Image:Calvin & Hobbes - Hobbes.png|right|Hobbes]]

Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger who, from Calvin's perspective, is as alive and real as anyone in the strip. He is named after 17th century [[philosopher]] [[Thomas Hobbes]], who had what Watterson described as "a dim view of human nature." Hobbes is much more rational and aware of consequences than Calvin, but seldom interferes with Calvin's troublemaking beyond a few oblique warnings—after all, Calvin will be the one to get in trouble for it, not Hobbes.

====Hobbes' reality====

From Calvin's point of view, Hobbes is an [[anthropomorphic]] tiger, much larger than Calvin and full of his own attitudes and ideas. But when the perspective shifts to any other character, readers see merely a little stuffed tiger. This is, of course, an odd dichotomy, and Watterson explains it thus:

::When Hobbes is a stuffed toy in one panel and alive in the next, I'm juxtaposing the "grown-up" version of reality with Calvin's version, and inviting the reader to decide which is truer.<ref name="christie1987" />

For details, see the main [[Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes character)|Hobbes]] article.

==Supporting characters==

{{main|Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes}}

====Calvin's family====

[[Image:Calmomdad.gif|frame|right|Calvin's unnamed parents, always referred to only as "Mom" and "Dad".]]

Calvin's [[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Calvin's mother|mother]] and [[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Calvin's father|father]] are for the most part typical [[Middle America]]n [[middle class|middle-class]] parents; like many other characters in the strip, their relatively down-to-earth and sensible attitudes serve primarily as a foil for Calvin's outlandish behavior. Both parents go through the entire strip unnamed, except as "Mom" and "Dad", or such [[nickname|pet names]] as "hon" and "dear." Watterson has never given Calvin's parents names "because as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom and dad." This ended up being somewhat problematic when Calvin's Uncle Max was in the strip for a week and couldn't refer to the parents by name, and was one of the main reasons that Max never again appeared.

====Susie Derkins====

[[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Susie Derkins|Susie Derkins]], the only character with both first and last names, is a classmate of Calvin who lives in his neighborhood. She first appeared early in the strip as a new student in Calvin's class. In contrast with Calvin, she is polite and diligent in her studies, and her imagination usually seems mild-mannered and civilized, consisting of stereotypical young [[girl]] games such as playing house or having tea parties with her stuffed animals. "Derkins" was the nickname of Watterson's wife's childhood pet, and he liked the name so much he named this character after it. As much as either of them hate to admit, they're the only "real" friend each other has. (Susie is shown on occasion with a stuffed rabbit dubbed "Mr.Bun", and Calvin always has Hobbes.)

Watterson admits that Calvin and Susie have a bit of a nascent crush on each other, and that Susie is inspired by the type of women he himself finds attractive (which has led to speculation that Susie is based on Watterson's wife). Her relationship with Calvin, though, is frequently conflicted, and never really becomes sorted out, and the closest things are times when Calvin sends mediocre and crude valentnes gifts for his own enjoyment. (She feels he likes her enough to send her that gift, and he rejoices in her noticing.)

On occasion, Hobbes takes action to attract Susie's romantic attention, often with success, and much to Calvin's chagrin. Although on the surface these scenarios take the form of Hobbes teasing Calvin and showing off his charms, they may be Calvin's way to disguise his own crush on Susie, by pretending that it is Hobbes' crush instead. In one instance, he put Jams on Hobbes to make him look cool, but seems to get mad when she squeezes him and says Hobbes is cute, beacuse he thinks his friend is just showing off.

====Miss Wormwood====

[[Image:wormwood.gif|frame|right|80px|Miss Wormwood, Calvin's teacher]]

[[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Miss Wormwood|Miss Wormwood]] is Calvin's world-weary teacher, named after the apprentice devil in [[C.S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]''. She perpetually wears polka-dotted dresses, and is another character who serves as a foil to Calvin's mischief. Calvin, when in his [[Spaceman Spiff]] persona, sees Miss Wormwood as a slimy, often dictatorial alien. She is waiting to retire, takes a lot of medication, and is apparently a heavy smoker and drinker.

Although there is a definite progression of time in the Calvin and Hobbes universe, mainly exhibited by the changing seasons, Calvin (and Susie) return to Ms. Wormwood's first-grade class every fall.

====Rosalyn====

[[Image:Calroz.gif|thumb|left|90px|Rosalyn, Calvin's babysitter.]]

[[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Rosalyn|Rosalyn]] is a [[high school]] student and Calvin's official babysitter whenever Calvin's parents need a night out. She is the only babysitter able to tolerate Calvin's antics, which she uses to demand raises and advances from Calvin's desperate parents. She is also, according to Watterson, the only person Calvin truly fears&mdash;certainly she is his equal in cunning, and doesn't hesitate to play as dirty as he does. Originally created as a nameless, one-shot character with no plans to appear again, Watterson decided he wanted to retain her unique ability to intimidate Calvin, which, ultimately, led to many more appearances.

====Moe====

[[Image:Calmoe.gif|frame|right|80px|Moe, a bully at Calvin's school.]]

[[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes#Moe|Moe]] is the prototypical [[bully]] character in ''Calvin & Hobbes'', "a six-year-old who shaves" who is always shoving Calvin against walls, demanding his lunch money and calling him "Twinky". Moe is the only regular character who speaks in an unusual font: his (frequently monosyllabic) dialogue is shown in crude, lower-case letters. Watterson describes Moe as "every jerk I've ever known".

:''For more explanded information about the characters already listed, and for information on some more less notable characters see [[Secondary characters in Calvin and Hobbes|Secondary characters in ''Calvin and Hobbes'']].''

==Recurring subject matter==

There are several repeating themes in the work, a few involving Calvin's real life, and many stemming from his incredible imagination. Some of the latter are clearly flights of fancy, while others, like Hobbes, are of an apparently dual nature and don't quite work when presumed real ''or'' unreal.

===Monsters under the bed===

At night, Calvin is constantly terrorized by [[Monster|nightmarish creatures]] apparently living under his bed. Only Calvin and Hobbes are aware of them (there are occasions on which they attempt to bribe Hobbes into handing Calvin over, often with food). There appears to be no continuing theme to their appearance except that they are very intimidating, but none too bright, and they probably want to eat Calvin. Two of the monsters are named Maurice and Winslow, but it's unexplained whether it's the same monsters throughout the series, or indeed how many of them there are.

===G.R.O.S.S.===

G.R.O.S.S. is Calvin's anti-girl club, somewhat reminiscent of a South American-style [[banana republic]]. The name is an [[acronym]] that stands for '''G'''et '''R'''id '''O'''f '''S'''limy girl'''S''' (Calvin admits "slimy girls" is a bit redundant, "but otherwise it doesn't spell anything"). Based in a treehouse (with occasional meetings inside a cardboard box), the main objective of G.R.O.S.S. is to exclude girls, chiefly Calvin's neighbor Susie. Calvin and Hobbes are its only members, and wear newspaper ''chapeaux'' during meetings. Calvin and Hobbes spend most of their time in the club reworking its constitution and arguing about their bureaucratic roles and titles. Because the club exists specifically to harass girls, they sometimes plan missions to do so. After a mission they award themselves medals and promotions, regardless of their success. Calvin is G.R.O.S.S.'s "Supreme Dictator for Life", and Hobbes is "President and First Tiger". According to Calvin, their finest moment was when they locked Susie inside a closet when she had to stay at his house. Their anthem is generally unknown, but starts;

'Oh Gross,

Best Club in the Cosmos' <ref name="watterson1993">{{cite book

| authorlink = Bill Watterson

| last = Watterson | first = Bill

| title = The Days are Just Packed

| publisher = Andrews McMeel

| month = October

| year = 1993

| id = ISBN 0-836-21769-1

}}</ref>

===Mealtimes===

Lunchtime and dinnertime find Calvin eager to share his thoughts about the food he (or anyone else) is eating. Calvin's meals at home are generally depicted as a pile of unidentifiable green goop. Those eating with him are generally repulsed by his colorful descriptions of the cuisine, which is one of the reasons his parents seldom take him to restaurants. He also gives interesting commentary on his food during lunchtime at school, infuriating Susie (he once referred to his dish of beans 'n' franks as "cigar butts in a gallstone sauce"). In one case these descriptions &mdash; specifically referring to the contents of Calvin's school lunch as "a [[Thermos]] full of phlegm" &mdash; were ghastly enough that a newspaper cancelled the strip. Calvin's mother occasionally coaxes him to eat his dinner by informing him that they are serving some outlandish or stomach-turning dish &mdash; e.g. toxic waste (which Calvin's father informs him will "turn you into a [[mutant (fiction)|mutant]] if you eat it"), monkey heads, spider pie ("You can pick out the legs and give them to your dad if they're too hairy for you" his mom quips), soup with maggots in it &mdash; which Calvin then eats with relish, though his father usually no longer has an appetite (in the first such comic, however, the parents' roles are reversed). On occasion, his meals are also [[life|animate]], usually resulting in a fight with said food and leaving a large mess that strains his mother's patience and once, Calvin's meal performs [[Hamlet]]'s soliloquy in an overly formal style.

===Cardboard boxes===

Over the years Calvin has had quite a few adventures involving corrugated cardboard boxes, which he adapts for many different uses. His inventions include a [[Transmogrifier]], a flying [[Time travel|time machine]] and a [[duplicator]].

Building a transmogrifier is accomplished by turning a cardboard box upside-down, attaching an arrow to the side and writing a list of choices on the box. Upon turning the arrow to a particular choice and pushing a button, the transmogrifier instantaneously rearranges the subject's "chemical configuration" (accompanied by a loud ''zap'', or a ''boink''). Calvin makes his first foray into the world of transmogrification when he temporarily turns himself into a tiger, but he finds the experience disappointing. Calvin re-uses some of this technology when he cleverly converts an ordinary water gun into a portable transmogrifier gun, a device which saves his life when he finds himself falling from high altitude.

The time machine is built by flipping the transmogrifier back so that the opening faced upwards again. One uses it by donning a pair of goggles (in order to "contend with vortexes and light speeds") and climbing into the vehicle. Facing the front makes the machine go forward in time, and facing backwards makes it travel into the past. Calvin and Hobbes discover these time travel mechanics when they attempt to go into the future in order to bring back a few futuristic inventions and patent them in the present, securing a fortune for themselves. However, they face the wrong way and end up in the [[Jurassic]] period, bringing them face-to-face with a very large dinosaur. In another storyline Calvin tries to solve his homework by traveling to the future, planning to pick the finished work up from his future self, "8:30 Calvin". The obvious faults of logic unsurprisingly cause the plan to fail and instead the "Hobbeses" of two different times do Calvin's homework, writing a story making fun of "Calvin, the timetravelling chowderhead" while the Calvins of three(!) different times blame each other for failing to complete the homework.

A Duplicator is crafted by turning the box on its side. Whatever is put in the box will be duplicated with a ''boink'' sound (hence the book title, ''Scientific Progress Goes Boink''). Calvin envisions having a small team of duplicate Calvins whom he could send off to school, so he could go about his own business during school days. However, the new Calvins prove to be exact replicas, with the same reluctance to go to school, and thus become difficult to control. Calvin later adds an "[[Ethics|Ethicator]]" switch to his duplicator, allowing a duplicate to be designated "good" or "evil," since he believes that a duplicate of his well-buried "good side" could cause no harm. This experiment is successful at first, with the "good" duplicate willingly doing Calvin's homework and going to school, but soon this adventure too leads to disaster when the duplicate starts being nice to Susie Derkins (whom Calvin "hates"). This leads to a physical confrontation between Calvin and the duplicate, prompting Hobbes to remark, "You're the only person I know whose 'good' side is prone to badness."

Briefly, the cardboard box is used for Calvin's costume of "The World's Most Powerful Computer," in which Calvin walks around with the box over his head and a mechanical face sketched onto the surface of the box. This is only used two or three times throughout the entire strip.

Calvin's last cardboard box invention is the Cerebral Brain Enhance-o-tron, which combined with a [[colander]] creates a "thinking cap," a garment which enhances his mental prowess (inadvertently causing his head to swell in addition). Upon activation, this machine goes ''brzap.'' Like his other inventions, the Cerebral Enhance-o-tron fails to change his life; even with his "cerebral augmentation," he is unable to write a school report up to Miss Wormwood's standards.

Most of the other characters do not see his inventions as "real." For example, when Calvin transmogrifies himself into an owl or a tiger, his parents do not observe the transformation; only he and Hobbes see the change, and when they traveled back in time to photograph dinosaurs, Calvin's dad told Calvin that the dinosaurs in the photos looked too "plastic". However, they do seem to see Calvin's duplicates as Calvin's mom recalls sending Calvin out of the kitchen, to his room (to which the Calvin she saw replied "I'm not Calvin, I'm his duplicate!") even though Calvin was outside at the time. This is a similar dilemma to that of Hobbes' existence (see [[Calvin and Hobbes#Hobbes.27 reality|above]]).

===Wagon and sled===

Calvin and Hobbes frequently ride downhill in a [[wagon]], [[sled]], or [[toboggan]] (depending on the season) and ponder the meaning of life, death, God, and a variety of other weighty subjects as they hurtle downhill. The wagon and sled were conceived because of Bill Watterson's aversion to "talking heads" comic strips, as a way of making them visually exciting. The course of the vehicle and the obstacles that the characters negotiate as they travel also frequently serve as metaphors for and parallel to the subject of conversation, and the rides almost always end in a spectacular crash.

The wagon temporarily served as a spacecraft when Calvin and Hobbes realized that the human race was laying waste to Earth by polluting it. They decided to go live on [[Mars]], but returned soon after when they realized that the native Martians (or, "weirdos from another planet") were terrified of Earthlings. This may have been a case of rumor preceding them; the prospect of terrestrial life polluting Mars as well as Earth was a bleak one. Although this particular wagon ride did not end in a crash, it once again served as an outlet for a subject matter of importance.

===Snowballs and snowmen===

During winter, Calvin often engages in snowball fights (which he almost always loses), usually throwing them at Susie but always resulting in Calvin getting buried in the snow as retaliation. He sometimes teams up with Hobbes for snowball fights, but Hobbes usually uses Calvin's impression that Hobbes is on his side to throw the snowballs at him easier.

Calvin also builds [[snowmen]]; but these are usually grotesque, monstrous deformed creatures (i.e., two-headed snowmen, snow monster with tentacles devouring a bunch of snowmen, a snowman who grabs another snowman's head and uses it as a [[bowling ball]], a snowman who scoops [[ice cream]] out of the back of a dead snowman, or snowmen getting hanged, buried giant snow monster destroying other snow men or holding their heads in their hands, or one particular example of a prostrate snowman seemingly beneath the parked family car, surrounded by a host of worried 'snow-onlookers', etc.) Once, while walking down the street during winter looking at the snowmen in front of the neighbors' houses, Calvin's father exclaims to his wife, "You can always tell when you get to our house", due to Calvin's being the only one on the block who builds deformed snowmen.

One time Calvin found [[Susie Derkins]] making her own snow-woman, complete with shoulder-length hair and breasts; showing contempt for this type of anatomically correct snowperson, he makes an antomically ''male'' snowman of his own. In one storyline, Calvin builds a snowman and brings it to life using the power "invested in him by the mighty and awful snow demons", which turns evil (reminiscent of the film ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]''.) The snowman turns itself into a "deranged mutant killer monster snow goon" by giving itself two heads and three arms, and makes copies of itself that are eventually defeated by Calvin.

Calvin, unlike Hobbes, thinks of snowmen as a fine art. Bill Watterson has said that this is to parody art's "pretentious blowhards".<ref name="watterson1995" /> Once, out of ideas, Calvin signed the snow-covered landscape with a stick and declared all the world's snow as his own work of art.

===Dinosaurs===

Calvin enjoys [[dinosaurs]] very much; they are perhaps the only subject which he studies of his own free will. Carnivorous dinosaurs also frequently serve as Calvin's alter-egos; for instance, he will often imagine himself as a [[tyrannosaurus rex]] on the hunt, usually with Susie Derkins as the "peaceful" herbivore. Once Calvin was an [[allosaur]], and Moe was a [[Ultrasaurus]]. Moe was at the drinking fountain and Calvin wanted to push him off, but the [[allosaurus]] was of course no match for the Ultrasaurus; when he tried to attack it, he quickly shied off. Another Sunday strip involved Calvin, a tyrannosaurus, attacking Susie, a ''[[hadrosaurus]]'', with a snowball. The tyrannosaurus was quickly chased away, prompting Calvin to throw away his dinosaur books. Calvin once claimed he had discovered a new species of [[therapod]], a ''Calvinosaurus'', a predator so large that it "could devour a whole [[sauropod]] with one bite."

===Calvinball===

Calvinball is a game played almost exclusively by Calvin and Hobbes as a rebellion against organized team sports (like [[baseball]]), although the babysitter Rosalyn plays on one occasion. Calvinball is played with whatever implements are available - a volleyball and wickets are almost always used - and the rules are invented as the game goes along. The sole consistent rule is that the rules can never be the same twice (which in itself is a [[Liar paradox|self-denying paradox]]). Either player may change any rule at any time, so the only way to break them is by using a rule twice. All players wear masks; when asked why, Calvin replies that "no one is allowed to question the masks." Scoring is also entirely arbitrary: Hobbes has reported scores of "Q to 12" and "oogy to boogy." Calvinball is essentially a game of wits and creativity, rather than purely physical feats, and in this Hobbes is typically more successful than Calvin himself. Calvinball could be described as a [[Nomic]] game, and thus bears a similarity to others such as [[Mornington Crescent (game)|Mornington Crescent]].

The reader first encounters the game after Calvin's horrible experience with school baseball. He registers to play baseball in order to avoid being teased by the other boys. While daydreaming in the outfield, he misses the switch and ends up making an out against his own team. His classmates mock him and, when he decides to walk away, his coach calls him a "quitter." That Saturday, Calvin and Hobbes play Calvinball, a game far removed from any organized sport. Even Calvin and Hobbes's own attempts to play organized sports between themselves usually deteriorate into Calvinball, as they end up inventing increasingly bizarre rules that cause whatever sport they were initially playing to spiral out of control.

The concept of "playing Calvinball" continues to appear in popular culture, usually when describing a situation in which the rules are changed according to someone's whims. For example: "...it doesn't really deal with the Congressional incentive to play Calvinball with the budget".[http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?entry=3124]

Watterson has stated that the greatest number of questions he receives concern Calvinball and how to play it.<ref name="watterson1995" />

===School and homework===

Calvin hates school and its attendant early-morning risings, irate teachers, homework, and fellow students. Often his mother has to force the unwilling Calvin to go up to the [[school bus]]. Occasionally he manages to avoid the bus, and his mother has to chase him down and force him to board or drive him to school. Calvin often waits for the bus with Hobbes and explains why an intelligent boy like himself does not need school. While at school, he commonly visualizes the building as a hostile planet and his teacher and principal as vicious aliens. Calvin usually lacks the company of Hobbes at school. Sometimes Hobbes does his homework and reading while Calvin watches TV or reads comic books. In general, Calvin is depicted as a poor student who is unable to concentrate in class, has difficulty interacting with other students, and struggles with homework. On occasion, he gets good marks and positive feedback for work, but these are usually short-lived victories.

Also on occasion, Calvin's inability to concentrate in class is compromised by inserting the class subject into his daydream, causing him to get the right answer. This includes spelling "disaster" while crash-landing on an alien world and blurting out the right answer at (from his point of view) a completely random moment or mistakenly giving Susie the right answer to "the capital of Poland before 1600" while making noises for his guns-'Krakow'. On some occasions his teacher, Ms. Wormwood, accepts an eccentric answer. Such as on one occasion when asked what [US] state he lived in, Calvin curtly replied "Denial." Ms. Wormwood is seen walking away from his desk in the next frame muttering, "I don't suppose I can argue with that."

It should be noted that his dislike of school does not necessarily mean that Calvin is unintelligent; the strip often depicts him as being very smart, in fact, with unusual knowledge of philosophy and odd vocabulary. Rather, Calvin seems to dislike school because of its rules and forced learning of things which he is not necessarily interested in. In one strip, Calvin's father asks why he doesn't try harder at school, considering how much he loves to learn about subjects like dinosaurs; Calvin simply replies that they don't learn about dinosaurs in school.

==Calvin and Hobbes books==

:''For the complete list of books, see [[List of Calvin and Hobbes books]].

[[Image:The Essential Calvin and Hobbes.png|200px|thumb|right|The first ''Calvin and Hobbes'' treasury.]]

There are eighteen ''Calvin and Hobbes'' books, published from 1987 to 2005. These include eleven ''collections'', which form a complete archive of the newspaper strips, except for a single daily strip from [[November 28]], [[1985]]. (The collections ''do'' contain a strip for this date, but it is not the same strip that appeared in some newspapers. The alternate strip, a joke about Hobbes taking a bath in the [[washing machine]], has circulated around the [[Internet]].) "Treasuries" usually combine the two preceding collections with bonus material, and include color reprints of Sunday comics.

A complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes strips, in three hardcover volumes, with a total 1440 pages, was released on [[October 4]], [[2005]], by [[Andrews McMeel]] Publishing. It also includes color prints of the art used on paperback covers, the Treasuries' extra illustrated stories and poems, and a new introduction by Bill Watterson, who is now happily teaching himself to paint. It is notable, however, that the alternate 1985 strip is still omitted, and two other strips ([[January 7]], [[1987]], and [[November 25]], [[1988]]) have altered dialogue.

To celebrate the release, Calvin and Hobbes reruns were made available to newspapers from Sunday, [[September 4]], [[2005]], through Saturday, [[December 31]], [[2005]], and Bill Watterson answered a select dozen questions submitted by readers.<ref name="thereturnn">{{cite web | url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/thereturn | title=Calvin and Hobbes - We're Back! | date=September 4, 2005 | publisher=Universal Press Syndicate | accessdate=2006-03-17}}</ref><ref name="returning">{{cite news | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/returning.html | title=Calvin and Hobbes Returning to Newspapers — Sort Of | publisher=Editor and Publisher | author=David Astor | date=May 20, 2005}}</ref> Like current contemporary strips, weekday Calvin and Hobbes strips now appear in color print when available, instead of black and white as in their first run.

Early books were printed in smaller format in black and white that were later reproduced in twos in color in the "Treasuries" (''Essential'', ''Authoritative'', and ''Indispensable'') &ndash; except for the contents of ''Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons''. Those Sunday strips were never reprinted in color until the ''Complete'' collection was finally published in 2005. Every book since ''Snow Goons'' has been printed in a larger format with Sundays in color and weekday and Saturday strips larger than they appeared in most newspapers.

Remaining books do contain some additional content; for instance, ''The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book'' contains a long [[watercolor]] Spaceman Spiff epic not seen elsewhere until ''Complete'', and ''The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book'' contains much original commentary from Watterson. ''Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995'' contains 36 Sunday strips in color alongside Watterson's original sketches, prepared for an exhibition at The [[Ohio State University]] Cartoon Research Library.

An officially licensed children's textbook entitled ''Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes'' was published as part of a limited single print-run in 1993.<ref name="twch" /> The book includes various ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strips together with lessons and questions to follow, such as "What do you think the principal meant when he said they had ''quite a file'' on Calvin?" (p108).

==See also==

*[[Calvin and Hobbes in translation]]

*[[Comic and cartoon characters named after people]]

*[[Horrendous Space Kablooie]]

*[[List of fictional films#Fictional films from Calvin and Hobbes|List of fictional films in ''Calvin and Hobbes'']]

*[[References to Calvin and Hobbes|References to ''Calvin and Hobbes'']]

*[[Setting of Calvin and Hobbes|Setting of ''Calvin and Hobbes'']]

*[[Bill Watterson]]

*[[List of Calvin and Hobbes books]]

==References==

<div class="references-small"/>

<references />

</div>

==External links==

{{Wikiquote}}

{{commons|Calvin and Hobbes}}

:''The following links were last verified [[14 March]] [[2006]].

===Official websites:===

*{{cite web | url=http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes | title=Official ''Calvin and Hobbes'' site | accessdate=2006-03-17}}

*{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/ | title=Publisher Andrews McMeel's official ''Calvin and Hobbes'' site | accessdate=2006-03-17}}

{{featured article}}

===Fan websites:===

*[http://www.calvinandhobbeshideout.com/ ''Calvin and Hobbes'' Hideout] URL accessed [[March 17]], [[2006]]

*[http://www.simplych.com/ Simply ''Calvin and Hobbes''] URL accessed [[March 18]], [[2006]]

*[http://ignatz.brinkster.net/calvin.html ''Calvin and Hobbes'': Magic on Paper] URL accessed [[March 29]], [[2006]]

==External links==

===Articles/Misc.:===

*{{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/id/2129373 | title=The last great newspaper comic strip | publisher=Slate magazine | author=Chris Suellentrop | date=November 7, 2005}}

*{{cite news | url=http://www.dailyrepublican.com/calvin-hobbes.html | title=Truth About Calvin & Hobbes and Daily Republican Editors | publisher=The Daily Republican | date=December 10, 1996}}

*{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100301754.html | title=The Tiger Strikes Again | publisher=The Washington Post | date=October 4, 2005 | author=Neely Tucker}}

*{{cite web | url=http://www.theheartofgold.org/jumpstation/calvin_radio_show_www.theheartofgold.org_jumpstation.mp3 | publisher=CBC Canada | year=1995 | format=mp3 | title=Radio show in which fans of the comic strip expressend their views about the ending of ''Calvin and Hobbes''}}

* [http://www.houseofdeception.com/Pro_Wrestling_History.html House of Deception] Golden Age 1911-1979: bibliography, photos, etc.

For many more related links, see the [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Comics/Comic_Strips_and_Panels/C/Calvin_and_Hobbes/ ''Calvin and Hobbes'' listing] at the [[Open Directory Project]]

* [http://www.riverhorse.tv/CATCH/ website of documentary Catch - the hold not taken on the history of pro wrestling]

* [http://dmoz.org/Sports/Wrestling/Professional/ DMOZ]

* [http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com ProWrestlingHistory.com]

* [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/ Pro Wrestling Title Histories]

* [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/home/index.html Obsessed with wrestling - biographies, results, title histories, etc]

* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-41-1237/sports/prowrestling/ CBC Digital Archives – Cross Country Smackdown: Pro Wrestling in Canada]

You can find all of this at our sister website www.wrestlingcountry.com

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