imaginary friend

when you talk about having an imaginary friend, there's no one in mind better than the highly imaginative boy named calvin. calvin is a six year old boy that has an energetic and sardonic albeit stuffed tiger named hobbes as an imaginary friend. calvin and hobbes are characters that have been creatively put together by the talented bill watterson in a comic strip called calvin and hobbes.

why i love calvin and hobbes? for me, seeing calvin is like seeing myself when i was a young boy. not to say that i had a stuffed tiger and have him as an imaginary friend, but similar to that i would spend my whole day daydreaming and carry with me what most malaysian would refer to as "bantal busuk". similar to a favourite blanket. last but not least, the love that exists between them reminds me of the unconditional love that we have for the ones that we love and how we would go great distance for them.

why i have high admiration for bill watterson? staying true to his beliefs, waterson has a strong anti-merchandising stance. there are almost no legitimate calvin and hobbes merchandise exists outside of the book collections and not to mention the characters were never appeared on tv compared to other comics such as garfield and peanuts. by doing so, readers are left to...imagine...such as how calvin's voice sounds like, etc.

the 3,160th and final strip ran on sunday, december 31, 1995. 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... let's go exploring!" calvin exclaims as they zoom off on their sled, leaving, according to one critic ten years later, "a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill"...bill watterson, my hats off to you...adieu

yours truly
ttmb