365 T-shirts - the reasoning

This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.

I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.

I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.

When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.

The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.

I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.

Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.
(Second Update - 1310.24. First Update - 1306.05 Originally Posted - 1304.25.)

Sunday, July 21, 2013

T-shirt #122: Calvin and Hobbes

T-shirt #122: Calvin and Hobbes

I am not supposed to have a Calvin and Hobbes T-shirt. Apologies to Bill Watterson. Also, thank yous to my friends Neil and Yvette Southwell who sent me this shirt from Malaysia, where American legal restrictions were not a problem.

Back in the 1990s, before the Internet was so easily accessible (hey, kids, we had to "dial" into it and it tied up the phone line) and before everything and more was actually available ON the Internet, commerce crawled along at a much slower pace. Back then, Bill Watterson's lock down on merchandising for his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, which is the single GREATEST COMIC STRIP EVER MADE, was much more effective. Despite my greatest respect for Mr. Watterson and his choices, I still wanted a T-shirt when my friends reported seeing knock offs in Malaysia and offered to send me one. I did not wear the shirt too often as I felt intense guilt for circumventing Watterson's wishes about merchandising. Now, knock-off merchandising, such as the image of Calvin urinating on a Ford logo, are ubiquitous. AND if you Google "Calvin and Hobbes T-shirts," many delightful choices display on your screen. Times have changed. Time for owning another C&H shirt or six? PERHAPS.

Calvin and Hobbes has brought me great joy. Thank you, Mr. Watterson. You made my life richer because of your fantastic art and stories.

RANKINGS OF BEST COMIC STRIPS - CALVIN AND HOBBES WINS

There is little dispute (or there should be little dispute) that Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest comic strip ever created. A few sites do not have it as number one. I found one stupid site that did not have Calvin and Hobbes in the top ten.  In fact, I would argue that it is one of the very best entertainment works ever created in any medium or genre! (But such is an argument for another time.)

As you know -- or you may not know but are learning right now -- I am not one for ultimate or absolute statements. I have a lot of love, and I like to spread it around. But I have no hesitation in proclaiming that Calvin and Hobbes is far and away, above and beyond, infinitely THE GREATEST COMIC STRIP EVER MADE.

Back of today's shirt
There are many great strips that I love -- Bloom County, Peanuts, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, BC, Wizard of Id, Prince Valiant, Get Fuzzy, Speedbump, the Far Side, For Better or For Worse, Sally Forth, POGO, and more -- but Calvin and Hobbes takes the top spot. If you need more convincing, or if you agree and you want to investigate, check out the following links.

Though the following link is missing GET FUZZY, which is current and should place in a top ten, this is good one, and for the most part, I agree

IANTHECOOL - TOP TEN COMIC STRIPS

These are also good rankings though not my favorites from what I have found online.

HELIOPHON: Why Calvin and Hobbes is one of the best comic strips ever

SABOTAGE TIMES: CALVIN AND HOBBES - THE GREATEST COMIC STRIP OF ALL TIME!

BY FAN VOTE: Rankopedia - Best Comic Strip Ever

Want to vote? Try RANKER. It requires no log in and the ads are not very intrusive.

This T-shirt moved up on my blog entry list because of the following news that I just found out about (it's hardly "breaking news" as this news has been circulating since 2009 and I missed it until now):

THERE'S GOING TO BE A DOCUMENTARY!!

Check out these links and the trailer:

DOCUMENTARY!! - NEWS ARTICLE AT FANBOY

THE DOCUMENTARY WEBSITE:  Dear Mr. Watterson

I am very excited about this documentary. A film devoted to the love of Calvin and Hobbes? Really? And I thought I was excited when I kicked in to the Kickstarters for the WeAreBatman movie, the Amazing Randi movie, and the Veronica Mars movie.


Dear Mr. Watterson Trailer



It was a sad day (Nov. 9th 1995) when Watterson announced that he was ending the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip at the end of that year. Like so many fans, I felt a HUGE sense of loss. I was a devoted DAILY follower. Every day I would grab the paper to read my favorite strip. If I did not grab the paper for a couple of days, the newspapers MUST remain accessible so I could catch up. When I went on vacation, the comic pages had to be saved. When I was in Europe, I had massive withdrawal and could not believe that no one published the American strips.


Calvin and Hobbes was a part of my daily life and brought me great joy and comfort.


And yet, I understood Watterson's decision. His explanation (find it on the Wiki about him HERE) was succinct and clear. He did not want to "run it into the ground." I get it. I was sad. I am sad. But I get it. There are ten years of daily strips collected in books. It's enough.

Watterson is intensely private. He has declined many opportunities for interviews and biographies. He did speak to the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2010, and again the remarks are on the Wiki page (see previous link) in which he explained a bit further. He does not regret ending the strrip when he did, and after much thought, neither do I.

And yet, a documentary about the strip will surely be AWESOME. As one of the earliest Kickstarters, the film Dear Mr. Watterson promises to be wonderful (if the trailer is any indication). It will premiere in November of 2013. I am counting the days.

Last comment on merchandising, and then I am going to present some of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips (more Watterson and less me today). It sounds like a great idea to have a Calvin and Hobbes Christmas show on TV, Calvin and Hobbes stuffed toys, stickers, play sets, polo shirts, pajamas, bed sheets, limited edition statues, book ends, lamps, waste baskets, refrigerator magnets, and so on. And yet, my love for the strip may be diminished. For the most part, despite knock offs, the strip exists just as the strip: the art and the story.

It exists JUST as Watterson intended it.

This is as it should be.

MY ALL-TIME TOP THREE FAVORITE CALVIN AND HOBBES STRIPS

NUMBER ONE - NAILS IN THE COFFEE TABLE



NUMBER TWO - THE TOASTER 




NUMBER THREE - THE RECORD (LP)


OTHER FAVOURITE CALVIN AND HOBBES STRIPS

Surely, if I re-read all my Calvin and Hobbes books (which I may do before the documentary premiere in November) , I would probably have other choices. I like a lot of "Calvin the Bold" sequences. There was also the break-in story and the raccoon story; both of which were excellent. I loved the sequence in which Calvin transformed himself into a Tiger. There's Stupendous Man and Spaceman Spiff. So many great ones.
There's omissions here simply because I am not loading up several hundred strips. But these were among the best I found skimming current online resources. Enjoy.












PERFECT strip to end with today...

FOR MORE CALVIN AND HOBBES

- 25 GREAT CALVIN AND HOBBES STRIPS

- 10 BEST CALVIN AND HOBBES STRIPS
The preceding link also has a short film inspired by Calvin and Hobbes and some other goodies.

- 10 GREAT CALVIN AND HOBBES STRIPS

- WHEN WE FIRST MET - CAST OF CALVIN AND HOBBES

- chris tower - 1307.21 - 9:38


2 comments:

  1. Dude, you nailed it. I didn't choose to be created, but to be here for C&H and thirtysomething eases the bitterness.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, dude. Great perspective. None of us chose to be created, but surely our lives are all richer because of C&H. I realize I have left the books in boxes or on unexamined shelves too long.
    I now have one on my coffee table, especially since Liesel confessed to never having read it.

    ReplyDelete