On ‘Calvin and Hobbes’

Cathy Curtis’ article about the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” (“To Lichtenstein and Back,” Dec. 25) is one of the most ridiculous I have read. It had the feel of a college freshman’s term paper, one that probably deserved only a C+ at best. Curtis describes how “Calvin” creator Bill Watterson supposedly uses his strip as a forum to editorialize on “the effect of commercialism on fine art and rampant cultural illiteracy” and the “simple-minded” notion that “contemporary art is far deeper than it appears.”

Curtis apparently misses the irony in the fact that she herself interprets “Calvin and Hobbes” to be far deeper than it appears. Granted, it’s probably the wittiest and best-drawn strip on the funny pages, but let’s not get carried away. I’m reminded of one past strip where Calvin is building a snowman and there’s the following exchange between him and Hobbes:

Hobbes: How’s your snow art progressing?

Calvin: I’ve moved into abstraction.

Hobbes: I notice your oeuvre is monochromatic.

Calvin: Well c’mon, it’s just snow.

Fortunately, Watterson doesn’t take himself as seriously as Curtis does.

MELISSA HENRY

Garden Grove