Imagination and Meaning in Calvin and Hobbes

From 1985 to 1995, the syndicated comic strip Calvin and Hobbes followed the antics of a precocious six-year-old boy and his sardonic stuffed tiger. At the height of its popularity, the strip ran in more than 2,400 newspapers and generated a fan base that continues to run in the millions. This critical analysis of Calvin and Hobbes explores Calvin's world as an intertextual space, revealing a deep reservoir of meanings. Close readings of individual strips highlight the profundity of Calvin's world with respect to a number of life's big questions, including what an individual values, friendship, God, death, and other struggles in life. By engaging with Calvin and Hobbes as more than ""just"" a comic strip, this work demonstrates how the imagination remains an invaluable resource for making sense of the world in which we live.