thelittledeformednut

Oh WOW what a lovely portrait!

This is the FUNNIEST SHIT I HAVE EVER SEEN

Reblogging for cultural enrichment

changing it from Sally intentionally petrifying Gabe to Gabe accidentally petrifying himself misses the entire point of Gabe's fate and disregards the power of Sally's choice. "If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself. I have to . . . find the courage on my own. Your quest has reminded me of that."

honestly this change is the most concise example of how the show truly just doesn't Get It because sure in the most general sense, the show's hitting the same plot points.... but its using an entirely different path to get there and then acting as if that didn't change the entire meaning behind it. Like Gabe getting petrified in the books isn't just about him getting his comeuppance its about him getting his comeuppance via Sally (and Percy.) It's about Sally finally being able to take control of a situation where she couldn't before. It's about Sally being able to live for herself. But in the show, Gabe getting petrified is just like, impersonal karmic retribution at best. A consequence of his own making that fails to capture the power of the original story. It misses the point.

The fact this isn't a painting is a testament to one of the greatest feats of set design and production I've ever seen.

I think this is the first time I've ever been wowed by "this ISN'T a painting"!

I thinks folks expressing incredulity at the quality of the writing and composition in Calvin and Hobbes are often missing the context that Bill Watterson is arguably the most influential sequential artist of his generation. Like, this is a guy who once told the editors of nationally syndicated newspapers to go fuck themselves when they wanted to mess with his panel layouts, and not only did he keep his job, he got his way. He could have had literally any gig he wanted, and he chose to be the Sunday funnies guy because that's what made him happy. He's basically the Weird Al of sequential art.

Watterson considers comics to be as true an art form as painting and films and literature, capable of reaching just as high as any other medium. Calvin and Hobbes isn't accidentally high art. Watterson made it what it is on purpose. And when he was done, he stopped. No movie, no spinoff, no reboot. He considers the comic to be its completed form, in exactly the medium it is supposed to be. He believed in comics in a way few others ever have, and he fought tooth and nail for the right to take his own work, jokes and all, seriously.