Heh, this is great! But I wonder if Calvin’s super hero alter ego Stupendous Man will be mentioned by name or in any other way, like if C.A.L. even makes a mention of calling himself that.
I love Cal paying for the food. His completely capricious sociopathic personality is exactly what he should be weaponized. And the art is catching up – that smooth-faced, well-groomed, more angular look in the last panel is a great counter to Chuck.
Hobbes can also be sophisticated and civil; providing Cal at key moments with sage advice (now that I think of it, who’s the bigger sociopath; at least Cal is fundamentally driven to mayhem, Hobbes is more reflective)…
C’mon, Captcha, how the hell do I put an accent mark over a letter?
The opening shot shows a very sweet, if grizzly, scene. CAL’s easy-going smile, smooth features (very non-traditional for a villain… or traditional for a sociopath) and Hobbes amidst all the carnage. Very sweet. (The Chuck-like protruding chin returns for a frame as CAL exits though.)
Also loved the triple-claw marks on everyone’s head, but that end-shot was also jaw-dropping amazing. You couldn’t ask for a better head-shot of this new Spaceman Spiff at his controls. A nice mix with the teeth and bolts sticking out.
And the dialog? Inspiring. I could JYB joining up with Joe Kelly or Christopher Priest.
(I could SEE… JYB joining up with Joe Kelly or Christopher Priest.)
@ Chyll Will
I could see something akin to Grimlock from the recent Transformer “Shattered Glass” mirror stories. Grimlock is a huge sadist who thinks of what he is doing as refined. And talks with a stupid accent — transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Grimlock_(Shattered_Glass)
(Yes I, pakopako, am a nerd on multiple levels, eh wot?)
The thing to note here is the way H.O.B is the opposite of Hobbes: Hobbes was only a stuffed tiger when others saw him and H.O.B. only turned into a death machine when C.A.L v1n was away.
Also, I suspect we’ll see Honey again, refitted into Susie Derkins (that CAL v1n took her alive).
The more I think about this, the more brilliant it gets, especially with the visual contrast between Chuck and CAL. It’s great because of the synergy with the original comics and their starkly different tones. Despite the absurdity of the world, Charlie Brown was always innocent, hard-working and upbeat whenever possible – classic 50s values in reaction to stress. Calvin, though, reacted by completely withdrawing, fighting it tooth and nail and warping himself in the process – the postmodern view. WB has perfectly captured how the two would update in the future, with Chuck still fighting his alienation and the perceived betrayal of his values, and CAL reveling in the fact that no one has any values at all anymore except survival of the fittest. There’s so much at stake here – the four most iconic characters in comics history are having a showdown, not just between themselves but between two completely incompatible ways of dealing with the pain of the world.
@ David: it’s a famous Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin refers to Hobbes as mandibles of death when the get broken in and the police officer is interviewing the family
@ Alexander: it’s a satire.. JY has to alter the names slightly.
I called it; all the carnage happened off-screen, and by the time CALv1N returns Doll Doll is soft again. And everyone else is rather squishy.
@JY: Could we see a non-shaded version of that outhouse from last Monday’s strip, so that we can see all the undeniably clever references scribbled therein? Perhaps on a Friday, to help shorten the gap between strips? If so, thank you.
— uleation snares (and I don’t even know what it is).
I actually see some anime influences in the first large panel, mainly in CAL’s expression. Anime villains, particularly the good-looking but untrustworthy ones, are often depicted as always smiling with their eyes seemingly shut. Just a thought.
Panel 1: HOBS is lying atop Pasquale. Also, that’s undoubtedly Jimbo in the extreme foreground at the left even though all that’s really visible is an eye, an ear, and his iconic hat. Rosie is presumably dead as well (based on dialog from the previous comic) and that may be her hand lying atop the second stool. The blurry one behind Calvin in the booth is Snake-eye, and the legs we can see across from him in the same booth is probably part of Snooks; the rest of Snooks is somewhat hidden behind the second stool.
The ones in the booth closest to us must be the “Wee Pals” characters. I wouldn’t feel too bad about not recognizing them; I don’t remember them either from the newspaper or their incarnation as the “Kid Power” cartoon, and from what I can tell, it’s not a big loss. (If the online samples I’ve seen are representative, it looks like a sort of racially integrated version of Bazooka Joe, except less funny.)
Panel 2: A Wee Pal in the booth, Pasquale on the floor.
Panel 3: Presumably Rosie, which calls the identity of the hand in Panel 1 into question, as both of them are right hands but one of them is palm up and the other is palm down. Maybe CAL moved it so he could sit down for a moment.
Panel 6: Snake-eye in the background and the same Wee Pal from panel 2 in the foreground.
Sorry, but I don’t quite follow. Is C.A.L imagining a real tiger as a toy or did he himself as his alter ego kill all those men (and manly women) while his consciousness thought he was taking a piss or is this something to be revealed later in the plot?
Pure genius, this is getting so much better and better.
OK, now that we have some extended dialog, what voice are we hearing it in? I know I’ve heard some here say they hear Chuck in a Willis-like voice, so what voice is Cal? Just wondering….
punx, I’m pretty sure everybody in the comic talks with a Bruce Willis voice. Chuck talks with a dark, old Bruce voice; Cal talks with the young, snarky Bruce voice.
@Mikey: See, I have a range of voices for them all in my head, and some of them are more relatable than others, such as the short amount of dialog from the Boondocks crew are obviously the ones from the animated series, Regina King and John Witherspoon.
Chuck has always been gritty, but I can only say it’s somewhere between my Wolverine, Lobo and Eastwood voices. If in a case like Afro Samurai they needed a star voice and they chose Willis I would not complain…..much 😉
When someone mentioned the Snake Eyes/Danny Trejo comparison, I had that voice set from that point on, Snookie had a Baby Huey thing going on, but Cal I haven’t nailed down just yet but as a younger version of the Chuck voice is probably what I will end up with, since I still think my theory from last update is true and Cal is the T-1000 to Chuck’s T-800, which would account for the similarity of facial features (at least so far)
First-time posting (been a fan since Chuck was duking it out with that one legionarre fellow back in Bone City.) At any rate, if Chuck is Bruce Willis, then I’m imagining that C.A.L. would be Jason Statham. I could easily see him covering for C.A.L. with his voice.
I imagine CAL with a voice like Jeremy Renner or Mark Damon – much less gruff than Willis, but still somewhat gravelly when the situation calls for it. Also, a wider range of vocal pitch so that CAL’s sociopathy can really shine through via the inflections of his voice.
Discussion (35) ¬
Heh, this is great! But I wonder if Calvin’s super hero alter ego Stupendous Man will be mentioned by name or in any other way, like if C.A.L. even makes a mention of calling himself that.
Love the Cocoa bombs reference though!
Mandibles of death. I’m loving it. Awesome reference. Go Hobbes!
Snoop is going to fuck up Hobbes, but it’s going to be a good fight!!!
awesome cereal reference.. love it!!
This is awesome. End of line.
I love Cal paying for the food. His completely capricious sociopathic personality is exactly what he should be weaponized. And the art is catching up – that smooth-faced, well-groomed, more angular look in the last panel is a great counter to Chuck.
Is it safe to assume that gun of his uses tracer bullets? ^_^
Here’s what I’m wondering: are we going to see Hobbes brutally pounce on C.A.L. at some point? You know that tiger’s got it in him!
FINALLY!
Hmmm. Mandibles of death. Mandibles.
Is Hobbes related to the Garfield giant bug-monster perhaps? Some kind of larval form or something, maybe?
Hobbes can also be sophisticated and civil; providing Cal at key moments with sage advice (now that I think of it, who’s the bigger sociopath; at least Cal is fundamentally driven to mayhem, Hobbes is more reflective)…
C’mon, Captcha, how the hell do I put an accent mark over a letter?
I don’t recognize any of the corpses.
uuuhhh… Dawww?
The opening shot shows a very sweet, if grizzly, scene. CAL’s easy-going smile, smooth features (very non-traditional for a villain… or traditional for a sociopath) and Hobbes amidst all the carnage. Very sweet. (The Chuck-like protruding chin returns for a frame as CAL exits though.)
Also loved the triple-claw marks on everyone’s head, but that end-shot was also jaw-dropping amazing. You couldn’t ask for a better head-shot of this new Spaceman Spiff at his controls. A nice mix with the teeth and bolts sticking out.
And the dialog? Inspiring. I could JYB joining up with Joe Kelly or Christopher Priest.
Celtic numasent
(I could SEE… JYB joining up with Joe Kelly or Christopher Priest.)
@ Chyll Will
I could see something akin to Grimlock from the recent Transformer “Shattered Glass” mirror stories. Grimlock is a huge sadist who thinks of what he is doing as refined. And talks with a stupid accent — transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Grimlock_(Shattered_Glass)
(Yes I, pakopako, am a nerd on multiple levels, eh wot?)
loherk coasts
Damn what a mess. Looks like H.O.B is enjoying those entrails. Love the cock-pit shot and cocoa bombs mmmm yummy. Wonder how hat chilli taste?
The thing to note here is the way H.O.B is the opposite of Hobbes: Hobbes was only a stuffed tiger when others saw him and H.O.B. only turned into a death machine when C.A.L v1n was away.
Also, I suspect we’ll see Honey again, refitted into Susie Derkins (that CAL v1n took her alive).
Fukin’ genius.
That is all.
Now this is more like it!
love this page so much
The more I think about this, the more brilliant it gets, especially with the visual contrast between Chuck and CAL. It’s great because of the synergy with the original comics and their starkly different tones. Despite the absurdity of the world, Charlie Brown was always innocent, hard-working and upbeat whenever possible – classic 50s values in reaction to stress. Calvin, though, reacted by completely withdrawing, fighting it tooth and nail and warping himself in the process – the postmodern view. WB has perfectly captured how the two would update in the future, with Chuck still fighting his alienation and the perceived betrayal of his values, and CAL reveling in the fact that no one has any values at all anymore except survival of the fittest. There’s so much at stake here – the four most iconic characters in comics history are having a showdown, not just between themselves but between two completely incompatible ways of dealing with the pain of the world.
Hate to be a nitpicking dick, but Calvin’s favorite cereal was “Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs”, not “Coca Bombs.”
@ David: it’s a famous Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin refers to Hobbes as mandibles of death when the get broken in and the police officer is interviewing the family
@ Alexander: it’s a satire.. JY has to alter the names slightly.
I called it; all the carnage happened off-screen, and by the time CALv1N returns Doll Doll is soft again. And everyone else is rather squishy.
@JY: Could we see a non-shaded version of that outhouse from last Monday’s strip, so that we can see all the undeniably clever references scribbled therein? Perhaps on a Friday, to help shorten the gap between strips? If so, thank you.
— uleation snares (and I don’t even know what it is).
@llkjsdlfj: Looks like JY fixed it. Says “Sugar Bombs” now.
Also, I love the tenderness with which Calvin picks Hobbes up with.
Spaceman Spiff! Holy crap that is great!
I actually see some anime influences in the first large panel, mainly in CAL’s expression. Anime villains, particularly the good-looking but untrustworthy ones, are often depicted as always smiling with their eyes seemingly shut. Just a thought.
@Richard:
Panel 1: HOBS is lying atop Pasquale. Also, that’s undoubtedly Jimbo in the extreme foreground at the left even though all that’s really visible is an eye, an ear, and his iconic hat. Rosie is presumably dead as well (based on dialog from the previous comic) and that may be her hand lying atop the second stool. The blurry one behind Calvin in the booth is Snake-eye, and the legs we can see across from him in the same booth is probably part of Snooks; the rest of Snooks is somewhat hidden behind the second stool.
The ones in the booth closest to us must be the “Wee Pals” characters. I wouldn’t feel too bad about not recognizing them; I don’t remember them either from the newspaper or their incarnation as the “Kid Power” cartoon, and from what I can tell, it’s not a big loss. (If the online samples I’ve seen are representative, it looks like a sort of racially integrated version of Bazooka Joe, except less funny.)
Panel 2: A Wee Pal in the booth, Pasquale on the floor.
Panel 3: Presumably Rosie, which calls the identity of the hand in Panel 1 into question, as both of them are right hands but one of them is palm up and the other is palm down. Maybe CAL moved it so he could sit down for a moment.
Panel 6: Snake-eye in the background and the same Wee Pal from panel 2 in the foreground.
Sorry, but I don’t quite follow. Is C.A.L imagining a real tiger as a toy or did he himself as his alter ego kill all those men (and manly women) while his consciousness thought he was taking a piss or is this something to be revealed later in the plot?
Pure genius, this is getting so much better and better.
@VITTUIX-MAN: Yes 😉
OK, now that we have some extended dialog, what voice are we hearing it in? I know I’ve heard some here say they hear Chuck in a Willis-like voice, so what voice is Cal? Just wondering….
punx, I’m pretty sure everybody in the comic talks with a Bruce Willis voice. Chuck talks with a dark, old Bruce voice; Cal talks with the young, snarky Bruce voice.
Oh, Captcha, you’re finished agrondle.
@Mikey: See, I have a range of voices for them all in my head, and some of them are more relatable than others, such as the short amount of dialog from the Boondocks crew are obviously the ones from the animated series, Regina King and John Witherspoon.
Chuck has always been gritty, but I can only say it’s somewhere between my Wolverine, Lobo and Eastwood voices. If in a case like Afro Samurai they needed a star voice and they chose Willis I would not complain…..much 😉
When someone mentioned the Snake Eyes/Danny Trejo comparison, I had that voice set from that point on, Snookie had a Baby Huey thing going on, but Cal I haven’t nailed down just yet but as a younger version of the Chuck voice is probably what I will end up with, since I still think my theory from last update is true and Cal is the T-1000 to Chuck’s T-800, which would account for the similarity of facial features (at least so far)
13 hours to new WB, bliss!
First-time posting (been a fan since Chuck was duking it out with that one legionarre fellow back in Bone City.) At any rate, if Chuck is Bruce Willis, then I’m imagining that C.A.L. would be Jason Statham. I could easily see him covering for C.A.L. with his voice.
But that’s just me.
At least he paid for his meal.
I imagine CAL with a voice like Jeremy Renner or Mark Damon – much less gruff than Willis, but still somewhat gravelly when the situation calls for it. Also, a wider range of vocal pitch so that CAL’s sociopathy can really shine through via the inflections of his voice.
CAL’s a battle modified psychopath, though an honest one.