Free Republic

In a speech on the Senate floor and written statement, Ted Cruz used some interesting language to describe his opposition to the Supreme Court's ruling that upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act. "Robed Houdinis" to describe the justices, who "hide their prevarication in legalese." The cloaked illusionists, as Cruz called them, "transmogrified a ‘federal exchange’ into an exchange ‘established by the State.' " Cruz chose the word transmogrified for two reasons -- its meaning, which is to change, and because it is a sly shout-out to one of his favorite comic strips, "Calvin and Hobbes." In the...

What if Calvin of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame grew up? And what if, instead of leaving behind his talking tiger and visions of dinosaurs and life in outer space, those visions followed him, slowly turning him insane? Well, it would make for one heckuva movie trailer, that's for sure. At least, so thought the good folks at Gritty Remakes, who created a pseudo-preview featuring Calvin as a college-aged man with a lot of issues. He still talks to his imaginary friend. His mind still goes on flights of fancy. But these aren't journeys of whimsy. The adult Calvin is a...

Unconditional election The doctrine of unconditional election means God does not base his choice (election) of certain individuals on anything other than his own good will [13]. God chooses whomever he pleases and passes over the rest. The ones God chooses will desire to come to him, will accept his offer of salvation, and will do so precisely because he has chosen them. To show that God positively chooses, rather than merely foresees, those who will come to him, Calvinists cite passages such as Romans 9:15-18, which says, "[The Lord] says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I...

This marks the 15th year since "Calvin and Hobbes" said goodbye to the comics pages. Creator Bill Watterson, who grew up in Chagrin Falls and still makes Greater Cleveland his home, recently answered some questions via e-mail from Plain Dealer reporter John Campanelli. It's believed to be the first interview with the reclusive artist since 1989.

<p>Ten years ago Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, left newspaper cartooning for painting. Since then, no new comic strip has matched the quality, longevity, or cultural dominance of Watterson's daily drawings about a boy and his tiger. There remain good strips, such as Jef Mallett's Frazz; acclaimed strips, such as Aaron McGruder's Boondocks; and venerable strips, such as Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury. But these days, the best-selling comics books tend to be either graphic novels or hardbound anthologies of the greats, such as Fantagraphics Books' The Complete Peanuts.</p>

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio (AP) - Maybe someday, officials will put up a statue marking this quaint village of 4,000 people as the birthplace of "Calvin and Hobbes." Just don't expect cartoonist Bill Watterson to attend the unveiling ceremony. It's been nearly 10 years since he abruptly quit drawing one of the most popular comic strips of all time. Since then, he's been as absent as the precocious Calvin and his pet tiger, err, stuffed animal, Hobbes. Some call Watterson reclusive. Others say he just likes his privacy. "He's an introspective person," says his mother, Kathryn, standing at the front door...

Maybe someday, officials will put up a statue marking this quaint village as the birthplace of "Calvin and Hobbes." Just don't expect cartoonist Bill Watterson to attend the unveiling ceremony. It's been nearly 10 years since he abruptly quit drawing one of the most popular comic strips of all time. Since then, he's been as absent as the precocious Calvin and his pet tiger, err, stuffed animal, Hobbes. Some call Watterson reclusive. Others say he just likes his privacy. "He's an introspective person," says his mother, Kathryn, standing at the front door her home, its yard covered by a tidy...

The unforgettable, irreplaceable Calvin By Charles Solomon During the all-too-brief time it ran — from Nov. 18, 1985, to Dec. 31, 1995 — "Calvin and Hobbes" was simultaneously the most old-fashioned and the most innovative comic strip in newspapers. Its creator, Bill Watterson, returned to the principles of polished draftsmanship, visual imagination and character-driven humor that have been the source of comic strips' popularity since their inception in the 1890s. But he applied those venerable principles in new ways to make his strip personal, contemporary and very, very funny. Comic strips have always been regarded as a part of popular...

Calvin & Hobbes Philosophy on Liberal Left-wing Pseudo-Intellectual Academia