The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

The collection is collected in three sturdy, handsome books. The binding is durable, the pages are thick and strong. Though the books are heavy together with the slipcase, each individual book is of a manageable heft. Compared to collecting the individual paperback trades, I think this collection is superior. The strips are all the larger size that Watterson wanted it to be presented for the reader, and the Sunday strips are all in full color. The rectangular shape of the later paperback trades felt flimsy and unwieldy, but with the sturdy hardcover of the collection, it feels just right. All of the extras of the treasury editions are included except for the behind-the-scenes commentary in the 10th anniversary edition. Finally, it's all less expensive than purchasing the lighter individual trades, and a more compact and safe way to store the complete collection for generations to come. The only reason I think to get the paperback editions is if portability is a high priority and you wanted to read the strips while on a train or outside somewhere. The collection is definitely made for indoor viewing and you would want to keep the pages smudge, dirt, and food-free (though the thick glossy stock seems easily cleanable). If you treasure the strip, want to save it for your own children to come, and don't intend to do a lot of portable or outdoor reading, then this collection is right for you.

This is just to correct the review below which states that the pages are glued to the spine instead of sewn. This is not true. The pages are indeed bound in signatures, 6-page signatures to be precise (I believe this is not an usual number, but the paper is thick; they are signatures all the same), 8 stitches per signature. Which to my eyes is a very good binding, as good as any hardback and better than most. On the other hand, I would have liked a complete cloth cover, instead of half paper-half cloth. I see the paper corners wearing out, etc. But on the glued-sewn business, there are no complaints. The contents themselves are well described elsewhere on this page and they are simply fantastic.

Many people here are probably familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, with the often manic Calvin and his comrade in adventure/escapades, Hobbes. Many have probably already bought various compilations of the comic strips and looked through them again and again. So why buy THIS collection? Mainly because it goes WAY beyond anything else that is already out there - and not just because it contains EVERY single one of the comic strips in one collection, nicely slipcased. Buy it because it comes closest to reflecting what Bill Watterson, creator of these comics, wanted, exceptional color quality, pretty much up to his very perfectionistic standards. Buy it because for the first time you'll see the comic in as close to perfect form as you'll find...and yes, buy it because you'll finally have all of the strips in one set. How much of a perfectionist was Watterson when it came to having control over his beloved characters? Well, imagine turning down a call from Steven Spielberg because you just aren't interested in collaborating with anyone, genius or not, on a work based on your comic strip. Imagine giving up lucrative contracts for lunch boxes, animated films, stuffed Calvin and Hobbes figures. Whether you think that turning down all those potentially lucrative opportunities was admirable or crazy, there is no denying that he poured his heart, soul and psyche into his work, not distracted by meetings about the design of a lunch box or the decal that woould appear on clothing. Nope, he just did his work, day in and day out, until he decided, at an early age (around 37) that he'd done enough and simply....stopped. That was a sad day for me,as I'd grown to love Calvin and Hobbes and their unique world, one in which you never really knew the names of Calvin's parents (anyone know?), one in which his teacher could morph into a monster, one that exemplified the psyche of one little boy so well and which hasn't been equaled since.

(I just received this today--The Complete Calvin and Hobbes! 10/4/05) 4.9 Stars The collection consists of 3 books within one slipcase. Each page notes the date(s) of original publication of the strip(s) on that page. The strips have an appearance of being imposed on the page separately in respect to their original publication dates. This differs from other Calvin and Hobbes collections/treasuries; within those pages you find the strips laid out as a combined whole without distinction between each strip. There are also, of course, the wonderful watercolors by Watterson which appear occasionally, on pages respective of content and chronological order. Book One starts with a 14-page introduction/forward written autobiographically by Watterson on his view of comics and his relationship with Calvin and Hobbes. Includes photo of Sprite and a few other comics/early works by Watterson, as well as an early version of Calvin and Hobbes. Book One includes all the comics of 1985-1988; Book Two 1988-1992; Book Three 1992-1995. This is definitely an archival collection and not ideal for constant casual perusing, though the attractiveness makes it hard to resist. The printing, layout, paper, binding are beautiful but any wear and tear would be heart-breaking. This leads me to describe one drawback: these books aren't really hardbound books. They look so, because of their hard covers, but actually they are what's called "cardboard articles", meaning the pages are not stitched to the spine, and instead glued. Albiet, this is common book binding practice, but I'm sure most of us wouldn't have minded paying some more for real hardbound articles for the sake of longevity in preservation. So although this collection is best left for archival purposes, it's unfortunate they are not exactly archival quality. Despite the books being cardboard articles, the pages are easy to open up without damaging the fabric covered spine due to the generous space and horizontal orientation. However the images of Calvin and Hobbes on the front and back faces of the slipcase are printed on separate squares of paper glued to the surface, rather than integrated, or printed directly on. This is something I realized as I slid the collection onto my bookshelf and found I had to be careful or the sides of those squares might catch and lift a bit. The total collection weighs about 22.5 lbs, which makes it a bit awkward to handle. This wouldn't be such an issue except the books are snugly fit within the slipcase, meaning they're a bit difficult to extract without having to tilt the case forward a bit. It would be ideal if the slipcase had round cuts on the top and bottom corresponding to each book so one's fingertips could pry out the books with ease. The bottom line is that for Calvin and Hobbes fans who want to own a nice comprehensive collection, imperfections are there, but not enough to deter. The beauty of the pages and the excitement of owning this make those issues mere minor