Monday, December 2, 2019

Calvin & Hobbes and The Iron Giant



These are two of my favorite properties ever - but I don't think I want either to return.  The Iron Giant is a flawless animated film, and I just can't see how a sequel would be able to live up to it (I wasn't even crazy about the Giant showing up in Ready Player One).  Bill Watterson finished Calvin & Hobbes while it was still at its peak, and nobody else is qualified to take it over for him.  Even if he wanted to return to the strip himself, so much time has passed that I don't know if it would be able to capture the same magic as the first time around.  I could be wrong - I keep liking Toy Story sequels after I think they should have stopped, after all!

26 comments:

det_Tobor said...

I don't know, a certain Spaceman might have more in common with IG than they know.

I think part of the Giant's charm was in all the new characters we met. Freshness, and seeing twists become turns and the usual became loop-de-loops.

MarchHareSupreme said...

Love how you can take C&H, hook them up with wild and totally unexpected co-stars and make the cover work absolutely perfectly!

Carycomic said...

Well, it looks like Bob Greenwade got two-thirds of his recent wish.

But, instead of going up against the Black King, how about these two being stalked by Manhunter Mark? That way, you could still call it...

"Calvin & Hobbes & Shaw (Oh, My)!"

Bob Greenwade said...

@MHS: Amen to that!

@Cary: Hey, that could work too.

@Ross: For some reason I now want to see Spaceman Spiff with a certain World War I Flying Ace. (Yes, I know that the two characters have met, in the broader sense; I mean those specific personas.)

Or... Joe Cool and the Fonz!

jack-el said...

love it, love it....
whenever you use Calvin & Hobbes, Ross, your covers are magical....
now on to my idea for a cover either E.T. and Calvin & Hobbes or E.T. and the Iron Giant....
keep up your AMAZING body of wonder works.....

Ben W said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Bob Greenwade said...

@jack-el: If anyone's to be featured with E.T., I have an even better connection. Henry Thomas, who played young Elliott in the movie, is now 48 years old and has a recurring role in the upcoming Stargirl TV series, as Doctor Mid-Nite!

Anonymous said...

Actually, HT and ET are already doing a series of commercials-cum-Internet short subjects where the latter reunites with the former (who's now a family man) for the 2019 Holidays.

The first couple were periodically telecast all day, on various stations, both on Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

P.S.---better have your cyber-security beefed up. If the Iron Giant could fool the system into thinking it was NOT a robot...!

Isaac said...

Very magical cover Ross. Miss Calvin & Hobbes much but you can't go home again. I do have some ideas for future team ups. Have you done Thor vs Mightor? How about Thor va Luthor? Red Skull meets Red Hood? Had Squirrel Girl met Secret Squirrel yet?

Anonymous said...

@Isaac: Thor WAS in an STF cover with Mightor, and in REAL comics , An Elseworld issue had Red Skull and Joker (who once was the Red Hood) team up; but also how about Mightor and He-Man, or Red Skull and The Mask (who, BTW, in REAL comics was teamed up with the Joker).

Anonymous said...

Now that Isaac has started with random suggestions, how about:

* Black Bolt vs. The Phantom Blot
* Mera and Jean Grey from the times when her hair and costume were a match

Bob Greenwade said...

Random? Those aren't random. Snoopy and the Punisher... that's random.

Horsefeathers said...

@Isaac said...but you can't go home again.
Sure you can. In fact, if you live in a motor home, you can take it with you. Look at all the shows that have been brought back over the years long after they were cancelled. Homes can be multi generational. Ask Mr Rogers or Capt Picard.

Horsefeathers said...

@Bob Greenwade said...
Random? Those aren't random. Snoopy and the Punisher... that's random.
Random? Nothing of the kind. Snoopy would act as Punisher's watchdog anytime! Wouldn't be any good at it, but he'd do it.

Bob Greenwade said...

@Horsefeathers: Yeah, I can just see the captions on Ross' cover now: "Frank Castle has a new watchdog... whether he likes it or not!"

Anonymous said...

How about the Punisher teams up with Joe Cool?

Ross could entitle it "Cool Castle!"

Bob Greenwade said...

For a subtle connection, Doctor Who (either 3rd or 10th Doctor) versus the Red Skull in: "Alias John Smith!"

Glenn said...

Ironic that you are using Calvin & Hobbes when you don't know if it would be able to capture the same magic as the first time around.

I think a Calvin & Hobbes animated Christmas special would be very, very cool as long as Bill Watterson was involved as both writer and as producer who could override any studio decisions.

Carycomic said...

"...as long as Bill Watterson...could override any studion decisions..."

Sadly, that would be about as unlikely as Ross depicting a Moore or Brosnan 007.

Isaac said...

Well since you guys want random, how about Vandal Savage vs Doc Savage vs The Savage Dragon?

Anonymous said...

Or even Red Skull vs. Red Tornado, with the same title

Anonymous said...

vs. Calvin, for the random part.

Carycomic said...

Only if its Calvin vs. Charlie Brown.

Anonymous said...

@Carycomic: Ross already did that circa STF #1717.

Anonymous said...

i can't wait to see it

Anonymous said...

when dose it come

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