In the world that Calvin and his tiger Hobbes share, treasures can be found in the most unlikely places, from the outer regions where Spaceman Spiff travels to the rocks in the backyard--this curious duo roams their world in search of fortunes (and misfortunes! ) to be experienced. Whether Calvin and Hobbes are blasting off on another interplanetary adventure or approaching warp speed on a downhill wagon ride, their capers consistently charm and refresh their readers' days. On his own, Calvin is prey to the insidious killer bicycle, is the arbiter of the Dad poll, is the creator of a legion of snowmen who provide an incisive social commentary, and Hobbes is always there as the perfect companion. Watterson's talent is evidenced by the range of thought-provoking emotions the strip encompasses in addition to the laughs it induces: the loyalty and friendship between Calvin and Hobbes, the challenge of being a patient parent, and the sardonic viewpoint of a cynical six-year-old ("I'm a 21st-century kid trapped in a 19th-century family," laments Calvin) combine to make this one of the best-loved strips in cartoon history.

  "Anyone with children, or anyone who even likes being around children, will find something to laugh about in Baby Blues." —Blade Citizen, Oceanside, CA

  Who can resist adorably wide-eyed Zoe MacPherson? Certainly not her parents, Wanda and Darryl, a mid-thirties career couple who've become mommy and daddy. But, like the millions of parents who flock to this engaging comic strip, the MacPhersons also find parenthood more rewarding—and frustrating—than they'd expected. Each day of this incisive and entertaining comic series, millions empathize with them as they face the joys and demands of parenting.

I Thought Labor Ended When the Baby Was Born is a heartwarming collection from Baby Blues creators Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott. Developed in 1990 after Kirkman became a neophyte dad, Baby Blues appeals to anyone who's witnessed the eye-opening experiences only a baby can bring. Moms, for example, relate to Wanda, a former midlevel career woman who now stays home full-time to care for the mostly adorable Zoe. Dads connect with rattled-but-determined Darryl, as he still staggers off to an office each day despite mind-boggling changes life has wrought at home. Together, Mom and Dad juggle and struggle to decipher their new relationship, wondering where romance fits in, whether they're "parentnoid," and how they're affecting their daughter.

  Artist Rick Kirkman and writer Jerry Scott know about parenting and provide a hilarious, yet true-to-life, view of this mixed blessing.

  Now that baby Zoe is a full-fledged mobile toddler, everyone can sit back and heave a big sigh of AAAAACCCH! The indefatigable MacPhersons are bringing up baby in a wild-eyed, yet true to life.

  Darryl and Wanda, a typical stretched-to-the-limit couple, struggled with the demands and joys of first-time parenthood in classics such as Guess Who Didn't Take a Nap? and I Thought Labor Ended When the Baby Was Born. The MacPhersons found parenthood more rewarding and frustrating than they ever expected. Through it all they adapted to this new addition to their lives with aplomb and severe exhaustion.

We Are Experiencing Parental Difficulties...Please Stand By is a Baby Blues collection from creators Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott. In the pair's lovingly realistic way, the book captures the continuing challenges Darryl and Wanda face as Zoe begins to walk, talk, and take over the remote control. It's a natural growing-up progression that Baby Blues fans have watched with rapt interest.

  Mothers love the strip because they can relate to Wanda's continued surprise at how her days have changed, from career woman to Mom, especially as she faces the prospects of adding another bundle of joy to the MacPhersons' already busy household. Dads laugh knowingly as Darryl tries to help out and hold down a demanding job. Everyone cherishes the little Zoe for making childhood antics (even the obnoxious ones) so adorable.

  Artist Kirkman and writer Scott obviously know about parenting—you can see it in every strip they produce. In this book, they provide another delicious view of life's most precious mixed blessing.

$14 in the Bank and a $200 Face in My Purse gives a delightfully funny yet honest look at the single career woman's life. Cathy, the character who has given a voice to the anxieties and triumphs of modern women, is a must-read in newspapers worldwide. In this collection, Cathy has broken up with long-time beau Irving. She keeps busy binging on chocolate and fighting deadline pressures at the office—but Cathy's not too busy to explore modern methods of meeting men: by fax and through bachelor auctions. When her dog Electra gets depressed, the canine psychologist prescribes a visit with Irving to pep up the pup. Imagine Cathy's surprise when Irving reappears thirty pounds overweight. And her dismay and resentment over the next few weeks as the weight melts off him effortlessly.

  Bad perms, bad dates, fights with the insurance company, shopping, and mother all take their toll in $14 in the Bank and a $200 Face in My Purse. Cathy has a uniquely funny way of coping with life, and her millions of fans count on Cathy to put their shared experiences in a humorous light.

1982 FarWorks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Far Side and the Larson signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc.

The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, is a large-format treasury of the cartoons from Yukon Ho! and Weirdos from Another Planet! (including full-color Sunday cartoons) plus a full-color original story unique to this collection. Millions of readers have enjoyed the tremendous talent of Bill Watterson. His skill as both artist and writer brings to life a boy, his tiger, and the imagination and memories of his ardent readers. The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes picks up where The Essential Calvin and Hobbes left off. Bill Watterson"s Calvin and Hobbes remains the authority on humor.

Find Sunday comic favorites in this classic Calvin and Hobbes collection. This is a collection of the classic comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life. Filled with a Watterson’s full-page Sunday strips, this collection is sure to please fans and newcomers alike.

The first book collection of the classic and beloved Calvin and Hobbes comic strip! "Most people who write comic dialogue for minors demonstrate surprisingly little feel for—or faith in—the original source material, that is, childhood, in all its unfettered and winsome glory. It is in this respect that Bill Watterson has proved as unusual as his feckless creations, Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson is the reporter who's gotten it right; childhood as it actually is."—Garry Trudeau, from the ForewordThis is the first collection of the classic comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life. Filled with a mix of Watterson’s standard and full-page Sunday strips, this collection is sure to please fans and newcomers alike.

Celebrating an exhibit of ten years of Sunday comics featuring the beloved boy and his tiger, Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 is sure to bring back memories. New York Times best-seller! Everyone misses Calvin and Hobbes. It reinvented the newspaper comic strip at a time when many had all but buried the funnies as a vehicle for fresh, creative work. Then Bill Watterson came along and reminded a new generation of what older readers and comic strip aficionados knew: A well-written and beautifully drawn strip is an intricate, powerful form of communication. And with Calvin and Hobbes, we had fun—just like readers of Krazy Kat and Pogo did. Opening the newspaper each day was an adventure. The heights of Watterson's creative imagination took us places we had never been. We miss that. This book was published in conjunction with the first exhibition of original Calvin and Hobbes Sunday pages at The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library. Although the work was created for reproduction, not for gallery display, was a pleasure to see the cartoonist's carefully placed lines and exquisite brush strokes. In an attempt to share this experience with those who were unable to visit the exhibition, all of the original Sunday pages displayed are reproduced in color in this book so that every detail, such as sketch lines, corrections, and registration marks, are visible. On the opposite page the same comic strip is printed in full color. Because Watterson was unusually intentional and creative in his use of color, this juxtaposition provides Calvin and Hobbes readers the opportunity to consider the impact of color on its narrative and content. When I first contacted Bill Watterson about the possibility of exhibiting his original work, I used the term "retrospective." He replied that we might be able to do an exhibit, but that calling it a retrospective made him uncomfortable. He felt that a longer time was needed to put Calvin and Hobbes in the historical perspective implied by that term. Nonetheless, this show is a "look back" at the comic strip as we revisit favorites that we remember. Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 is particularly interesting because each work that is included was selected by Bill Watterson. His comments about the thirty-six Sunday pages he chose are part of this volume. In addition, he reflects on Calvin and Hobbes from the perspective of six years, and his essay provides insights into his life as a syndicated cartoonist. Reprint books of Calvin and Hobbes are nice to have, but the opportunity to see the original work and read Bill Watterson's thoughts about it is a privilege. He generously shared not only the art, but also his time and his thoughts. When I first reviewed the works included in the exhibit, I knew that everyone who visited it would begin with laughter and end with tears. On behalf of all who enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, thank you, Bill Watterson. --Lucy Shelton Caswell, Professor and Curator The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library, June 2001  

[Trudeau ranks as] one of the foremost sociopolitical satirists of recent decades." 

While some in the Doonesbury universe seek office, others serve. Alex and her Seattle co-hordes devote their young, restless, and body-pierced Deaniac energy to hooking up "flash art" with politics. Half a world away in Iraq, a major bad boy from stateside devotes himself to liberating the city of Al Amok, ruling with a steady hand, a full glass, a devoted Chinese handler, and an economy based on looting. As fate would have it, B.D. finds himself heading upriver on an apocalyptic mission to terminate Al Duke with extreme prejudice, a story line so made-for-TV that B.D. feels compelled to bang out the screenplay on his laptop in real time. Fortunately for the man known to Honey as "sir," the media red-lights the hit, though car bombers quickly pick up the option and put the project back in play.

In the homeland, a wartime president has the answer to almost all the questions ("9-11") but tries to shelve the still incomplete story of his own National Guard duty back in the daze. Mark and Zonk join the war against trash politics by offering a $10,000 reward for any witness who can collaborate the flightsuit-in-chief's account, but their efforts, alas, come to naught. Yes, it's a divided nation. On the west coast sexual assault charges accompany a rise to power, while back east they mandate a fall: Walden College's acting coach, Boopstein, lets accusations of way-personal fouls force her football team off the field. Sex parties for recruits? "Who knew we were that competitive?" marvels President King, ending Boopsie's gridiron apprenticeship with two little words: "You're fired."

Patrick McDonnell possesses an elegance of line and narrative that both transcends and defines his medium. His artistry is in his Zen-like clarity, his simple direct address, and his unique understanding of the essential animal-human continuum. When one experiences MUTTS, one experiences genius." -Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones

"Dog-Eared"is exactly what this latest collection from cartoonist Patrick McDonnell is destined to become. The brilliant assortment of simple-yet-complex strips will have readers turning its pages again and again, eager to revisit the charm, truth, and humor found within.

McDonnell's strip, highlights the adventures of Earl the dog and Mooch the cat, best buddies who regularly come in contact with Shtinky Puddin', Sourpuss, Guard Dog, and Crabby-as well as an assortment of whimsically rendered humans. This cast is capable of endless antics, interspersed with poignant views on both the animal and human condition. And whether they're raiding garbage cans or basking in full-frontal belly rubs, Mooch and Earl always have a comment to clinch the scene.

MUTTS is the kind of strip that comic readers find irresistible. "Dog-Eared" is the same kind of collection. One strip leads to another, and before you know it you've turned page after dog-eared page to satisfy a growing MUTTS addiction.

The Fab Four of the funny pages come together again-this time in their first book treasury.

Rat, Pig, Zebra, and Goat, the central characters of Pearls Before Swine, are back in Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, the first Pearls Before Swine treasury-supersized for your enjoyment.

But this is no ordinary cartoon treasury. Like the influential Beatles album that inspired the book's title, Sgt. Piggy is full of surprises. In addition to collecting all of the Pearls cartoons that appeared in BLTs Taste So Darn Good and This Little Piggy Stayed Home, cartoonist Stephan Pastis takes readers on a VIP backstage tour of one of the most successful comic strips in newspapers today.

In Sgt. Piggy, Pastis explains the genesis of Pearls (hint: it didn't begin at an artist's easel), why he was initially reluctant to show it to newspaper syndicates (and the surprising reason he changed his mind), the unexpected responses from readers to his work, and which Pearls strips worked and which ones didn't (and how he would have corrected the ones that didn't). The result is a rare and revealing glimpse into the world of Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra. Full of humor and insight, sardonic asides and unexpected truths, Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic is a book that comics fans everywhere can enjoy anytime-even when they're 64!