There are two reasons why this collection is a must have, well, three. The first being that if you don’t have the complete collection then you need this volume.
The second reason is that this collection contains one of the quintessential, and the best, Calvin and Hobbes stories. Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons is possibly one of my favorite stories. It’s the first time that there was a legitimate threat in the series story. Granted, it was all in Calvin’s head, but as we are seeing the story in his reality the Goons were as much of a threat as he wanted them to be. And there’s something really cool about evil snowmen. Well, except for all the other times it’s been done before. Still, there’s something fun about the idea of a snowman zombie apocalypse.
The third reason, for me at least, is that I rediscovered two favorite strips that I’d forgotten about. I’ve already set up my top three, which for me is more of a nebulous “they’re all equally good” rather than an actual ranking. I’m going to need to expand that to a top five. I’m horrified that I forgot about these strips, but reading them again I realized that the Santa Flambe strip was my absolute favorite for years. Sure it probably wasn’t all that funny when I kept giggling uncontrolably and yelling “What’s this?! Santa Flambe??” And Calvin’s impersonation of his Dad was absolutely hillarious.
There. My top five are solidified, with no further expansion planned. Unless of course I run into more that I’ve forgotten.
And that’s all I can really say. There’s only so many times I can say that Calvin and Hobbes is absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t exactly be saying anything new or groundbreaking. Everyone that has ever read this comic knows that. It’s been an interesting experience writing these reviews. Every single time I felt like I’d said all there was to say, but I always found something more to say. At this point, though I doubt I’d be able to find something new to say for any further collections. Which is why I will be gathering my thoughts on the series as a whole for my review of the complete collection. Look forward to it sometime in the future, it may take me a while to read through the whole series again.
The Grade
Buy the Book! Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Calvin & Hobbes)