Calvin and Hobbes is not good.
It’s not deep. It’s not clever. It’s not funny or timeless. On the contrary, it’s very much of its time, and that time is getting further and further, not closer.
That being said, it’s not BAD. It’s poignant, sure. It’s occasionally witty. But by and large it seems to be the Peanuts of Gen X-Z insofar as I’ve consigned myself to the likelihood of seeing these tired tropes and oversaturated characters and outdated observations for the rest of my life, drenched in commercialism, paraded in front of me against the creator’s wishes, ad nauseum.
Edit: It’s apparently worth clarifying what I meant here. The comic itself is not “drenched in commercialism”, but the overhyped greatness of it (which is the crux of my undoubtedly unpopular opinion - and again, I dont think it’s a BAD comic, necessarily, just overrated) will lead to this commercialisation as soon as the chance arises for shitty companies to defy the creator’s will in pursuit of the almighty dollar, and I’m dreading this since I already see plenty of unwarranted (albeit not necessarily undeserved) C&H glorification as is.
We as a culture have had enough C&H. We can put it away now. Yes, just there, on the shelf next to edgy Alice in Wonderland reimaginings. Perfect, thanks.
Despite its cultural references being decidedly 20th century, it still hits notes that resonate with kids and adults years later. Maybe it has been getting long in the tooth, but I think that just points to how many people just can’t put it down
Also “drenched in commercialism” is not the phrase I’d use; in fact it’s anomalously under-commercialised as a comic book franchise, intentionally so. I appreciate that.
OP probably sees all the unofficial “Calvin pissing on thing” stickers a lot.