Calvin and Hobbes rips off "Dennis The Menace"
Keith Bailey
Calvin and Hobbes ripps off Dennis the Menace. Just look:
- Both are six
- Both wear striped shirts
- Both ahve a skinny dad with glasses that works in an office
- Both tease a particular girl
- Both have uncombed hair of the same color
- Both are wild
- Both tease a particular girl
- Both ahve "grandmother" teachers
Rip-off! Rip-off!
Tom Repetti
... and Calvin is funny while Dennis is annoying. I've started rooting for
his neighbor, Mr. Whatshisname, hoping he'll convince Dennis to go play in
the street or down by the landfill or something.
I'll grant you that Dennis may have been the Calvin of his day, but this
strip should have faded into the sunset a while ago.
Tom
sh...@elronet.co.il
In article <D68tq...@freenet.carleton.ca>, <ca...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA>
writes:
so I am told): Bad poets borrow but good poets steal.
Both Dennis and Calvin are good strips. Dennis, however, starting in the 50s (I
believe) is set in a different time and place. I compare Calvin much more to
Peanuts. Both are reflections of kids mature beyond their years or at least
acting like adults in certain ways. However, Calvin is much more in tune with
our times. It also 'rips off' other strips such as Little Nemo in that centers
around a childs overactive imagination.
Shel
69zanf...@cua.edu
Hoo boy, flame-bait if I ever saw it. Guess it just goes to show what
happens when brother and sister marry...
I'm going to enjoy watching the fireworks on THIS one...
Dickie Zee
STANDARD DISCLAIMERS
INSERT COOL, YET SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE .SIG HERE
Joe Kubasha
But Calvin is funny and Dennis isn't.
Joe
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* *
* Joe Kubasha *
* *
* kub...@whqvax.picker.com *
* *
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Douglas Fowler
>I contributed this before, but I think it was never put up...
>
>Calvin and Hobbes ripps off Dennis the Menace. Just look:
>
>- Both are six
don't hear his age mentioned much. Plus, some 6-year-olds are in Kinder-
garten, like Dennis.
>- Both have uncombed hair of the same color
>
>- Both are wild
which book it's in, but Calvin has tried to change his hair for his school
picture. Remember Astro-Boy? Or when Calvin (or was it Hobbes?) cut it
all off, and painted it yellow so people supposedly couldn't tell the
difference?
As for wild, if you want to chant rip-off, so can I. They are so much
like my cousin Matthew it's astounding :-) Actually, Matthew's a bit better
drove his parents and me nuts, not
his teachers, at that age. He's always been good at school.
>- Both ahve "grandmother" teachers
erent teacher in the early days.
Now, let's talk differences:
Calvin is wild at home and school, Dennis, even more a rip-off of
Matthew (who was only born in 1986, so maybe he's doing the ripping-off :_)
is great at school, except for a little loud like all Kindergarteners. He
has neighbors; the Wilsons put up with him. Apparently Calvin either has
no other neighbors (maybe not if a house hasn't been sold on the block in
6 years) or he's so wild none will put up with him.
Calvin can read, Dennis can't.
Calvin's girl has black hair, Dennis' has red. (Well, if you're going
to mention the hair color, so can I :-)
Calvin thinks all girls are gross. Dennis likes Gina.
Apparently Dennis is good enough that Joey's parents are willing to let
him look up to Dennis as a role model. You never see other kids with Calvin.
Dennis sits in the corner, Calvin gets sent to his room when naughty.
Calvin's mom used to work outside the home. I haven't seen any evidence
that Dennis' mom worked anywhere but in the home at any time.
Yeah, they're close, but most people could tell which was which. Dennis
is enjoyable to me because, while he's not as funny, he's still ornery enough
as to be just like my cousin. He's a typical 5-year-old. Calvin is much
more hyper than Dennis. (Wouldn't you be if you ate chocolate frosted sugar
bombs every morning?)
ST2...@vm.cc.latech.edu
details that are the same. If that was to be, I could say that Calvin and
Hobbes is a remake from Peanuts also. They both (try) to discuss issues.
Charlie Brown has a beagle; Calvin a tiger. They're both loners (in a sense),
etc, etc, etc. Oh, wait. Let's be more diverse...... Calvin and Dennis are
both male kids. Ho, boy. Now there's a similarity!
I see no differences between Dennis and Calvin. Whereas one has a highly
creative imagination(C) that leads to rambunctious (sp) acts, Dennis is just
one with high spirits. There is no difference. Also, how many other comic
strip characters have 'grandmother' teachers? Would you consider those ideas
to be stolen too?
Ah, sigh. I'm tired. Someone else continue for me, okay?
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Hilly
> - Both are six
> - Both wear striped shirts
> - Both ahve a skinny dad with glasses that works in an office
> - Both tease a particular girl
> - Both have uncombed hair of the same color
> - Both are wild
> - Both tease a particular girl
> - Both ahve "grandmother" teachers
> Rip-off! Rip-off!
Indeed. But you left a few off your list:
- Both are written and drawn by a human being
- Both are published on paper
- Both appear in newspapers
Bill Watterson, you're an unoriginal bastard!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JEFF HILDERLEY jeff.hi...@sheridanc.on.ca
An Illustration student at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada
"Is that fire in your eyes, or the glow of machines?" -PSB
------------------------------------------------------------------------
N. Ahern
>> Calvin and Hobbes ripps off Dennis the Menace. Just look:
>> - Both are six
>> - Both wear striped shirts
>> - Both ahve a skinny dad with glasses that works in an office
>> - Both tease a particular girl
>> - Both have uncombed hair of the same color
>> - Both are wild
>> - Both tease a particular girl
>> - Both ahve "grandmother" teachers
>> Rip-off! Rip-off!
Not to nitpick or anything ;-), but calvin has red hair, dennis has blond.
Dennis is actually 5, and is in "kiddygarten", calvin is in first grade.
Calvin does NOT have a grumpy old man neighbor. Dennis does NOT engage
in vivid flights of fancy, but engages in more physical humor. Dennis does
NOT have a stuffed tiger that comes to life, but has a dog that he talks
to but who evinces no intelligence that is not completely dog-like.
---
<< Nancy Ahern >>
Caffeine
: Not to nitpick or anything ;-), but calvin has red hair, dennis has blond.
not to nitpick, but calvin is a blonde...he's always printed with
yellow ink in my newspaper, anyway...
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Dave Gjessing
Dennis the Menace? C&H is a wonderful, insightful, and graphicly pleasing
work of art. DtM is on par with those little comix that come in bubble gum.
--
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D. Gjessing gjes...@infinet.com dgj...@freenet.columbus.oh.us
no organization whatsoever
jbco...@life.uams.edu
>How on earth could anyone think that Calvin & Hobbes has any similarity to
>Dennis the Menace? C&H is a wonderful, insightful, and graphicly pleasing
>work of art. DtM is on par with those little comix that come in bubble gum.
>
Maybe in the energetic, fast and loose cartooning style
that Watterson and Hank Ketcham share. It's been a while
since I've *laughed* at a Dennis the Menace strip (though
I occasionally do), but I often stop and look at the vast
detail that Ketcham implies with a few stray lines. The
guy's a virtuoso in this amateur's humble opinion.
Did anyone see it when Dennis the Menace and The Far Side
got the captions switched? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAaaa!!!! ROTFL!
"What was it? I see your skull preserved and sitting in
a jar?" Gary Larson thought it improved both strips.
Your friend,
Brian
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- Brian's first sig file -
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Loren Joseph MacGregor
dgj...@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Gjessing) wrote as follows:
>
> How on earth could anyone think that Calvin & Hobbes has any similarity to
> Dennis the Menace? C&H is a wonderful, insightful, and graphicly pleasing
> work of art. DtM is on par with those little comix that come in bubble gum.
Hate to mention it, but Dennis the Menace is for the most part an
extremely well done GRAPHIC comic; the design is generally exceptional,
whatever you might think of the writing. A lot of artists like it. For
an intestesting view, you might look at The Comics Journal's interview
with the Brothers Hernandez (Jaime, Gilberto and Mario) who created Love
and Rockets. In that interview, several DTM panels are reproduced, and
the Bros talk about the various ghosts used by Ketcham, and the styles
of each.
Ed Shuman
>and Rockets. In that interview, several DTM panels are reproduced, and
>the Bros talk about the various ghosts used by Ketcham, and the styles
>of each.
I suppose I'm just asking to be flamed here, but...
-What- ghosts?
--Ed
Dave Gjessing
: Hey, now don't start knocking Bazooka Joe! That strip is far superior
: than Dennis the Menace.
I'm sorry... you are quite right.
Robert Fernandez (ENG)
: How on earth could anyone think that Calvin & Hobbes has any similarity to
: Dennis the Menace? C&H is a wonderful, insightful, and graphicly pleasing
: work of art. DtM is on par with those little comix that come in bubble gum.
Hey, now don't start knocking Bazooka Joe! That strip is far superior
than Dennis the Menace.
--
"Hello, hello, hello, how low?" :::::::: Robert Fernandez
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Resist Much. Obey Little." :::::::: rfer...@chuma.cas.usf.edu
Loren Joseph MacGregor
responds to an earlier comment of mine as follows:
>
> In that (Comics Journal) interview, several DTM panels are reproduced, and
> >the Bros talk about the various ghosts used by Ketcham, and the styles
> >of each.
>
> I suppose I'm just asking to be flamed here, but... -What- ghosts?
I don't see why a request for information should be an invitation to
flame, actually.
I don't have the article with me, but will look it up at home (_if_ I
can find it -- I've moved, and everything is in boxes.) Essentially,
there have been a number of ghosts over the years, for the dailies, for
the Sundays, and for the various comic books that have been issued.
Each has a fairly distinct style -- some use large spotted blacks, one
as I recall used a fairly delicate and intricate line. *Most* of them
-- at least from the panels reproduced in the Comics Journal -- had a
really nice sense of design and spatial relationships.
The Hernandez Brothers talked about reading the comics over and over
again and studying the style. I never got into it, but then, I'm not a
cartoonist but a writer. (I *did* notice someone back then who I called
"the good Jughead artist," but since Archie Comics then weren't signed,
I *still* don't know who it was. But Neal Adams once drew Archie, as
did a Marvel Comics artist who later went on to do many of the Chic
series of Christian comics; I believe his name was Al Hartley, but I
couldn't swear to it.)
-- LJM
Loren Joseph MacGregor
dgj...@freenet.columbus.oh.us (dave gjessing) wrote as follows:
>
> : Hey, now don't start knocking Bazooka Joe! That strip is far superior
> : than Dennis the Menace.
>
And now I'll just slide in surreptitiously and say, "Why, sure! One of
the Bazooka Joe artists won a Pulitzer, and you can hardly say that
about Hank Ketcham, now, can you?"
Heh.
-- LJM