Is there a running joke in Calvin and Hobbes regarding squid?
I’ve never read the comic strips. I had a chance to flip through one of the books, and I was struck by this one strip. Calvin’s mom took a large squid out of the fridge, prepared the squid with nasty ingredients, and Calvin refused to eat the food.
Just wondering if squid is a running joke.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
7 Answers
I think tge squid is like those aliens he always imagines fighting.
I remember that panel. Squid is mentioned in a few strips. But the main joke is that Calvin always refuses to eat the meals his Mom prepares because he finds them disgusting (and they are always drawn as green amorphous blobs, even if it’s something ordinary like a casserole). The panels depicting his Mom preparing a giant squid with all sorts of nasty ingredients is entirely Calvin’s imagination. The actual meal is probably something like baked chicken or steak and potatoes or something.
Remember that half of what happens in Calvin and Hobbes isn’t “real”, and is only a product of his imagination. Although there is a subtle suggestion that his imagination seems to transcend reality and that what he imagines actually happens to him. After all, how would Calvin manage to tie himself to a chair if nobody else but Hobbes was there to do it?
No running joke, I think it’s just a go-to for Watterson/Calvin for ‘disgusting creature’, so it’s used for that meal and space monsters, etc.
You have to adopt a little different reality to truly understand Calvin and Hobbes. It’s on a different plane because his world is all in his head. The squid is just one aspect of that reality. If you couldn’t tell, I was a major chowderhead.
Ah, I love that one. I have like 5 of the books…
But I realize that I’m being off-topic.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
