When I read the first strip with Calvin being a parent, married to Susie Derkins, my initial reaction was not a good one. Reading all of the high praise comments I was wondering why it didn't sit well with me. I thought maybe I wasn't 'getting it', like a joke that everyone else laughs at but goes completely over my head. I think the author of the article hits it dead-on the head of the nail for me and which is why I didn't like the present-day Calvin strip, and disliked he second one even more.

Several things: I didn't think the drawings were that good, they obviously used a computer to draw it, which is never like actually ink on paper so the genuinity was completely lost. The fact that Watterson has spent years during and after his Calvin years protecting his work should be respected. Reading the forward in "The Complete Calvin & Hobbes" you can hear his exhaustion of having to fight that over the years. And the final thing, they named their daughter "Bacon"? The fact the names 'Calvin' and 'Hobbes' were pulled from philosophers was the inside joke to Watterson and his readers. Nowhere in the strips was that ever referenced so to think that Calvin and wife, Susie, would have thought to continue the trend and name their child 'Bacon' is shallow in regards to the depth the of the strip.

I think what bothers e most is that guys who designed the new strip didn't seem to give the original strip and Watterson the respect they deserve. Both respect for intellectual property that Watterson has voiced for years and respect for the strip for not allowing Calvin to stay forever young.