Categories
Uncategorized

Calvin and Hobbes — Now with Ritalin!

Comic parody of “Calvin and Hobbes”, in which Calvin is on Ritalin

Update: This comic made some readers feel very sad, so please be advised that there is a follow-up comic.

107 replies on “Calvin and Hobbes — Now with Ritalin!”

I’m sorry but depressing is what’s happening to kids being under drugs like SSRIs and Ritalin.

Holy shit. That is the single most moving thing I have ever seen on the internet.

Thank you for making that beautiful, terrible comic.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go read the originals again just to get over this…

That is exactly what those damned drugs do to you. I know for a fact, as I used to take them. My parents and teachers extolled their virtues and said they were “helping” me when all the did was make me into a depressed zombie. I used to be on 45mg of Dexedrine and 100mg of Strattera; the latter of which was a horrible stuff that gave me mood swings and other side effects. Now I’ve ditched Strattera and take only half a 15mg capsule of Dex as needed. I haven’t taken any in a week. I’m doing fine. I’m getting things done. Want to know what helped the most? A FRAKKING DAY PLANNER and some willpower.

I may be an exception rather than the norm, but I have my doubts. I think doctors should be ashamed for bowing to the pharmaceutical companies and immediately prescribing drugs before trying anything else.

Though its a very depressing comic you have to take what you can from it. Think of what the comic is implying not just what it is. I think this comic should be mass emailed to every parent in America in hope that they will understand the message. We as americans seem to believe that a pill can fix everything, even the amazing unprecedented gift of a childs imagination. Imagination is what lead to scientist delving deeper into the worlds mysteries, what lead humans to find a way to fly to the moon and past. where would we be if none of these things and many many others never happened? we would still be in the stone age and reluctant pick up a stone as a tool because that would take imagination to think of. STOP DRUGGING OUR FUTURE INVENTORS AND ARTISTS!

The first ad in the upper right hand side of this page is “Save on ADHD Medicine
Receive up to $50 off an approved ADHD treatment for your child.” And I thought google’s corporate motto was “do no harm”. *sigh*

“I take a PILL-tiddley pom;
It keeps me STILL-tiddley pom;
It keeps me STILL-tiddley pom;
Not fiddling.”

I am a big Calvin and Hobbes fan I’ve been reading them before I could read. My brother would read them to me, we would sit for hours, laughing and quoting our favorites. And I must say as a fan and collector, this comic was an insult to the Calivin and Hobbes name. Watterson would be disapointed. It goes against everything Calvin stood for. There can be no Calvin without Hobbes, it’s just not right. Go put Mickey Mouse on Ritalin, leave this one alone. It means too much to too many people. I guess that said, parents do need to stop drugging up their kids, it’s getting crazy.

Ya big jerk, that’s a nasty shift from the actual thing…but, at the same time, I could see it happen.

And you guys who keep sayin’ ‘take everyone off pills/SSRIs’ Some people REALLY need it. Though you can do a lot with just your own determination it doesn’t mean that you dun need help.
For me OCD has been playing merry hell for me for a long time, though the prozac isn’t the main thing, it helps.
Remember that with most mental disorders (at least anxiety), the brains chemistry is imbalanced which the SSRIs are supposed to deal with.

Great work, yeah, many of you feel bad for “poor kid”, but remember that this would have helped him a lot in real life. A good headstart in life will pay of for the rest of it. Besides, was Calvin suffering? A boy that was never ever present may in fact have been suffering. “yeah its just a comic” In a way it is, in a way it is not “just” a comic.

Not exactly a funny strip, but it leaves an interesting message worthy of debate. Being a sufferer of Adhd myself (treated today, im 25, the disease to blame for my life being a total failure to this point) I can tell you that constantly feeling like you have 500 cups of coffee in your system sucks ass. No really, lets see how long you that dismiss Adhd can keep around day and night constantly filling your body so it always contains 500 units.

Good luck you are going to need it.

Ps: No need to do it for 25 years, if you can hold out for 10 years, then you have earned the right to talk against children being medicated.

Never forget that your child may be running around like that because he feels like shit inside, and being born like that he just does not know what the fuck that feeling is. In other words, if your kid is climbing threes and tossing the cat around, it may all be a scream for help.

Are you willing to give your child that help? Or are you willing to stand for your values and not for the well being of your youngest one?

Think about this next time you take a headache pill, you are able to handle it right? Now think of having a headache every day for your whole life, still ok? Of course, adhd is a billion times worse!

Thank you Gerson and Allie. I also suffer from ADHD and find that the medication – in proper doses and when properly prescribed – is very helpful. As far as “STOP DRUGGING OUR FUTURE INVENTORS AND ARTISTS!” is concerned, I am a young Industrial Designer -inventor and artist. One of the main reasons that I’m going to be able to get my degree is because I’m getting some of the help I need from the medication. It’s not destroying my imagination. It’s allowing me to take my imagination and channel it in a constructive way.
I just don’t like it when people without ADHD talk about people with ADHD and the related medications like they really know something when they haven’t experienced any of it. All the negative stereotypes and poor public perception make an already frustrating disorder into an embarrassing one.

To those concerned, I don’t think the outrage is against prescribing medication to children who need it. Medication in the right circumstances is very helpful.

What is outrageous is when children who are different from the norm, bored with the norm and highly imaginative to boot are given drugs that they don’t need. Drugs that can have damaging side effects and change the personality or mental functioning of the child to sometimes an extreme extent. While many on this list are expressing concern at Calvin’s “presence” in his life, it’s also obvious from the comic that Calvin’s issues are part laziness and part that he’s incredibly intelligent and imaginative without much outlet. His trouble in school comes either from boredom with it or just because Calvin doesn’t see it’s importance.

It’s nothing some placement tests and a good child psychologist couldn’t handle. In Calvin’s case, I think there would be no need for Ritalin.

Man, this is sad… But seriously though, you guys should be a little nicer…what am I saying this is so depressing! Don’t make stuff like this!

This is…disturbing….and while calvin is a fictional kid, there are still thousands of kids just like him, energetic, funny, imaginitive and inventive, AND YOU KNOW WHAT??? SO MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT’S A BAD THING!!!! WHAT IS THIS??? DOCTORS ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP PEOPLE NOT FREAKING DESTROY A FUTURE THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DESTROY!!!!! *finishs ranting* But in real life, these should only be used for kids who really REALLY need them! not just because the doctors are going to get paid if they sell a pack of pills…only give it to kids who have severe adhd or have mental disability’s who can’t function properly without it…and to whoever made this, I’m pretty sure watterson wouldn’t sue you as this is possibly the most moving picture ive ever seen and if you show me someone who doesnt appeciate the message here… well…just saying that old (unfortunately dead may he rest in peace) bill probaly wouldn’t sue you.

*twitch* The ad on this page is for a focus drug. The nerve- I can’t even finish. I feel like slapping the mother in the ad in hopes that some common sense will enter her mind.

Also, in reply to Gerson, I am a 24 year old woman diagnosed with ADD (non-hyper). I’ve never been medicated. The non-hyper kind is supposedly more day-dreamy than hyper. Actually, I have very little energy in general.

I do still have trouble concentrating on important tasks, but I refuse to take medication. Why? Because I’m an artist (painter) and I don’t have ideas when I’m doped up. So that’s that. It’s simply not worth the trade-off.

LOL HAHA I love it best comic ever hillarious!! cant stop laughing HAHA!!!!!!

Oh no! Now Calvin will be responsible and do his homework, THEN play outside and use his imagination. That’s so much worse than his playing outside, using his imagination and ignoring his homework.

smoke weed. helps add adhd among other things. its not a disease, you just have a lot of energy, i have it and im completely successful. i just go running, biking and i practice martial arts. medicating children is wrong. theyre still growing and you’re introducing children to chemicals so they can become “better”. there is no excuse.

adhd can be cured by meditation. you don’t need pills, just self discipline. Calvin on the other hand doesn’t need the medication, because even though he only focused on what he wanted, he could focus. Oh and hes a fucking genius too..

Guys dont worry this comic isnt official tho someone else made it. Still very sad and sends its message deep

Folks,
IÂŽm a father of a ADHD 8y boy; it is not easy to manage his energy; what I see is that since he is on Ritalin he has friends and better results in school. Before, nobody wanted to be his firend and no teacher was able to manage him at school class. Nevertheless, to decide giving him the pills is not easy because he changes a lot and seems to be a different child than the one you know and you love. I am not compeltely sure if I am doing or not the right thing and sometimes a tear comes. The cartoon was like a punch in my face.

gosh stop crying people!! its a great comic which is adapted to our times in a perfect and genius way! thats how it works for kids nowadays. its sad but still theres a truth behind that comic. and its sweet. like every single c&h strip. so stop taking it too seriously.

The horrors of adhd:

Okay, all kids have great imagination, superb, yet… how would you guys like to sit in class, be told to put together 4 plus 4, yet no matter what the FUCK you do, your mind ONLY focuses on dinosaurs and flying spaceship heroes? Calvin notices as his grades go down, he wants to spend time with friends too, but he grabs the damn baseball cue, and suddenly finds himself chasing aliens, and everyone mocking him, further pushing him to a life consisting of not longer a desire to remain present (as he is unable to either way) but rather a non voluntary escape to a world he knows as well as everyone else, is fake.

His room is a mess, he hurts inside when he sees his parents struggle and silently curse his existence, yeah he is creative, but he is tired of the damn little space adventures, he just wants to focus once and for all.

Ritalin is not about killing dreams, but about allowing your brain to control his thoughts, poor Tommy, if he could just leave his tiger and fantasies away for 3 hours a day… he would be able to find friends, and once he is 14 and has no friends, no studies, no life, his dear parents will regret not helping him because of their zealot attitude against ritalin.

Is this tommy? Or could it be me, you, your children and everyone else? I bet you would not want your kid to use this, but consider asking your kid first, rather than allowing it to grow what many of us victims of adhd have become.

Example:

As Tommy grew, his parents got offered Ritalin, they said “NO! WE SHALL FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!” Tommy was now 14, he watched as girls and boys now went hand in hand, but each time he looked at a girl, his brain yelled ALIENS! And before he could “snap” out of it, the girl was crying and afraid of him.

Tommy did not really want to talk any more with his Tiger, tommy loves his toy tiger, but his parents think he is not acting normal, but “NO RITALIN!” anti-depressants, anti psychotics, and anxiety killers too…

One day Tommy finally woke up from his “child creativity”… he was now lonely, abandoned, dirty, sad, and worst of all, his toy Tiger was “killed” as Tommy “was a space marine shooting space tigers” Tommy did not want to do this, but his “cute creativity” gave him no choice…

Please Tiger, I know I am 26 years, but please, please talk to me again… after all this life, you are all I have, all that keeps me alive, all that wants me around, please tiger, one last word… no one wants me, no one needs me, please… you are all I ever had…

Well im lucky though, all I have left is a wild imagination, while your children may have a future with alcohol to kill his fantasies, or maybe he himself discovered the “wonders” of drugs, but without control that ritalin turned soon into heroine, or maybe he is the hobo down the street telling others about the incoming alien invasion, as his mind tired from the constant abuse snapping into a mind no longer able to discern fantasy and reality…

You won dad and mom, your kid lost, never again shall ritalin harm this family again! Pride parents, because while you sat on your throne assuring yourself that Ritalin is the devil, your kid was, and is still stuck in a eternal hell.

No seriously… I miss my Tiger… it was a she, and she was the only girl that would ever hug me, now I cannot longer feel hugs from anyone, on the bright side, if this ritalin ever works, of I dare go to the doctor again and NOT talk about aliens and stamps (which I hate but enter my brain nontheless) I may get something stronger… Ill never surrender, but god… I wish I had someone to hold…

This is just supposed to be funny. Stop writing all these paragraphs about Ritalin. Who gives a fuck? You’re not making a change. Just read the comic and lulz. That’s it. Calm down.

Seriously? you actually think that ritalin is good?
if Charlie Brown were a real kid in today’s society, he would be on ritalin, along with every kid on the street, christopher robin would be on ritalin, milo bloom and binkely from bloom county would be on ritalin.
and the list goes on and on… Ritalin is overused on kids who are just being kids. teachers with no medical training tell parents to put their kids on ritalin because they don’t conform.
say no to ritalin unless your kid reall really needs help.

I am proud to say that I own (and have read) Every Calvin and Hobbes book, and this is INDEED a real, canon, comic drawn at written by Bill Watterson. Calvin’s mother just gets fed up with Calvin always acting so hyper. The doctor they took him to prescribes him the “chill pill” and after the mother forcing it down his throat, he ends up like this (yes, this is the SAME EXACT comic from the collection book.) The next strip after this, Calvin snaps out of it, the call of being with Hobbes being to strong, so don’t be so heart broken about. yes, its sad, moving, etc., But do NOT blame the poor guy who scanned this is for YOUR enjoyment. It’s not like HE is trying to screw your childhood! Watterson drew this HIMSELF!! CHILL!!!

^

And you call yourself a fan. You ruined my day with your foolish comment.

This is obviously a cut and paste job. Look at the grainy quality. Also look at the comic text. I do not even need to look at the comic to know that it’s the wrong font.

Also notice how the speech bubbles aren’t even in the likeness of what Watterson draws.

And before anybody calls it infringement, nobody is profiting from this, call it fan art, 100% legal.

Get your facts straight. You made me use my parsimonious speech, how dare you!

I mean the point of the comic is that parents now literally drug their kids not cuz they have ADHD cuz there being a kid. i no that people with ADHD need the medication but kids dont. calvins being a kid and thats what kids now adays need to be imaginative.

I know what you mean. These meds are helpful, but this is overdose, my friend. i take a single 70 mg Vyvanse, any more, i turn into THAT (great comic, btw)

i love calvin and hobbes and i knew when i saw that comic strip it wasn’t a REAL calvin and hobbes strip. it’s quite horrible.

Haha, right on Anna! I just stumbled upon this page and had to laugh at all the moronic comments about how the guy who posted this should be ashamed and Watterson would be outraged or would sue. The people who wrote those things are obviously NOT Calvin & Hobbes fans, as if they were, they would know that this cartoon was drawn and written by Bill himself.

Hell no I Won’t calm down these shit made my ass cry and fucking 11! I hope someone shits on that guy head! I love Calvin and Hobbes I have all the books and I used some strips to make a Calvin and Hobbes desk! Now I see this shit fuck that mother fucker! He’s a jackass!

Just like Watterson… Always getting us to think of what going on in the world around us 🙂

Great comic.

@ John- Um, no it wasn’t. Bill Watterson’s pictures have motion. These are all the same panel (except the fourth) with different dialogue balloons. If you’re gonna claim Watterson made this, you’d better be able to cite your source- you tell me which book this is in (if you even know what the books look like) and maybe your statement will have some credibility.

um, hey guys. Did anybody notice that it’s the EXACT same calvin and the EXACT same hobbes in every frame? (well, minus the last one for hobbes.) Clever photoshop, and nothing to get too worried about. Thought it was kinda sad, but hey. It’s not real. and there’s a follow-up! Hooray!
..

AKA- Chill out.

Watterson obviously did not make this. Watterson never copied the same image from panel to panel. Such technology barely existed when he drew Calvin and Hobbes and doing that would violate the artistic standards Bill stands for. Also, Hobbes never, ever addressed Calvin directly by name, he only used the word “Calvin” in the third person.

Nonetheless, I don’t see the problem with it. It’s not like this is some kind of “fake” Calvin and Hobbes comic, it’s pretty obviously satire by a fan, and it rings true, to boot. The childhood of Calvin is pretty rare nowadays, with parents rich and poor mostly concerned with putting their kids under control so they can attain higher meaningless numbers that won’t matter past June.

Joey, with the exception of a few reasonable responses, you’ve got an army of emotional wrecks reading your blog.

Jeez, everyone, calm down. It goes without saying (or should) that this isn’t authentic. Stand alone, it’s an emotional blow that aptly delivers a statement about the growing parental trend of being too hasty in medicating your kids. I thought it was brilliant; it caused an emotional reaction and triggered a contentious debate, and I think it’s art.

How is stealing someone else’s creation “art”? If you’re gonna create and make a statement, use your own material. The “creator” of this strip didn’t even draw it himself, he just stole a panel from an authentic C&H strip. If you’ve ever read the 10th anniversary book, you know Bill Watterson would not be okay with that. Come on, guys, let’s be original here.

I think the comic is really really sad and funny at the same time – it`s obviously a parody but in the best Bill Watterson sense because like his comics it conveys a truth about the world we live in. It doesn`t detract from Watterson`s beautiful comic-strips at all, it only uses them to add a new spin to the discussion on hyperactive children. Well done there – I am however glad about the follow-up strip!:-) Thanks for that!!

Note: Parody is a perfectly legal and valid art form. And this one was very well done. Very thought provoking, in a chilling way.

Parody yes, plagiarism, no. If the creator of this comic had drawn the panels himself, that would be one thing. As it is, this is stealing.

Well, frankly, Watterson could not have drawn this strip not only because of the drawing patterns, but because it would mean destroying the precious juxtoposition of Hobbes’ reality, which he tries to preserve throughtout C&H’s entire history. It does add a poignant principle to the Ritalin affair.

dude, it’s just a comic, but then why am I sad?
been learning since 7.30 am and now, at 17.00pm I need some fun i see this and it occured to me to hang myself-if they can break calvin, well we’re gone 🙁

Actually stealing is right as nothing you do will be entirely original, the important thing is what you do with what you’ve stolen. In my opinion this is one heck of a job, eventhough it made me cry a bit.
“The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal” -Pablo Picasso

1. This is clearly a fanwork.
2. This means that the author is not making any money off of the production and presentation of this piece.
3. That means that the comic falls under the Creative Commons (someone help me out here, I’m not sure that’s right) License, which states that it’s totally alright to do alterations of existent works as long as it’s not done for profit.
4. Which means that crying “PLAGIARISM” is false.

Also, this is heartbreaking in its simplicity. Well done, my good sir. Well done.

Oh, that explains why Picasso’s work looks so much like Da Vinci’s! I don’t think Picasso had photoshopping some other guy’s stuff in mind when he said that. Fan Fiction may be legal, but it’s still stupid.

If that were how ritalin actually worked, it would be a sad strip. Instead I think it is just a funny comentary on how the school system expects kids to act.

@Tom – Fan work is stupid? You would honestly deny millions of human beings their right to create? Where is the harm in it? Since when has people creating fan works and sharing them freely with others as a means of appreciation EVER done ANYONE wrong? Are you truly that stupid, or are you just ignorant?

“This comic made some readers feel very sad”

got that right, but it’s calvin and hobbes, so I still love it 😀

“This comic made some readers feel sad”

Sure, but it did make them feel. Thus it is art.

“That explains why Picasso’s work looks so much like DaVinci’s”
Wow. Even if you had a valid point about stealing (which you don’t), in that one statement you have been able to prove your ignorance. If you knew anything at all about art (which you clearly don’t – I mean, Picasso and DaVinci?? gawd.) you would know that this “fan” is appropriating, not “stealing”. It’s been done for centuries by even the greatest of artists. It’s an art form in itself. And this is a damn good example. Fantastic.

As a sufferer of ADHD, I was put on Ritalin at an early age. and let me tell you folk’s.. best bit of satire i have seen in ages.. the day that prescribed narcotic does this to a child, will be the day that not only will hell freeze over. But also the day that we get back great genius like Tom Lehrer.

This in no-way was made by Bill Watterson himself. It’s a disgrace to his love of the comic. If John was even close to being a Calvin and Hobbes fan he would know the Watterson hated having Hobbe’s reality being messed with. He wanted it so Hobbes was Hobbes to Calvin and He was a stuffed tiger to everyone else.

This is obviously simple photoshop of multiple frames and pictures and isn’t endorsed by Watterson. I actually find this quite sad that they tarnished the simplistic masterpiece which is Calvin and Hobbes by taking their own, uneducated spin on the strip. I know it may seem a bit rash to over-react to something like simple tampering, but when it comes to something you love dearly, you really do become offended.

A few people have made some valid points, those of you who say “THIS IS DISGUSTING, HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO BILL WATTERSON” I am a devoted fan of this comic strip, have read all of them (each ten times at least) and read up on Bill Watterson… This is a brilliant comic, using characters whose behavior is well known to us as being clever, creative and himself (why this comic was chosen to be used for this idea) and someone else cleverly used it to make a very good point about over diagnosing imaginative children as “sick” and pumping them full of medication

so maybe its fake
maybe its heartbreaking, or angering
but the way i see it, is that its truth
Bill always had truth within his comics, usually there was some sort of meaning in them that reflected upon real things in our world
even if Bill did or did not write this, it still does the exact same thing, it shows something very real in our world. I find the only thing lacking, is a humorous and/or ironic way of representing that meaning. I dont really like it either, i hate the idea of this, but who doesnt, really? im pretty sure most of us at some time did this, one day things that meant something to you, just suddenly stop meaning something, and you dont even notice it. But like everything else, shit happens, and theres no need to get all butt hurt about it.
Even if it is just fan work, its still real.

I saw this comic around several times on the web and every time find myself shying away from it. Just thought I needed to comment here – I have to agree with an earlier poster, the only word for this is chilling.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to read Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat 😀

This comic is excellent. I actually thought it was more potent without the follow-up, which did little more than weaken the point of the first while making you feel better.

I have read all polish issues of that comic book. You sir, make me real sad. I saw your second edition but “what have been seen couldn’t be unseen”. You are a monster.

Huh. I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADD as a kid and put on Ritalin. In about three months, I went from a miserable kid who constantly berated herself for being stupid, lazy and useless to a happy kid who could actually finish all the projects she started, including reading books and starting artwork I’d wanted to do for ages but couldn’t. For the first time I felt like my brain was working with me instead of against me.

But yes, haha, ADD isn’t real and Ritalin is making our kids zombies.

This photo is obviously photoshopped. They took words from the calvin and hobbes books, cut and pasted them so it would seem like the style of wording is consistent. Then they took a photo of when Hobbes had to look like a stuffed animal, like when someone else besides calvin was around. Besides, if you notice, the squares are almost identical to each other, with subtle changes which means not a lot of work went into this forgery. also, there is no drug use in the calvin and hobbes series, even prescription. Sure there’s alcohol and cigarettes in tracer bullet editions, but not once has ‘calvin’ ever been portrayed to be on meds. FINALLY – the real last comic strip was published in December in 1995, and its a strip about optimism. Calivin and Hobbes go sledding in the snow, and the last sentence reads “let’s go exploring”. It comes out of the “It’s a Magical World” book. This photo is a FAKE….

^ bahaha my thought exactly Joey. By the way, this is the first time seeing this specific strip and I loved it. I thought it would have been the perfect ending to an amazing comic strip, but im a sucker for sad endings. The saddest real strip i can remember is the day Hobbes got a hole in him, and Calvin didnt know if he was going to “pull through” but his mom sewed him all up.

You guys are crazy. It’s just a comic, a satirical swing at the effects of ritalin. Something Bill would’ve done himself in a more humorous way. But this was funny, so I don’t understand the commotion being caused by this.

Leave a Reply