Spaceman Spiff: A Calvin and Hobbes Tribute

By Reggie's Take on September 6, 2020

Joseph Conover’s love of Calvin and Hobbes inspired him to create a fan-made interpretation of Spaceman Spiff, Calvin’s foremost alter ego.

Conover on his website talks about how Calvin and Hobbes, resonated with him as a child growing up and how he always wanted to create something that honored the work of Bill Watterson. Conover did just that by creating and posting to YouTube Spaceman Spiff: A fan-made Calvin and Hobbes tribute, a one-minute animation video of Calvin as his alter ego Spaceman Spiff.

Conover drew inspiration from NASA’s International Space Station along with classic Sci Fi book covers and modern Sci Fi art when creating his tribute. The final scene in Conover’s video reveals Calvin with his stuffed tiger Hobbes standing on blankets covering his father in the middle of the night. Conover writes it was a scene made for fans of the comic-strip with a 1990’s home video feel.

Reggie’s Take:
I have always loved Calvin and Hobbes and will until the day I leave this Earth. Joseph Conover’s video is something all fans would love to see happen whether it be an animated movie or an animated kids show, unfortunately we may never actually see such.

Ever since Bill Watterson ended Calvin and Hobbes in 1995, Watterson has stayed true to his stated principles showing no interest in resuming the strip, creating new works based on the strip’s characters, or embarking on new commercial projects. Watterson refuses to merchandise his creations on the grounds of displaying Calvin and Hobbes images on commercially sold mugs, stickers, or T-shirts saying it would devalue the characters and their personalities.

As much as I would love to see new Calvin and Hobbes in any medium, I do have to respect Mr. Watterson’s decisions regarding his characters, I may not like it, but I do respect it. In some ways, Watterson may have made the correct decision when it comes to Calvin and Hobbes.

We all love Calvin and Hobbes for the style and humor Watterson brought to the strip and the characters he created. If Watterson had sold out and allowed Calvin and Hobbes to be merchandised with T-shirts, coffee cups and maybe even a movie or two, would we as fans still hold Calvin and Hobbes in the same high regard? Let’s face it Hollywood does not always take other intellectual properties and do them justice, sometimes they get it right, but they also strike out as well.

What do you think of Joseph Conover’s tribute video? Do you think Watterson will ever change his mind or are you okay with the way things are? Would love to know what some of you Calvin and Hobbes fans think about all of this.