31 Years Later, This Masterpiece Remains the Greatest Comic of All Time

If you're of a certain age, like this writer, you might have vivid memories of a childhood after-school routine that involved the newspaper. Parents would flip through the news and sports pages, but kids, after being released from hours of mind-numbing boredom, went straight to the comics. There, in a few short panels, we'd witness the latest adventures from our favorite comic strips, like Peanuts, Garfield, The Far Side, and so many more. And then, in a league of its own, was Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes. From 1985 to 1995, the tales of six-year-old Calvin and his stuffed toy tiger Hobbes did more than just entertain; they helped kids invest in their imaginations. Nearly 31 years after the final Calvin and Hobbes strip ran on December 31,1995, no newspaper comic has done it better.