Book Review: Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons by Bill Watterson

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: "You Cannot Trace Us.  You Cannot Find Us.  Sincerely, Calvin."

Cons: "Nothing Spoils Fun Like Finding Out it Builds Character"

The Bottom Line:

Kid and stuffed tiger

In comic strip that still makes

Me laugh as I read

"Well, Hobbes, I Guess There's a Moral to All This.  Snow Goons are Bad News." 

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons has always represented a half way point in the classic comic strip Calvin and Hobbes to me.  It's the seventh collection of comic strips, but the first one not to be combined into a treasury.  All the books after this one were only released as treasuries.  Don't ask me why this one is the orphan.  So the strips are only black and white here.  That doesn't make the humor any less funny.  In fact, there are some classics here.

As usual, we follow the adventures of imaginative six-year-old Calvin and his best friend Hobbes.  The catch is Hobbes just happens to be a stuff tiger to the rest of the world.  Calvin's life is inhabited by his parents and teacher Miss Wormwood, neighbor Susie, and bully Mo.  His babysitter is the only regular character not to make an appearance in this book.

We've got roughly nine months of strips to enjoy.  We start at the beginning of summer vacation as Calvin comes down with chicken pox.  And we end in the spring as Calvin duplicates his good half (who surprisingly isn't shorter than Calvin). 

None of the Sunday strips tie into each other or any of the daily strips.  And some of the daily strips are just one and done gags.  But I'd say about two thirds of the strips here tell various stories.  For example, Calvin kidnaps one of Susie's dolls but manages to have to pay ransom to get Hobbes back from her.  In the story that gives the book it's title, Calvin builds a snow man and brings it to life, only to find out it's a monster that wants to kill him.  Speaking of trying to kill him, Calvin's dad insists that Calvin learn to ride a bike even though his bike is homicidal.  Calvin and Susie bet over who will get the top score on a math test.  Calvin puts off a school project until the night after it is due.  We get the first mentions of the mysterious noodles incident.  While we can't prove Calvin did it, it sure comes up frequently for the rest of the strip.

Something else that happens for the first time here is a subtle critic of our culture.  This mostly happens when Calvin decides he must be a great artist when his "dinosaurs in spaceships" pictures get him in trouble at school.  As the series progressed, it took an even harsher look at the arts and consumerism in America.  I always loved that because the strips were so funny and so true.

Christmas always means funny strips, and this book has a great series where Calvin hires Hobbes to be his lawyer and plead his case to Santa.  Of course, they barely get out of the yard before Calvin wants to hit Susie with a slushball.

The earlier books have some dates strips where Calvin begs for a VCR or cable.  This book is copyright 1990, and as a sign of the times, those things seem to have been dropped.  Honestly, these are pretty timeless strips.

These strips are filled with sarcasm.  Calvin's dad is the worse, but Calvin has definitely picked up that habit as well.  There's also plenty of absurdity and creativity.  You can't help but laugh at what you'll find here.

Every collection of this great strip is well worth owning, and this one is no exception.  No matter if I have some of these strips memorized, I still laugh at the punch line.  That makes Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons a classic.