Calvin and Hobbes/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

 * I first read Calvin and Hobbes when I was nine, and thought it was quite funny. In the twenty years since, I've reread the series many times, and it feels like every time I do, another strip makes sense, or I notice a double meaning where I didn't see it before. That comic is an entire showroom of fridges. -- Wemmblyhogg
 * I just realized that both characters are named after Renaissance philosophers. That is some heavy stuff for a comic strip.
 * See Late to The Punchline, but a lot of comics also only make sense when you take into account the time in which they were written; Calvin's self-centeredness as a critique of attitudes in The Eighties, his taste in comic books and movies being a jab at the then-ongoing Dark Age, and so on. To a kid born after 2000 reading this, they're probably going to be even more confused, but still laughing at timeless gags.
 * I'm not sure the comic books are supposed to symbolize anything; Watterson openly says he hates comic books in the 10th anniversary collection. --Jonn
 * To be fair, just because he doesn't like comic books doesn't mean he wouldn't use them symbolically. Not all symbolism is positive.--opticwind
 * In the story where Calvin was in the class play about nutrition, he told his mom that he'd be playing "a great dramatic role" that would leave the audience in tears. He was playing an onion. I only just realized the hidden joke there... Bravo to Mr. Watterson, especially if it was intentional. --Toru771
 * It just hit me that Calvin is the epitome of the Byronic Hero. -The Shadow
 * One of the story arcs Hobbes shaving Calvin's head. In Latin, Calvin means "bald."
 * One strip has Calvin saying he believes in predestination. Calvin is named after John Calvin, founder of Calvinism, which has predestination as a doctrine.
 * In one of the last strips, Calvin grosses out Susie by stuffing manicotti down his shirt and pretending his guts are exploding out of his stomach. He then mentions to himself in the final panel that he should try this in class. Given that the series never evolved timewise from Calvin's standpoint (in that he was perpetually 6 years old and stuck in the same grade for the series' run) could this possibly be THE noodle incident?

Fridge Horror
"Calvin: The more you think about things, the weirder they seem. Take this milk. Why do we drink cow milk?? Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said. “I think I’ll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze ‘em!”? Isn't that weird?
 * A strip has Calvin's mother ask what happened to a kid that mocked Calvin for bringing a stuffed tiger to school. His response: "Hobbes ate him". Calvin - of course - believes Hobbes did, and the fact seems to be no one mocks Calvin about that. Assuming Calvin isn't just making that up, that leaves us with two options: If Hobbes is real, that means he ate a kid. If Hobbes isn't real, that means Calvin might have done something really gory to said kid.
 * An example occurs in canon, when Calvin and Hobbes are eating breakfast. Note that it doesn't make much sense, as someone could have simply observed a baby cow nursing from its mother, noticed that babies drink their mothers' milk, and realized that humans could drink cow milk too.

Hobbes: (disgusted expression) I think conversation should be kept to a minimum until afternoon."

Fridge Logic
"Calvin: You take two numbers and when you add them, they magically become one new number! No one can say how it happens. You either believe it or you don't. This whole book is full of things that have to be accepted on faith! It's a religion!
 * Applied rigorously by Calvin and Hobbes. One example is when Calvin declared math to be a religion:

Hobbes: And in the public schools no less. Call a lawyer."


 * That sounds more like Chewbacca Defense or Insane Troll Logic.
 * Calvin's analogy would have worked better if he had used algebra (not something so simple as addition) as an example.