Breaking Calvin

October 1, 2012 12:36 PM

Breaking Bad dialogue via the jarring yet oddly fitting medium of Calvin & Hobbes strips. Clayton Hanson takes dialogue from Breaking Bad episodes and inserts them into Calvin & Hobbes strips. He's done all the seasons to date. In a recent interview with the Washington City Paper, he talked more about his inspiration, his process, and his lawyer. (Calvin & Hobbes & Copyright previously on the grey.)
posted by knile (37 comments total)

> People ask, "What’s the next comic you're gonna do?"

Not this person.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:41 PM on October 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

You know, Internet, not everything needs to be mashed up with everything else.
posted by bondcliff at 12:43 PM on October 1, 2012 [34 favorites]

Why is the typeface so erratic?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 12:43 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

I'm not really fond of this, but it's still MILES better than Calvin peeing on a Ford logo, or Calvin praying. Ick.
posted by nushustu at 12:44 PM on October 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

I've never watched Breaking Bad, so I'll just complain that the typography stinks.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:45 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

This does't seem to work in most cases. I mean, only in so much as it's one character talking to another. It could just as easily be Garfield talking to Odie, or Cathy to an ice cream sundae.
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:46 PM on October 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

Ironically, comic sans might actually be an improvement in this context...
posted by schmod at 12:47 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I fail to see how this is "oddly fitting." I'm with 2bucksplus on this one.
posted by asnider at 12:48 PM on October 1, 2012

I'll be the wet blanket: this is an interesting exercise, along the lines of the Garfield Without Garfield and similar works, but to get mainstream attention? If this was the early days of the internet, it would be no more significant than the raunchy Family Circus parodies. But nowadays, internet memes are mainstream and Breaking Bad is king of TV, and it gets huge attention. There's just something really uninspired in this. You take a beloved comic strip that everyone pees their pants in nostalgia for, pair it with the hot AMC drama of the month, and "hahah oh wow what a deep and unexpected juxtaposition!" I'm sorry, but Lasagna Cat, this ain't.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:52 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Yeah, bitch! Mashup!
posted by Egg Shen at 12:54 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Whoever did this has absolutely no understanding of or appreciation for Calvin & Hobbes.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:01 PM on October 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

I would gladly volunteer to micturate upon this guy's work.
posted by laconic skeuomorph at 1:02 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, the lettering is terrible. <-- Comics snob
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 1:02 PM on October 1, 2012

I mean, maybe if they used the established relationships and personalities of the characters from the strip to comment on those from the show, it would be interesting, but it doesn't even seem to maintain a consistent 1 to 1 C&H character = BB character. Calvin's mom is Skyler? Moe is Gus? Why? I'd like to suggest that it's just because the illustrations match the dialogue chosen but that doesn't appear to be the case either.

I didn't want to hate this.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 1:07 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

I didn't want to hate this.

I didn't either, but it really feels like he gave it no more thought than "nerds love Breaking Bad and Calvin and Hobbes, therefore they will also love this!"

I do admit to feeling like Calvin and Hobbes is somewhat sacred and should not be fucked with in any way, but I don't think that's the only reason I'm not liking this.
posted by bondcliff at 1:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Kill it with fire.
posted by IjonTichy at 1:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

I feel like this is designed to appeal to the same druggy fratboy demographic that was the target market for the "drunk/stoned C&H" bootlegs back in the mid-'90s, which probably has considerable overlap with the portion of the Breaking Bad audience who (INCORRECTLY) view the show as a Scarface-esque power fantasy. Needless to say, neither one of these markets has much use for tasteful, consistent typography.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

As much as I tend to enjoy anything related to Calvin and Hobbes, most of these just don't work. Maybe it's a testament to how well Bill Watterson matched his art to his dialogue that replacing the latter never quite fits. (Well, except maybe for this one.)
posted by anaximander at 1:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is the only take off of Calvin and Hobbes that really works. Ugh my heart.
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:31 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

bondcliff: "You know, Internet, not everything needs to be mashed up with everything else."

CORY DOCTOROW CONDEMNS THEE TO A HERETIC DEATH!
posted by symbioid at 1:32 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

nushustu: "I'm not really fond of this, but it's still MILES better than Calvin peeing on a Ford logo, or Calvin praying. Ick."

I'm fond of Calvin peeing on a praying Calvin, myself.
posted by symbioid at 1:33 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07252005
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 1:44 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

This is like, not very artful.
posted by Mister_A at 1:50 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Jesus, that's horrible. As if mashups weren't lazy enough already.
posted by univac at 2:03 PM on October 1, 2012

Do not like.
posted by sweetkid at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2012

God, it's so awful.

The virtue of a good mashup is that the two components mesh in an uncanny and intelligent way that allows you to re-evaluate the premise or enjoy it differently. These are just shoehorned lines of dialog on nearly random C&H strips. Horrible. Possibly Worst of Web.
posted by disillusioned at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

This is the only take off of Calvin and Hobbes that really works. Ugh my heart.

Yeah, that one breaks me every time.
posted by corb at 2:45 PM on October 1, 2012

Actual Breaking Bad Comics are infinitely better than this.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:56 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

The uncanny valley between awful and meh.
posted by dhartung at 4:01 PM on October 1, 2012

Eh, I was always partial to Mad's take on a C&H mashup.
posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 5:53 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

If I started making a ton of money from merchandise

Yeah I don't think that's likely to be a problem you'll encounter. Just sayin'.
posted by scalefree at 5:58 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm kind of relieved other people think [this is bad].
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:37 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07252005

I thought it was going to be the one of Pat's car with Calvin peeing on "THE STULTIFYING COMPOSITIONS OF EDVARD GRIEG"
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:58 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Clearly, prima facie this is bad.

But if you had terminal cancer and could provide for your family by violating copyrights, would that be so bad?

Would it?
posted by mazola at 10:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Wow, somebody has taken my favorite comic strip of all time and my favorite TV show of all time and combined them!

into TOTAL CRAP.
posted by mmoncur at 12:32 AM on October 2, 2012

It's been pulled. DMCA-ed.
posted by SnuffyMcDuffy at 8:36 AM on October 23, 2012