If you haven’t read the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson, I think you should. Making an investment in any of his collections will be money well-spent. This particular collection is An Exhibition Catalogue of Sunday strips from 1985-1995.

They were displayed at the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library from September 10, 2001 to January 15, 2002. The 36 selected strips are displayed on the right-hand page with the uncolored strip on the left-hand side. Watterson provides descriptions of them all along with his motivation for creating each one the way he did. Some of his comments are on comic book art. Others explain how he formatted for a Sunday newspaper format as well as his experience in the newspaper industry itself.

The cover is from the artist’s private collection, an unpublished pastel (12 x 12.5 cm) with Calvin and ‘Hobbes ol’ buddy’ riding downhill in the wagon. In this particular collection of Sunday strips, you will enjoy Calvin, Hobbes, Dad, Mom, Susie, and Calvin’s glorious imagination. A couple of his alter-egos show up, as well as Miss Wormwood, his patient (?) teacher.

It’s a walk down memory lane for me that doesn’t last waaay long enough. (I satisfy my Calvin-Jones daily on a Facebook group with over 52,000 members. For added interest, you can find one every day at GoComicsDOTcom.)

Watterson retired from his work with the strip in 1995 and within these pages is included the final strip, published the last day of that year. It’s a poignant and typical look at the enduring relationship between Calvin and Hobbes, using words that only a retiring Mr. Watterson could choose as his goodbye.