Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat: Calvin & Hobbes Series: Book Thirteen

My son has sort of assumed ownership of my Calvin and Hobbes collection, and I am in the process of replacing the books with new ones as they are starting to fall to bits. I bought Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat for him in furtherance of this undertaking, and unfortunately he's barely had a look-in since it arrived!Calvin's antics continue unabated in this, one of the later colour Sunday books. By this point in the series the characters and themes were so finely drawn and well-established that the stories flow with fantastic precision and timing - and are absolutely hilarious as a result. Calvin's interplay with his parents - particularly around those tasks that his dad says `build character,' the anguished inner conflict he experiences when he has to be good at Christmas, and his general nihilistic rants at a modern world that demands you have to be educated and then employed all come together in a superb collection of panel and full-page strips that you will instantly lose yourself in and feel like you've done a thousand sit-ups when you've finished laughing.As well as being a joy to have and hold, the full-page, full-colour spreads beautifully capture Calvin's outlook on life, and allowed Watterson to flex his artistic muscles in a way that the standard newspaper formats prohibited. It doesn't take too long to read cover to cover - maybe an hour or two - but once you've picked it up you won't put it down again until you've finished it, but personally I can think of no better way to spend £12 and an afternoon. If you don't immediately love Calvin & Hobbes, then I'm afraid you have no soul.But C&H is not empty soundbite humour - there is an intelligence and honesty about the writing that can really give you a fresh perspective on the world without being preachy. Satirical bites are taken out of corporate advertising, consumer greed and the 9-5 rat race - just about everything that keeps middle America in check. I was quietly bereft when the Calvin & Hobbes series ended, and while I fully respect Bill Watterson's integrity for ending it when he did - and for resisting the tireless demands to merchandise his work - I will always want `just one more.'Plus, in these days of tablets and e-readers (the likes of which didn't exist when the series ended in 1995), how great would it be to have Calvin and Hobbes on your Kindle Fire???