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1414 of 1441 found the following review helpful:
Minor flaws don't take away from this--the ultimate collection. Oct 04, 2005
By ivyspies
(I just received this today--The Complete Calvin and Hobbes! 10/4/05)
4.9 Stars
The collection consists of 3 books within one slipcase. Each page notes the date(s) of original publication of the strip(s) on that page. The strips have an appearance of being imposed on the page separately in respect to their original publication dates. This differs from other Calvin and Hobbes collections/treasuries; within those pages you find the strips laid out as a combined whole without distinction between each strip. There are also, of course, the wonderful watercolors by Watterson which appear occasionally, on pages respective of content and chronological order.
Book One starts with a 14-page introduction/forward written autobiographically by Watterson on his view of comics and his relationship with Calvin and Hobbes. Includes photo of Sprite and a few other comics/early works by Watterson, as well as an early version of Calvin and Hobbes. Book One includes all the comics of 1985-1988; Book Two 1988-1992; Book Three 1992-1995.
This is definitely an archival collection and not ideal for constant casual perusing, though the attractiveness makes it hard to resist. The printing, layout, paper, binding are beautiful but any wear and tear would be heart-breaking. This leads me to describe one drawback: these books aren't really hardbound books. They look so, because of their hard covers, but actually they are what's called "cardboard articles", meaning the pages are not stitched to the spine, and instead glued. Albiet, this is common book binding practice, but I'm sure most of us wouldn't have minded paying some more for real hardbound articles for the sake of longevity in preservation. So although this collection is best left for archival purposes, it's unfortunate they are not exactly archival quality.
Despite the books being cardboard articles, the pages are easy to open up without damaging the fabric covered spine due to the generous space and horizontal orientation. However the images of Calvin and Hobbes on the front and back faces of the slipcase are printed on separate squares of paper glued to the surface, rather than integrated, or printed directly on. This is something I realized as I slid the collection onto my bookshelf and found I had to be careful or the sides of those squares might catch and lift a bit.
The total collection weighs about 22.5 lbs, which makes it a bit awkward to handle. This wouldn't be such an issue except the books are snugly fit within the slipcase, meaning they're a bit difficult to extract without having to tilt the case forward a bit. It would be ideal if the slipcase had round cuts on the top and bottom corresponding to each book so one's fingertips could pry out the books with ease.
The bottom line is that for Calvin and Hobbes fans who want to own a nice comprehensive collection, imperfections are there, but not enough to deter. The beauty of the pages and the excitement of owning this make those issues mere minor annoyances. It is also the ideal purchase for those who are new to Calvin and Hobbes. At one concise and reasonable price you get the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. This collection is sure to please. Yes, I admit, I am a bit prejudiced by my absolute adoration for this boy and his tiger.
252 of 255 found the following review helpful:
 The Pages are Falling Out Jan 20, 2006
By Matthew Gore
I love this strip and I was very excited to see it collected completely in a lovely boxed set. I have only one fault with the item but it is a big one. For a set of this nature and for this price, you would think the publishers could have spent a few extra bucks and given the thing a proper binding! I've read through the collection only twice and the spine is already cracked on volume one and a page has actually come out! How much could a real stitched binding have added to the price? I plan to send my books off to Southern Binding and have them sewn. It will cost me about $30 but I believe it will be well worth it in the long run. Still, I'd rather have paid a few more buck up front.
90 of 94 found the following review helpful:
STUPENDOUS!!! But MAN, its heavy... Oct 18, 2005
By Dinesh A. Gomes
Don't think I could add a whole lot more to what's already been said about the collection.
However, one point thats been slightly understated is the weight. The package is big, heavy and unweildy. With each book weighing just over 7 lbs., God Forbid if you drop one of 'em on your foot.
Also, if you're buying the collection to READ the stories, it would make more sense to buy the individual books (as many fans, including myself already have the other books and bought this as a collectors item - this is something you want preserved, not dog-eared in a year). There is a website out there that specifically lists which of the C&H books you would need to have in order to own every single strip without duplicates.
But having said all that, and aside from any doting fanglorious discourse, what I really liked about the collection was that:
1) Since it has the strip in chronological order, its the first opportunity to watch how Bill Watterson's artwork and style evolved over the years. It also gives you the chance to see when new characters and alter-egos of Calvin were introduced into the strip- I was a kid when C&H ran in my newspaper so I dont remember whether Rosalyn came in right from the beginning or at the end of the series, etc.
2) The lengthy preface by the reclusive Watterson is itself worth the cost of the book. Hearing his take on how the strip came about, his philosophy on things and his piece on why he was against merchandising the characters, are all priceless bits of information. Happy Reading!
An intersting bit of C&H trivia - Hampster Huey & the Gooey Kablooie really is a book (and you can buy it on Amazon too!).
43 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Great books...but NOT complete. Dec 30, 2005
By ERK
Let me first say that Calvin and Hobbes is by far my favorite cartoon strip of all time. Even better than Far Side. When I first heard that this complete set was coming out I was thrilled! Finally all of Bill Watterson's work would be available in one deluxe book set! This is why I was kind of upset after really going through the set to find out that it's really not complete. It's very close...but definitely not complete.
Sure this set contains all the comics that ran in the newspapers, plus the cover art for the books, and various other special pictures/poems Bill drew for the series... but if you check out some of the older Calvin & Hobbes collections that were released, you'll find a whole bunch of really funny one-picture strips mixed in with the comic strips that are not included in this set. These were never put in the newspapers, they were probably made specifically for the older collections just to fill up space. For example, one of these one-picture strips featured in the very first Calvin and Hobbes collection shows a terrified Calvin in the back of car his Mom is driving holding up a big sign to the other drivers that says he's been kidnapped. Hilarious stuff...which makes me wonder why it wasn't included in this "COMPLETE" Calvin and Hobbes set.
Then there's also a bunch of pictures at the beginning and end of certain Calvin and Hobbes colections that didn't make it to these sets. For instance, at the very end of the collection "Scientific Progess Goes Boink", there is a large picture showing Susie looking down on the sidewalk shocked to see a crude drawing of herself, while Calvin and Hobbes are laughing behind a tree. Why wasn't this included?!
All in all, I do realize that I'm nitpicking with these left out pictures and one-picture strips. I just wish everything from all the previous collections was included, then I'd consider it truly complete. I really don't think it would have killed them to put in another dozen or so pages into this set so that everything from the older books was included. However, with that exception this collection is a must-have to any Calvin and Hobbes fan. It's well-made, looks terrific, and is worth every penny. I'd like to give it five stars, but I simply have to take off one star for the missing artwork.
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
An excellently bound collection... Oct 26, 2005
By Ramón del Río
This is just to correct the review below which states that the pages are glued to the spine instead of sewn. This is not true. The pages are indeed bound in signatures, 6-page signatures to be precise (I believe this is not an usual number, but the paper is thick; they are signatures all the same), 8 stitches per signature. Which to my eyes is a very good binding, as good as any hardback and better than most.
On the other hand, I would have liked a complete cloth cover, instead of half paper-half cloth. I see the paper corners wearing out, etc. But on the glued-sewn business, there are no complaints.
The contents themselves are well described elsewhere on this page and they are simply fantastic.
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