| En af de store (eller mindre) passioner i mit (og
Hennings) liv har været at læse Steen og Stoffer. Det startede
tilbage i starten af 90'erne, da vi holdt til hos Politikens arvefjende
Berlingeren, hvori der hver dag var en stribe med den vidunderlig fantasifulde
dreng Steen og hans tøj-tiger Stoffer, der selvfølgelig var
levende, når Steen var alene med den.
Her på siden vil jeg bl.a. lægge forskellige"striber"med
Steen og Stoffer samt tegninger og animationer, som jeg har fundet rundt
om på nettet - og som jeg synes er sjove...
Her er forfatteren
Bill Wattersons egne beskrivelser af figurerne - indtil videre på
engelsk, hentet fra den officielle hjemmeside.
Gå til: Calvin
| Hobbes | Calvin's parents
| Susie | Miss Wormwood | Rosalyn
| Moe
 Calvin
Calvin is named for a sixteenth-century theologian
who believed in predestination. Most people assume that Calvin is based
on a son of mine, or based on detailed memories of my own childhood. In
fact, I don't have children, and I was a fairly quiet, obedient kid --
almost Calvin's opposite. One of the reasons that Calvin's character is
fun to write is that I often don't agree with him. . . .
Many of Calvin's struggles are metaphors for my
own. I suspect that most of us get old without growing up, and that inside
every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything
his own way. I use Calvin as an outlet for my immaturity, as a way to keep
myself curious about the natural world, as a way to ridicule my own obsessions,
and as a way to comment on human nature. I wouldn't want Calvin in my house,
but on paper, he helps me sort through my life and understand it.
 Hobbes
Named after a seventeenth-century philosopher with
a dim view of human nature, Hobbes has the patient dignity and common sense
of most animals I've met. Hobbes was very much inspired by one of our cats,
a gray tabby named Sprite. Sprite not only provided the long body and facial
characteristics for Hobbes, she also was the model for his personality.
She was good-natured, intelligent, friendly, and enthusiastic in a sneaking-up-and-pouncing
sort of way. Sprite suggested the idea of Hobbes greeting Calvin at the
door in midair at high velocity.
The so-called "gimmick" of my strip -- the two versions
of Hobbes -- is sometimes misunderstood. I don't think of Hobbes as a doll
that miraculously comes to life when Calvin's around. Neither do I think
of Hobbes as the product of Calvin's imagination. . . . Calvin sees Hobbes
one way, and everyone else sees Hobbes another way. I show two versions
of reality, and each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it.
I think that's how life works. None of us sees the world exactly the same
way, and I just draw that literally in the strip.
 Calvin's
Parents
I've never given Calvin's parents names, because
as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom
and dad. Calvin's dad has been rumored to be a self-portrait. All my characters
are half me, so it's true in some ways, but Calvin's dad is also partly
a satire of my own father. Any strip about how suffering "builds character"
is usually a verbatim transcript of my dad's explanations for why we were
all freezing, exhausted, hungry, and lost on camping trips. These things
are a lot funnier after twenty-five years have passed.
Calvin's mom is the daily disciplinarian, a job
that taxes her sanity, so I think we get to see her at her best. I regret
that the strip mostly shows her impatient side, but I try to hint at other
aspects of her personality and her interests by what she's doing when Calvin
barges in. . . .
. . . As secondary characters, I've tried to keep
Calvin's parents realistic, with a reasonable sense of humor about having
a kid like Calvin. I think they do a better job than I would.
 Susie
Derkins
Susie is earnest, serious and smart. . . . I suspect
that Calvin has a mild crush on her that he expresses by trying to annoy
her, but Susie is a bit unnerved and put off by Calvin's weirdness. This
encourages Calvin to be even weirder, so it's a good dynamic. Neither of
them quite understands what's going on, which is probably true of most
relationships.
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