Talking about comics, I would like to stress on three specific ones, namely Calvin, Garfield, and Dilbert. There is a strong reason why I (and possibly you if you are like me in any strange way) feel an association with these three in particular. Let's view them:
Calvin: My Gosh what a vocabulary this kid has. And what imagination. As a kid, while reading Calvin and Hobbes, it took me pretty long to realize that Hobbes was actually an imaginary friend of Calvin. What catches my attention the most is the ease at which our friend Calvin correlates small things in his life with the imaginary life he has. Very conveniently, he converts his classrooms to space stations and his backyard to an unknown terrain of an alien planet.
It strikes me that as a kid, I had a supreme sense of imagination, which I probably lost in the process of growing up. Hats off to Bill Waterson's work and his decision to never let Calvin grow. I don't want him to lose his streak.
Garfield: I remember a signature quote from Garfield. "I can, but I won't". This more or less sums up what Garfield stands for. He is like the valiant warrior representing what we all long to do. Garfield represents the part of us which while coming back from a rafting expedition full of thrill would be considering the same time that could have been spent lazing around in a bean bag doing nothing. Garfield represents a theology of being, and just being without doing much, lazy not because you can't move but because it's against your value system to take too much of an effort.
Garfield's relationship with Jon would represent what most pets would feel for their owners. I mean come on, which pet would ever like to be made to walk so much in the morning or just sit around and chase mice all day. Garfield is the revolt. The vision to break free of the stereotypical pet image. He's the one who runs the show at home, not his boss (oops, did I just write boss here). The ultimate thing about Garfield is his sense of Superiority over all other forms of existence. Jim Davis, I believe, has understood cats better than any animal psychiatrist ever.
Dilbert:Statistics say that Dilbert is on the softboards of 12.3% of all employees in the world. Whoa! I think the rest of them either haven't read about Dilbert or lack a basic sense of understanding (or say sense of humour). Scott Adams has penned down what each and every subordinate feels about his organization and in particular about the (two-horned) boss. What I fail to understand is how Dilbert has been through nearly all situation a normal employee has been through.
Dilbert is not a name or a word. It's a voice that reverberates in the corporate world today. It's a million employees who want to say, "Ok.. I've had enough from you, you slimy, fatso, two-horned monster. I give two hoots to your POAs and I couldn't care less about how you feel that my Reporting formats and Timesheets aren't adequate. I DON'T GIVE A DAMN", but eventually end up saying, "Alright boss, no problem." Dilbert represents the frame of mind between doing the right thing and saying the right thing. Dilbert is just awesome.
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Phew! Too much I've said I guess.
Disclaimer: The post above has got no correlation with my life or my work life and any of the characters above don't represent any of the situations that have occurred or keep occurring in my life. They are totally work of a creative mind's indulgences.
