WP2: Cursory Analysis

I haven't read many Calvin and Hobbes comic strips in the past, but this one became an instant favorite of mine. Put simply, Calvin is daydreaming, imagining himself to be a prehistoric bird--a pterodactyl, perhaps--when his teacher yells at him to pay attention. The teacher asks Calvin what state he lives in, to which he happily responds "Denial". To this, the teacher agrees and walks away, leaving Calvin to once again return to his daydreaming.

Every aspect of this strip seems to weave together perfectly. I noticed quite a few techniques that are used to support the overall image of this comic. First of all, the level of detail displayed in different panels seems to play an important role. In each frame consisting of dinosaurs, the author, Bill Watterson, uses shading and detailed backgrounds to make the images feel more realistic. On the other hand, the panels displaying reality show the least amount of detail.

The arrangement and size of the panels is rather unique in this comic strip. The panels displaying Calvin's imagination are enlarged to the point that they cover the entire strip, while the panels depicting reality, are all smaller, nearly the same size, and overlapping the background panels. The size of each frame works alongside the level of detail shown in each frame in order to emphasize how expansive Calvin's imagination is, and also reflect how much he rejects the reality in which he is trapped. Truly, in this entire strip, Calvin's imagination is much more important than the reality in which he lives.

The author's choice of hues also plays an important role. In the first and last frame, where Calvin is drawn as a dinosaur, the background is filled with blue. On the other hand, the background is white in the two panels located at the bottom left of the strip. These hues are completely swapped in the other two panels where Calvin is called out of the daydream by his teacher. I think this helps to show that the comic is being transitioned from imagination to reality and then back again. Additionally, the two panels in the upper right are split in nearly the same way by a white sky in one and the white speech bubble in the other. This links these two panels together, forcing the audience to make a comparison. Because one panel is positioned in front of the other, the audience can clearly see that Calvin is the pterodactyl and his teacher is the dinosaur that's coming out of the water.

The facial expressions of the two characters helps the audience to more easily interpret the text. As the teacher tells Calvin to pay attention, Calvin's eyes are wide, his mouth is open as if screaming, and his hair is standing straight up. The audience can easily read his expression as one of surprise, which parallels the response of the pterodactyl being attacked by the other dinosaur. Additionally, when Calvin responds to the teacher with the simple answer "denial," he has a large smile on his face, making him look cheerful and carefree. However, when the teacher agrees with him in the next frame, his expression seems to change to that of confusion as if wondering "What did she mean by that?"