I believe people don't get why Calvin and Hobbes became as big as it did, which is simply because it's fans responded to it in their own personal ways.<p>&#62; What readers take away from it is up to them. Once the strip is published, readers bring their own experiences to it, and the work takes on a life of its own. Everyone responds differently to different parts.<p>I believe the thing that spoke to me most out of anything I've ever read was this: <a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2003/01/01/the-child-on-the-train/" rel="nofollow">http://whatever.scalzi.com/2003/01/01/the-child-on-the-train...</a><p>To most this is a sad and unfortunate story, which is how I originally took it. However, when I picked up his book covering the past of Whatever it took on a completely different meaning. My life and perceptions changed quite radically in the intervening years, and years later it's still a difficult subject to deal with publicly. It's a catch 22, you feel bad for bringing it up because it's not only difficult for people to deal with, but it's also an awkward subject to breach. However, it's an issue that truly requires to be discussed as 1/4 of couples experience it, but discussing it hits the first snag. The emotions are seriously conflicting as you're exceptionally happy, and then it goes away. You're upset and depressed, however there is an awkwardness to the emotions as nothing feels like it was ever lost. It's almost like having a false-positive test, but much more profound.<p>Calvin and Hobbes provided ways for its readership to relate, and apparently managed it profoundly with a vast assortment of people. It's one thing to cater yourself to the general public en masse, but it's something worlds apart when you <i>relate</i> to the general public en masse.