BEHIND THE RED CURTIAN:
LIVING IN THE LAND OF THE FISH PEOPLE
A CONTINUING SERIES
CALVIN'S CALVARY
The car shown in the image above was parked directly in front of the entrance to my workplace when I snapped the dpic. It hits a sort of Holy Trifecta in slap-on-your-ride iconography, as you can see:
It has a "Jesus is Lord" license tag frame, a "JESUS" fish, and a decal of "Calvin" in drag bowed down in front of the Cross. Now, I think anyone who has travelled the streets of Anytown, USA, has most likely seen one version or another of a "Calvin" decal, usually one like this:
This is the classic pose in which "Calvin" pisses on something which the owner of the vehicle (a large truck, usually) presumably intends serious disrespect. I keep on putting quotes around "Calvin" because this image is itself a disrespectful and disgraceful rip-off of the beloved character created by the brilliant cartoonist Bill Watterson, creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes:
 
To the many, many fans (including me) this decal is more blasphemous than the infamous piss christ photo by Albert Serrano that Jesse Helms railed against lo these many years ago. I carry a Louisville Slugger in the trunk of my car, and I always think of swinging for the cheap seats when I see one of these decals. The Fish People did the no-dick rednecks one better and replace the piss with piety:
On the whole I think I prefer "Calvin" the pisser to "Calvin" bowed down in prayer. Bill Waterson never signed a deal or in any way approved any merchandising of any kind of his characters. But neither Fish People or Nanopricks have any problem with stealing and abusing Waterson's creation, rendering the witty, pointed, and profound Calvin and Hobbes witless, crude, and saccharine. And just this once, neither do I, because I can't resist ripping off the rip-off:
Please forgive me, Bill.
4:01:38 PM 
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