The strip for Sunday, May 5, 1991 criticized the naming of The Big Bang as not evocative of the wonders behind it, and coined "Horrendous Space Kablooie".An alternative that achieved some informal popularity among scientists and was often shortened to "the HSK.” The term has also been referenced in newspapers, books, and university courses.
With rare exceptions, the strip avoided reference to actual people or events. Exceptions include Calvin once stating his desire to grow a beard like the members of ZZ Top, and a strip from April 1988 in which Calvin refers to his dad as the "Gene Siskel of Saturday morning TV", after he loudly expresses his resentment of the banality and morality of the animated cartoon Calvin is watching.
Watterson lampoons public decadence and apathy, commercialism, and the pandering nature of the mass media. The comic strip was launched in 1985 and 18 Calvin and Hobbes books published with 45 million being sold.