Who made this brilliant Calvin and Hobbes/Bohemian Rhapsody fusion?

[full_metal_ox]

I’m familiar with Bill Watterson and Queen, of course; this has been making the rounds of Facebook, Imgur, and Tumblr since autumn 2023, but I’ve been unable to find a version that credits the fanartist who so cleverly fused the two—the lettering alone, including “Bismillah” in the original Arabic and the sudden gigantic red scare text of “BEELZEBUB”, is worthy of Joe Sabino. And the time frame is right: children in Calvin’s generational bracket would know this song as a favorite of their parents.)

(And, should Calvin’s dad actually happen to agree with his son’s grievance about school, you know he’d absolutely pull something like this.)

Comments

[calzephyr]

How charming! I haven't seen this before, so I appreciate the share :-)

[full_metal_ox]

And consider this possible bit of Fridge Horror: at circa 60 (“five years until retirement”), poor Miss Wormwood could conceivably have taught Dad!

[dine]

omg, that's fantastic - just damn amazing, and work so well together. and yeah, speaking as someone who reading the cartoon devoutly, and played that album repeatedly, those are definitely contemporaneous.

using my only Calvin icon

[acelightning73]

Freddy Mercury was born in Iran, and usually self-identified as "Persian". So he would have heard "Bismillah" a lot - it means "BY the will of Allah!, may this be made so!" (In Moorish Spain, this god worn down to "O Jala!" (spanish j prounounced as a strong H) Someone might say, "If this lottery ticket I'm buying wins the jackpot! (May God so will it!) - I'll get my old klunker of a car fixed."

[full_metal_ox]

(Disclaimer: I not only welcome but invite clarification from actual Muslims on the following.)

I’m given to understand that you’re also supposed to say “Bismillah” when you sic a Saluki (the one specifically halal dog breed) on a prey animal; this authorizes the dog as a tool of halal slaughter - as long as they bring you the rabbit/gazelle/whatever without themself partaking, meaning that they were hunting on your behalf rather than their own.

[acelightning73]

I don't think you could call it Kosher - actually, saying Bismilla makes it explicitly NOT kosher, because something having been sacrificed to a different God specifically disqualifies it.

I pity the poor hunting dogs, never getting to taste the creature they laboriously chased down.

[full_metal_ox]

I presume you can share with the dog once you’ve processed the prey? Again, I don’t pretend to speak from a standpoint of cultural familiarity.

[filkerdave]

This is all kinds of awesome

[full_metal_ox]

I could imagine it as a pivotal turning point in Calvin’s relationship with his dad near the end of the strip, as with Rosalyn realizing that the context of Calvinball could enable her to compel Calvin’s willing obedience.