Calvin and Hobbes was cynical, it's main characters are named for a religious brimstoner and cynical philosopher. Part of its appeal to children, beyond the general creativity of the strip, is, that it was cynical. Children can be very aware and it's often disregarded by most childrens stories. But, that cynicalness can verge from reasonable to depressive. And depressiveness can be a deathknell for continuing.

As I get older, some of the jokes and commentary age to that of coming from a younger person who still is grappling with the world, unaware of the commentary that could be said in ernest against it. The self reflection is mostly done via Hobbes, and sometimes he is not enough, too much in agreement. Luckily, it mostly never verges on insulting, but it's introductory to the issues he attempts to grapple with. As a reflection of a young child it will work forever, but as a reflection of Watterson, it shows a stall in development. Instead of accepting the world or at least challenging his initial revulsion, I worry he retreated and became a hermit out of depression.