Calvin and Hobbes: Was Hobbes real...?

So anyone who's grown up in the 90's like me probably read a lot of Calvin and Hobbes in their childhood. It was always a laugh to read the C&H comics, and I still read them now. I've always wondered as a child if Hobbes was really.. real?

Do not despair, this comic strip has been proved to be fake!

I guess what most people would say is the "main message" is that you know, "Hobbes was just Calvin's figment of imagination"... blah blah blah. But I always thought that Hobbes was a real tiger that would only come to life when Calvin was around. Even as I grew up and grew skeptical of Hobbes' existence, I was reluctant to let go of this theory. I mean, there were certain instances where Calvin couldn't possibly have done something if Hobbes had been a stuffed toy.

Is this a slightly stupid, immature topic to discuss? Possibly. But I've been wondering this for many, many years of my life and I finally get to talk about it! What do you guys think? Was Hobbes ever real?