Slashdot Mirror
"Calvin and Hobbes" Creator Bill Watterson Looks Back With No Regrets
With fifteen years separating us from the last appearance of "Calvin and Hobbes" on the comic pages, reclusive artist Bill Watterson gave a rare interview reminiscing about his legacy. "The only part I understand is what went into the creation of the strip. What readers take away from it is up to them. Once the strip is published, readers bring their own experiences to it, and the work takes on a life of its own. Everyone responds differently to different parts. I just tried to write honestly, and I tried to make this little world fun to look at, so people would take the time to read it. That was the full extent of my concern. You mix a bunch of ingredients, and once in a great while, chemistry happens. I can't explain why the strip caught on the way it did, and I don't think I could ever duplicate it. A lot of things have to go right all at once."
I'll tell you what I once told my son: "My love is limited, there is only so much I can share and I don't see why I should give you any when your sister is clearly the better child."
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I am in my home office writign this and can look up at my bookshelf towards the five "Calvin and Hobbes" anthologies I have. Great comic. However, I think of it every time I read the sunday funnies with my kids. Watterson, along with Gary Larson (The Far Side) left when the time was right. I see comics like "Drabble" and "For Better or Worse" lingering on. They aren't even funny or relevant. C&H will always be relevant.
In fact, my nine-year-old recently took out one of the books and remarked that I looked a lot like the "dad" character.
I mentioned to him how I'd once convinced him for a few weeks that the reason grandma's pictures were all in black and white was because the whole world was in black and white.
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
but having just seen the article, I have to say
As long as you only looked at the pictures. This is /., we have standards!
That's weird... I had a dream about fucking his mom. As soon as I was about to come, *bam*, I wake up.
Part of Calvin and Hobbes' popularity should be contributed to the lack of copyright in the beginning.
What the hell are you talking about? These are the first month of the comics and you can see an explicit copyright on all of them.
And what civil engineer hasn't told his kid that they determine weight limits for a bridge by driving continually heavier trucks across until it collapses and then rebuild it?
Or that there was color photography in the late 1800's/early 1900's, but all the stuff they took pictures of was black and white?
True, and Bill Watterson, in a way, used the same basic principle - that things are more funny when they're specific*, because they appeal to a niche or appear to be "in the know" to the layman. That's one of the core tenets I adopted for composing Slashdot trolls.
* Paraphrased from his commentary in the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book.
No. The point of letterboxing is to create extra space for TV logos and animated overlay advertisements.
It has become so popular that now, all my cable channels have 10% black borders on all four sides of the movie.
It's a good thing that they invented letterboxing or else we would have to have commercial breaks instead of animated advertisements during the movie or show!
Sheesh, some folks just don't understand.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Calvin on ritalin: http://www.joeydevilla.com/2008/01/08/calvin-and-hobbes-now-with-ritalin/
Calvin & Hobbes grown up: http://onceuponageek.com/images/calvin_hobbes_grown.jpg
"Any rebellion was accidental, as it usually is in the case of very young children."
One of the first words that comes out of most kids mouths is "No". Belive me, it's no accident.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
> I too share empathy for those rovers.
Don't anthropomorphize machines. They hate that!
"Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
Perhaps you will be spared when the machines implement their plan to kill all humans. Though I doubt they'd understand your squishy and illogical concept of empathy.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?