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"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 was born a Berkeley Breathed fan and I will die a Berkeley Breathed fan.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
All /. readers are well aware of our erosion of freedoms when it comes to fair use and DRM. The fact that Bill did not copyright his work yes can still live a good and his original comics are popular need to be seen as an example when corporate giants are pushing to extend their copyright privileges for hundreds of years.
I live in the town where Charles Schultz (Peanuts) lived a good portion of his life, I know his kids and how much money they have all given to charities and community development. I respect the family for what they do but I respect Bill far more allowing his work to be part of global comminuty and not restricting who can even draw his characters even not for profit. Bill may not be the third largest earning dead celebrity (http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/26/top-dead-celebrity-biz-media-deadcelebs07-cz_lg_1029celeb_slide_4.html) but we all owe him a big thank you for his pioneering efforts whether intentional or not
In school they told me I was gifted, they told me I was a problem student, and they told me I was too young to study astronomy. When I went to college for the second time I failed astronomy, and I'm still an intelligent (or so I am often told) pain in the ass (likewise.) Thanks, public schools of California!
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Mmm, I'm not sure why you were down-modded, except that I've been on sd for about 10 years and I've seen the vagaries of moddation.
But I've been reading Calvin for 15 years now, and your observations are correct.
I never remembered strips quite like this where Hobbes shrunk into the background in the face of superior reality-power. Yes, Hobbes had trouble treading water, but in this comic he is shut down.
Non-canonical is my feeling. If you want to kill the tiger, then just kill him. This is sauce. Weak, tepid, vodka-filled vodka-sauce against an opponent who didn't know what was coming.