Bill Watterson (briefly) Returns To Comics

New submitter amosh writes: 'Bill Watterson was the author of the immensely popular "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip in the 80s and 90s, until he retired and removed himself entirely from the public eye. Since his retirement in 1995, he has become a recluse, and has not drawn a published daily comic strip — until now. This week, Watterson came out of exile to draw the 2nd panel of three of Stephan Pastis' "Pearls Before Swine" strips. Watterson has lost none of his style or talent, and a fourth strip — drawn by Pastis alone and published today, June 7 — is a lovely homage to Watterson's ending of Calvin and Hobbes. The Washington Post has the story of how it all happened.'

Comments

If only Bill Waterson inspired other cartoonists..

[Vellmont]

To stop cartooning. Beatle Baily, Hagar the Horrible, Garfield and yes... I'll even go far as Dilbert (I'm sure blasphemy to geeks around here) are worn out strips that are recycling the same dumb gags and phone-it-in art over and over. I actually respect Waterson for quitting in his prime.

Re:If only Bill Waterson inspired other cartoonist

[Threni]

I don't. Not that I rate those other artists, but because - like the Simpsons post series 7 - he'd have done some great, great work. I don't think less of someone because they peaked and went downhill; it detracts nothing from the best stuff.

Re:I wonder where Watterson would go today

[rudy_wayne]

With online distribution, he could draw whatever he wanted without as many limits, and while limitations do breed creativity, they can also put you in a box.

But I suspect he's too bitter to try.

Or is he?

Calvin and Hobbes is still syndicated all over the world and according to sales figure I saw a couple of years ago, he is conservatively pulling in a couple hundred thousand dollars a year from the sales of Calvin and Hobbes books (there are 18 of them).

Not bad for a guy who hasn't worked since 1995.

Re:Wow. Glimpses of greatness...

[Jarik C-Bol]

At the same time, it makes me sad because it reminds me there is nothing quite like Calvin and Hobbes, and I miss it.

hmmm

[nomadic]

Are you sure he's a recluse? You can be out of the public eye and not be a recluse.

Re:hmmm

[binarstu]

I wish I had mod points to give you. From what I've read, Watterson simply values his privacy and his family's privacy, and he has virtually no interest in publicity for its own sake. Apparently, any former celebrity who doesn't so desperately long for attention that they appear on Dancing With the Stars or jump at every chance for an interview or public appearance is so incomprehensible to most people that the only way to make sense of it is to label them a "recluse".

Re:hmmm

[zippthorne]

He doesn't owe us anything. He already gave us the art, and it was great. And it's still around.

Contrast this with other artists who have altered their work so that you can only get bootleg copies of the original anymore, and who we pray will not alter it further.

Personally, I think there ought to be a copyright exemption for a work that an author refuses to publish. Copyright is supposed to encourage publishing.

Re:hmmm

[binarstu]

You mean all those stickers on (mostly) trucks that show Calvin pissing on something aren't licensed?

Nope. Watterson never allowed his characters to be licensed for any merchandise beyond his books and a few calenders. Those stickers you see on trucks are all unlicensed ripoffs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C....

Behind on the news... three panels. Finished.

[zephvark]

http://stephanpastis.wordpress...

Re:If only Bill Waterson inspired other cartoonist

[ShaunC]

Not to mention "Law & Order," they've done way too many spin-offs and the whole thing is just played out. Watterson should have quit that, too, and moved to selling robot insurance full time.

Re:Wow. Glimpses of greatness...

[RoverDaddy]

Obviously not the same, but heartwarming nonetheless, Hobbes and Bacon: http://imgur.com/gallery/tUzAL

Not enough cows in his comic

[aekafan]

In the 80s, I preferred Gary Larson anyways.

Re:If only Bill Waterson inspired other cartoonist

[Penguinisto]

Sadly I have to agree. All the strips that have been around for a while are on auto-pilot, coasting along on their fame. The creators are putting zero effort into them.

I'm not sure if it's just recycling gags, or if it's just that the gags were mind-blowingly awesome in the time and culture of their prime, but have since faded right along with the times and culture in which they were spawned.

Take Dilbert for example. When it came out (in the 1990s, y'all), it was a badass tour-de-force that ripped right into the buzzword bullshit culture that corporate America was at the time. As long as that culture was prevalent**, the overall meme was fully relevant, and it resonated deeply with the cubicle-dwelling audience. Fast forward to today, where much of that has faded - and with it, the whole basis of humor behind Dilbert has sort of faded with it.

Beetle Bailey (mentioned way earlier) is similar - it's based on frickin' army humor from what - maybe WWII? When it rocked the funny pages, most of the audience was either in the military or a veteran thereof, so the gags and storylines instantly resonated. All the gags and storylines in Bloom County resonated with the Reagan era, and would be way non-relevant today.

** in many cases it still is relevant today, but really - not nearly as much as it was back then, when every fiscal quarter brought the employees a new mandatory box that we were forced by policy to think outside of.

Re:I wonder where Watterson would go today

[Jarik C-Bol]

All *you* remember are the bootleg pissing decals. (he never licensed the characters for stuff like that, which his why, despite great demand, there is no 'official' Hobbes stuffed animal) The rest of us remember 18 books worth of childhood with a real tiger as a best pal, and awesome adventures.

Re:I wonder where Watterson would go today

[FlyingGuy]

As a matter of fact Watterson never licensed any part of C&H for anything. The guy could have made a medium to large sized fortune if he had, but to him the integrity of the strip was FAR more important. The only reason it is running is certain places is because King Features Syndicate has the right to redistribute the comic.

I was a huge fan of the strip. I mean I knew it had to happen at some point, but I was heartbroken when it stopped.

When my son was born I named him Calvin ( my maternal grandfather ), but the running joke is that he was named after the character. When he was two 3 weeks old, a woman who lived in the same building took a white One-Z and hand painted a beautiful Hobs on it. He is 13 now and it is framed on his bedroom wall.