
Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did - bigfaceworm
http://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/ever-wished-that-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-would-return-to-the-comics-page-well-he-just-did/
======
hysan
Though not linked, today's strip
([http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/07](http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/07))
seems like a fun ending to their collaboration. Assuming the short story arc
is over.

~~~
randallsquared
The blog post says that he promised not to say anything until it was over, so
it is.

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fernly
I wonder if Watterson really believes the gag line for the third strip, "Nah,
the art form's dying"? He might, being (apparently) a neo-luddite of some
sort. But there has never been as many, or as good, comics as there are now,
or as many busy, thriving comic artists. Hint: they are not found at
gocomics.com.

~~~
calibraxis
Could you please share where I could find wonderful comics? Are these good
places to look:
[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/](http://www.webcomicsnation.com/) and
[http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/42-web-comics-you-need-
to-...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/42-web-comics-you-need-to-read)

~~~
probably_wrong
That second list has some very good ones. Some other ones that are or were
popular:

Girl Genius, winner of several awards for both story and art, a story about a
world ruled by MAD SCIENCE:
[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/)

8-bit theater (finished now), an overall parody of Final Fantasy:
[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/02/episode-001-were-
goin...](http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/02/episode-001-were-going-where/)

Megatokyo - it used to be pretty big among manga fans, I don't know if it
still is: [http://megatokyo.com/](http://megatokyo.com/)

Savage chickens, a strip drawn in sticky notes:
[http://www.savagechickens.com/](http://www.savagechickens.com/)

Basic Instructions - hard to explain, but still, very funny:
[http://basicinstructions.net/](http://basicinstructions.net/)

Penny Arcade, one of the first "big" webcomics, from the same guys that run
PAX: [http://penny-arcade.com/](http://penny-arcade.com/)

Manly guys doing manly things, an overall parody of macho characters in
popular culture:
[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/](http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/)

XKCD, terrible (minimalist?) drawing, truly great writing (if you are geek
and/or math inclined): [http://xkcd.com](http://xkcd.com)

Keep in mind that for new readers it is usually better to start from the first
strip and move on, but that usually means that you have to endure some pretty
terrible artwork (check the "first" button, and move on).

Also, it depends a lot on what you like reading - XKCD is almost exclusively
math-oriented while Penny Arcade is not really funny if you are not into
videogames. Then again, that's the good side - there's something out there for
everyone.

~~~
FoeNyx
Among other great comics cited in various replies around here, I would also
suggest :

• The not-updated-often-but-still-great « perry bible fellowship » :
[http://www.pbfcomics.com](http://www.pbfcomics.com)

• The overly optimistic « Buni » :
[http://www.bunicomic.com/](http://www.bunicomic.com/)

• The Norwegian POV : [http://www.optipess.com/](http://www.optipess.com/)
(relevant to main topic [http://www.optipess.com/2010/09/20/no-girls-
allowed/](http://www.optipess.com/2010/09/20/no-girls-allowed/) ; or to news
[http://www.optipess.com/2010/10/08/missing-
piece/](http://www.optipess.com/2010/10/08/missing-piece/) )

• Not always SFW (depends where you work of course) :

    
    
      • Science, Sex and Fun  « Saturday morning breakfast cereal » : http://www.smbc-comics.com
    
      • Often trashy but also often very funny « Cyanide & Happiness » : http://explosm.net/comics/

------
tptacek
Whoah. Second panel of the second Watterson strip. Chills.

~~~
Natsu
I had every single C&H book growing up. I wish he'd draw again... maybe they
can teach him how to make a webcomic? No confining panel structure here...

~~~
egypturnash
From what I've heard, dude is basically kinda done with the comics grind.

Which is not surprising. I do a webcomic, and have no day job to distract me
from it, and yet sometimes I can't even manage one page a week, let alone the
six B&W strips and one Sunday strip that being a Syndicated Cartoonist
involves. I have a friend who's doing the syndicate gig right now[1] and she's
basically impossible to get ahold of because she's always got to stay on top
of her buffer.

It's kinda like coding for video games. It's a dream job but the reality is
that there are a ton of other people clawing for the same position so you
better work your ass off, kiddo!!11!!!. Well, okay, maybe less of a dream job
now that newspapers are dead but you know what I mean. That shit burns you out
but good.

1: [http://www.gocomics.com/heavenly-
nostrils](http://www.gocomics.com/heavenly-nostrils)

~~~
tomjen3
I am sure there are pretty tough pressures on your friend, or any other SC. I
am sure there are lot of others to replace them.

But this man is not a SC. He is Bill Waterson. If he wants to have a panel
once a week, in full color, only on thursdays any newspaper editor who turns
him down is an idiot.

As for making him a web cartoon artist, all you need would be hosting
somewhere, a server that can handle the traffic and one message to whomever
moderate the Facebook Calvin and Hobbes Fan group, plus a twitter account that
sends a message each time a new cartoon is published.

~~~
egypturnash
Your ingredients list for getting Watterson on the web is missing one
important thing: him wanting to start showing his work to the public again.

Who knows? Maybe this little thing he did with Pastis was him testing the
waters. He might have been asking himself "Do I still have it? Do I still WANT
to have it?" by drawing these. Maybe he's toying with some sort of return.
Maybe he's about to drop some awesome personal graphic novel that's been
brewing this 20-year-sabbatical. I know damn well Universal/Gocomics would
kill to set up a new presence for him on pretty much any terms he wants. Half
the web cartoonists he met via showing up on _Stripped!_ would probably do it
for free.

But does he want it again?

I mean, he retired into aggressive anonymity for twenty years. He might have
recharged. He might still be completely burnt out.

We can't know. And that's entirely what it rests upon.

~~~
Natsu
Yeah, but that's the thing. With a web comic he can do whatever he wants. Pure
freedom. What he wants, when he wants. Hundreds of people would pretty much
work out all the details for him just to put it on a page somewhere, I would
imagine. And it's not like he'd have to come out of hiding, either. The web
pretty much allows you to do as you like in that regard as well.

Sure, it's just wishful thinking, but it wouldn't be that hard to give him an
outlet to do as he pleases, assuming he wants to do something.

------
noonespecial
Its... its like _why doing a guest post for Zed Shaw. Can't. look. away.

~~~
jsmthrowaway
I'm not sure who gets the shorter end of a comparison between Zed Shaw and
Stephan Pastis.

~~~
randallsquared
So... you're saying it's a good comparison?

------
whatshisface
Is it just me or are the strips... just not that funny? All three of them are
basicly the same joke, with one containing a minor reference to Watterson's
page formatting preferences. Now that I think of it, that's really par for the
course (or maybe a birdie) for newspaper comic strips in general. I guess it
just seems strange to see the world's best living cartoonist come out of the
fortress of solitude and do something other than leave the audience in tears
of profundity.

~~~
Shinkei
Were you a fan of C&H? I think that the lens of nostalgia strengthens our
pleasant memories of the books and can't really ever compare to these new
strips. You need character development, plot... most of his stories would
extend across the entire week or longer. (Oh man, the family camping trips in
C&H were hilarious)

Just appreciate it for what it is--a window into our fond memories of
Watterson's work.

~~~
mherdeg
After spending years reading Web comics I now find that "C&H" maps to Cyanide
& Happiness rather than Calvin & Hobbes. (Which is crazy; I read all the
Calvin & Hobbes strips and grew up in Cleveland Heights for pete's sake!)

It didn't used to be that way. Modern Webcomics are starting to be big
cultural phenomena (income comparable with a comfortable full-time job or
better for the stars in the industry)

~~~
Semaphor
At least on Reddit Cy&H is used for that.

------
coldcode
I've always wished I could draw. Even XKCD's minimalist art style is still an
artist drawing stuff which is beyond me. I can't draw a straight line with a
computer (they're very heavy). C&H was not only great art, it was an amazing
look on adult life despite it being about a kid and a stuffed tiger.

~~~
muglug
Look at the early XKCD comics, and you'll realise that the artist honed his
skill over time. There's no secret to being a good comic book artist – it's
just a love of the medium and a slavish commitment to draw as much as humanly
possible.

------
MilnerRoute
I wonder how he feels about the fan-drawn sequels?

[http://www.review-land.com/a-sequel-to-calvin-and-hobbes/](http://www.review-
land.com/a-sequel-to-calvin-and-hobbes/)

~~~
bradleysmith
I do too. Thanks for sharing these, they're heartwarming for an old fan.

a few relevant links from there:

unofficial history of fan art projects: [http://www.avclub.com/article/check-
out-the-web-cartoonists-...](http://www.avclub.com/article/check-out-the-web-
cartoonists-continuing-icalvin-a-93700)

4 full color sunday strips put out by pantsareoverated.com (Dan and Tom
Heyerman) where Calvin and Susie have a daughter, Bacon:
[http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/4/?s=hobbes](http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/4/?s=hobbes)
[http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/3/?s=hobbes](http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/3/?s=hobbes)
[http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/2/?s=hobbes](http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/2/?s=hobbes)
[http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/1/?s=hobbes](http://www.pantsareoverrated.com/page/1/?s=hobbes)

Phil Barry on DeviantArt did 3:
[http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/300/8/4/hobbes_and_ba...](http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/300/8/4/hobbes_and_bacon_by_phill_art-d5hlgju.jpg)
[http://phill-art.deviantart.com/art/Hobbes-and-
Bacon-2-33673...](http://phill-art.deviantart.com/art/Hobbes-and-
Bacon-2-336731040) [http://phill-art.deviantart.com/art/Hobbes-and-
Bacon-3-35410...](http://phill-art.deviantart.com/art/Hobbes-and-
Bacon-3-354100089)

User DomNX on DeviantArt did a series called "Calvin and Company" where Calvin
and Susie have twins. The content linked in the article has been removed from
facebook, as well as hir account on deviantArt (best I could tell). Found it
from pinterest user Potatohappiness:
[http://www.pinterest.com/Potatohappiness/calvin-and-
hobbes/](http://www.pinterest.com/Potatohappiness/calvin-and-hobbes/)
[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891171/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891171/)
[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891153/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891153/)
[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891162/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891162/)
[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891165/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897891165/)

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suprgeek
Almost like reopening old wounds..... Time to bring the C&H collection out of
the bookshelf.

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iamthepieman
This is the best thing I've read in almost 20 years.

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guelo
C&H was great but calling Bill Watterson the greatest living cartoonist is
ridiculous as long as Gary Larson is still around.

~~~
vacri
Larson was fun and biology-oriented (for those who are into that), but
Watterson's work gave a much deeper insight into the human condition. Mind
you, Watterson probably hasn't had a chewing louse named after him (
_Strigiphilus garylarsoni_ ).

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model-m
Holy shit. I did not expect this to ever happen, but I am mighty glad it did.

And thank you for C&H, Mr. Watterson.

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JoeAltmaier
I knew it! The style is unmistakable. I thought maybe Pastis was imitating the
style.

------
whoopdedo
If a penguin shows up in the next strip I think we'll all know what's up.

