In 1989, Bill "Calvin and Hobbes" Watterson gave a famous address at Ohio State U.'s Festival of Cartoon Art:
"The Cheapening of the Comics" (transcript). Twenty-two years later, successful webcomic artist Dave Kellett (of
"Sheldon" about a boy and his non-imaginary talking duck, and
"Drive" a sci-fi comic with a convoluted premise and funny aliens) offered a new-generation response at the same venue: "The Freeing of the Comics" (YouTube part
1,
2,
3,
4,
5). While Watterson told how and why newspaper comics were (and are) dying, Kellett explained how webcomics can (and do) replace them (although not necessarily for Watterson).
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posted by oneswellfoop
on Mar 11, 2011 -
28 comments
Staying in a homeless shelter is no fun, especially for little kids. But a bright and sunny playroom can make it a little more comfortable, especially with
Calvin &
Hobbes murals on the
walls.
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posted by Gator
on Oct 28, 2010 -
67 comments
Calvin & Hobbes
will be put on a
U.S. postage stamp, honoring "Sunday Funnies," along with Garfield, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, and Archie. Although there has been no end to the
homages and
unlicensed materials regarding his beloved characters, creator Bill Watterson, "the only cartoonist who resented the popularity of his own strip," has expressed his
disapproval of third-party appropriation in detail:
A wordy, multiple-panel strip with extended conversation and developed personalities does not condense to a coffee mug illustration without great violation to the strip's spirit. The subtleties of a multi-dimensional strip are sacrificed for the one-dimensional needs of the product.
Even if Watterson hasn't approved, nothing in the
USPS committee's selection criteria requires artist approval.
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posted by jabberjaw
on Jan 6, 2010 -
99 comments
Nancy , the best comic strip ever? Close but no cigar.
Pogo? Peanuts? Calvin? Good choices all, but still wrong.
Krazy Kat you say? Again I shake my head sadly, friend. For Mr. Dave Astor has finally stepped forward to settle this debate once and for all. The greatest comic strip ever appearing on newsprint? Why, it's
For Better or For Worse of course. Let the debate begin.
posted by ktoad
on Aug 22, 2006 -
202 comments
If you can offer the world a strip like Calvin and Hobbes, don't you have a responsibility to keep working? The
Cleveland Scene travels to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, trying to track down its most famous (and famously reclusive) resident,
Calvin and Hobbes author
Bill Watterson. Along the way, the reporter contemplates
micturating Calvins, burning paintings, the cost of hewing to one's principles, and the utter vacuity of
Jim Davis's soul. In the end, there's even a brief encounter with a man who may or may not have once made millions happy by drawing a six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger.
posted by pardonyou?
on Dec 2, 2003 -
58 comments
