Dear Mr. Watterson

For a comic strip that was so enormously popular in its time, there has been surprisingly little public discussion of Calvin & Hobbes.  There are no huge web communities, no toys, no video games, no $300 million Hollywood reboots staring Shia LaBeouf.  Of course, this is partly because of creator Bill Watterson's notorious refusal to merchandise his strip, but it also has to do with the medium itself.  Because Calvin & Hobbes is only the comic strips themselves, it was something we all experienced individually.  The world existed only in the headspace of the individual readers; like Calvin, we were free to see the strip's world any way we saw fit.



It's always surprising, then, to find out that this individual, personal part of your childhood was in fact an individual, personal part of everyone's childhood.  Though we were there separately, so many of us were there together.  For the generation of kids growing up in the 80s and 90s, Calvin was the comic.  For many, it was how we learned to read.  I was burning through Calvin & Hobbes books before I could pronounce most of the words.  The strip captured a vision of childhood (and adulthood) that resonated with any kid who had ever been misunderstood, bullied, marginalized, or denied access to Cannibal Stewardess Vixens Unchained by philistine parents.  Calvin & Hobbes, through gorgeous drawings and hilarious dialogue, proved as only the best art can that Hobbes is real, that the world is infinite and inviting, and that reality is optional.

Though Dear Mr. Watterson (at least from the trailer) looks to be little more than a bunch of people talking about how much they love Calvin, it may not need to be any more than that.  A few years ago a book, Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, covered similar ground, but the author put too big an emphasis on finding the strip's reclusive creator.  We don't need to search for Calvin & Hobbes, we have it, and getting an interview with Bill Watterson won't unlock any secrets.  The best creations are bigger than their creator, and the best way to appreciate Calvin & Hobbes is not to go looking for the creator, but instead to talk to the people who loved it.  It's amazing how many of us there are.
     

The Spaghetti Incident Revealed At Last? New Calvin and Hobbes Book On the Way

Calvin and Hobbes was an essential part of my childhood. Sometimes today I will write something, say something, or do something, only to realize that I was just ripping off Calvin and Hobbes. Bill Watterson’s drawings effortlessly captured the atmosphere of an idyllic suburban childhood, and though Calvin’s vocabulary and personality made him anything but a typical 6-year old, he managed to strike a chord with millions of readers. Calvin and Hobbes was childhood as viewed from adulthood—a long montage of snowmen, wagon rides, long summer days, and imaginary dreamscapes all rendered in some of the most beautiful artwork ever seen in the Sunday papers.

Recently I learned of a new book, Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, set to come out this fall. The author, Nevin Martell, is a longtime Calvin fan and the book promises to be an interesting search for the strip’s reclusive creator, Bill Watterson. It looks like it will be a great fix for Calvin and Hobbes fans like me who have been dying for any scrap of new information for years now.

Watterson is an oddity in modern pop culture—his creations were hugely popular, yet no official merchandise exists. Even stranger, there are almost no interviews or photos of him, and we know nothing of his personal life. My opinion of him tends to vary day to day and year to year—when I was a kid I admired his rejection of all things commercial (and I still do), and I still think he has a right to privacy, but to completely turn one’s back on an achievement like Calvin and Hobbes seems a bit, dare I say, arrogant.

Do artists owe anything to their fans? Or should the work completely speak for itself? That’s a long, long discussion, and probably one for another time. Ten years of great comics is probably enough to ask of one person, so I’m inclined to let the guy be a crazy recluse if he wants. Watterson has been a huge influence on me, both in his attitudes and art, so odds are if I ever get successful at writing I’d prefer to stay as far away from the spotlight as possible. Then some seldom read blogger can call me arrogant.

I do hope Looking for Calvin and Hobbes sheds some light on Bill Watterson and the creation of Calvin and Hobbes. Of course I doubt Martell will let us know whether he actually got in contact with the elusive author until we read the book, but I’m sure the search will be worth reading. I plan to read the book as soon as it comes out. I’ll try to stick up a review come October, and maybe write a bit more about the joys of Calvin and Hobbes.

In the meantime, the only source at all for any real info on Bill Watterson remains the excellent Calvin and Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book. Watterson writes a mini-commentary on several select strips, giving us a great insight into the creative process and his own struggles with commercialism. (This was my first introduction to what is the basically the concept of a “director’s commentary” and I’ve enjoyed listening to creative types yammer on about their creations ever since.) Watterson’s insights are honest, sometimes frustrated, often funny, and always entertaining. It’s a wonderful book for anyone interested in art, literature, or simply the thought process that went into the creation one of the greatest comics ever drawn.