25 years ago today: Calvin and Hobbes debuts on newspapers.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/english/c_prem.html

[ixion]

1. Calvin and Hobbes is one of my all time favs...

right up there with Bloom County. :)

[TlalocW]

3. There are some YouTube videos

Of Berke Breathed showing drawings sent between Bill Watterson and himself that poked fun and criticized each other (one of them he published in one of the Bloom County books showed Watterson's dislike of Breathed's merchandising of his characters). It's pretty amusing and a rare appearance since both of them are very private people.

TlalocW

[littlewolf]

7. YES ....

Bloom County .... Calvin and Hobbs .... Boondocks ...
soooo many good comics gone ...

[Auggie]

2. One of three comics I still really miss...

Other two: The Far Side and Bloom County

[truebrit71]

4. I miss the Far Side too...bought the collector's box set of C&H a few years ago...

...I like to dip into it once in a while...

[Radical Activist]

5. And it's Family Circus that sticks around.

There's no justice in this world.

[Auggie]

16. The good creators get burned out...

Garry Trudeau excepting

[Brickbat]

6. Loved Calvin and Hobbes. Couldn't stand Bloom County.

I mention only because others have.

[MadHound]

8. Always loved Calvin and Hobbes,

And always thought it was cool that Bill Watterson never, ever licensed his creations out to marketeers.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes. They were part of the new Sunday Funnies postage stamps..

I own every book of collected cartoons ....LOVE LOVE LOVE Calvin and Hobbes!!!!!



GREAT Interview with Bill Watterston:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/43643975.html


Bill Watterson is shown in this 1986 file photo. There are no current photos of him.




http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Calvin-Hobbes-Unconventional-Revolutionary/dp/082642984X

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip

Editorial Reviews
Review
"Nevin Martell's book provides a rare glimpse of the riddle wrapped in the mystery inside an enigma that is Bill Watterson and his brilliant work, which I now know was almost called 'Marvin and Hobbes.'" --Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine<br /><br />"Watterson can hide, but he can't die. His work lives on and we're lucky to have Nevin Martell reminding us so colorfully in this joyful book." --Berkeley Breathed
Product Description
For ten years, between 1985 and 1995, Calvin and Hobbes was one the world's most beloved comic strips. And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life. There is no merchandising associated with Calvin and Hobbes: no movie franchise; no plush toys; no coffee mugs; no t-shirts (except a handful of illegal ones). There is only the strip itself, and the books in which it has been compiled - including The Complete Calvin and Hobbes: the heaviest book ever to hit the New York Times bestseller list.

In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip, writer Nevin Martell traces the life and career of the extraordinary, influential, and intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. With input from a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Lethem, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, this is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and a fascinating detective story, at the same time.

Only 3,160 Calvin and Hobbes strips were ever produced, but Watterson has left behind an impressive legacy. Calvin and Hobbes references litter the pop culture landscape and his fans are as varied as they are numerable. Looking for Calvin and Hobbes is an affectionate and revealing book about uncovering the story behind this most uncommon trio - a man, a boy, and his tiger.

[liberal N proud]

10. Our daughter loves Calvin and Hobbes.

[gkhouston]

19. I have mixed feelings about introducing my daughter to C&H.

I'm not sure she needs any um, inspiration. :7

[liberal N proud]

20. I know what you mean

There have been some interesting things that could be driven by reading C&H

:rofl:

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. I actually tried to play Calvinball as a kid

I don't think I broke anything... :rofl:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. I liked Calvin and Hobbes, but Bill Watterson was a bit of a prick personally.

But just because one is a prick personally doesn't necessarily he or she isn't talented.

[Ratty]

12. How so?

He's always been very reclusive and idealistic in terms of artistic integrity - refused to merchandise his work, stopped drawing the comic when he felt he'd said all he could say instead of letting it drag on for years and years milking the money. He always seemed to speak his mind. Those qualities don't seem particulary prickish to me, more prickly maybe. But that was his public persona. Was something nasty going on in his personal life?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Just sort of a crumudgeon from the interviews, and maybe a bit of an inflated ego...

...as if he was an ar-tist rather than a cartoonist.

Don't get me wrong, I love my morning funnies, even the lame ones, but even the good ones (and I'm counting Calvin and Hobbes as one of those) are first and foremost comic strips. And Watterson in his interviews let off the impression that what he was doing was high art, but that apparently only he was the only cartoonist capable of doing that. It was witty, insightful, funny, but I still wouldn't call it high art.

And his attacks on Jim Davis were just douchy and uncalled for. Sure, Garfield has long been stale and merchandised to the max, but Watterson's cheap shot against him was totally unnecessary. Say what you want about Davis, but at least he seems to have a sense of humor personally (i.e. his accepting reaction of "Garfield without Garfield").

But like I said, a talented prick is still talented. I personally love the Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan even though Corgan's an egomaniacal asshole, because the man is a genius with the guitar and the lyrics.

[Ratty]

21. Garfield

I never liked Garfield. Always thought of it as the Family Circus of comics. Then a college roommate told me he loved Garfield because it was so visual. He compared it to Cathy right above and pointed to the frames bursting to the seams with words then with Garfield's almost wordless slapstick. I had to admit he was right and to this day I read Garfield and have a better appreciation of it. I can't read it without thinking of his comments and when you look at it visually it can be hilarious.

I've always though comic strips can be art - why are movies considered art, say, and other things not? Is it the time required to craft it? Because an arty movie takes months or years to make and a single strip can be knocked out in a day or less? I have a much wider interpretation of what art can be than most people I guess. So his artistic claims do not bother me and I think his comics do rise to the level of art and I admire his personal stand against merchandising. But I'd not heard of any attacks on Jim Davis. I agree - that's a douchy and low class thing to do. It's one thing to be devoted to your own personal ethic and quite another to apply it to everybody else.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. I'll admit my admiration for Garfield is purely sentimental.

Growing up as a kid it was my favorite strip, and I loved watching the Saturday morning cartoon show. Even now, I think the television show had a lot of zany fun to it, but I'll admit the strip has become stale in humor. I still read it though--heck, I read all of them. Even Family Circus. I would say that the only one right now that makes me consistently literally laugh out loud is Pearls Before Swine, which my home paper finally decided to carry. I enjoy Doonesbury too, but more for the politics--although the Sarah Palin Doll series had me cracking up.

I do think cartoons can be art, although I'm hesitant to call it high art. The one exception in my mind might be Walt Kelly and Pogo, which was before my time but it had quite an impact on my parents.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Miss it very much, although since I

live with my own "Calvin" it never feels very far away. LOL

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. This thread is useless without pics of inappropriate snowmen. -nt

[DCKit]

15. Can't get the original classic, but this one brings back fond memories.

[Mona Blue]

18. I miss them.

Best American comic strip ever.