Finally, the collection includes many pages of samples of published cartoons from the strip’s epic run. Next, there are samples of Watterson’s early efforts at editorial cartooning and submissions to syndicates that never made it to press. These samples were chosen and annotated by Watterson himself. The second section contains ink on paper samples of some of the cartoonists and illustrators that influenced Watterson. In this interview, Watterson discusses his childhood, how he became interested in cartooning, his various attempts to break into the industry, and how the production of Calvin and Hobbes took place for its decade-long run.

Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue begins with an extended interview with the man who curated a recent exhibit of Calvin and Hobbes strips at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. This new book from Andrews McMeel Publishing is a breakthrough for the hungry Calvin and Hobbes fan. Watterson, on the other hand, has left his many fans largely in the dark. Many creative people are ready to write an autobiography to cash in on their celebrity as soon as they’ve had success, often providing tedious details of their creative processes. Since he retired from drawing Calvin and Hobbes he has largely been out of public view. He did very few extended interviews while the strip was in print. Thankfully Bill Watterson, the man behind Calvin and Hobbes, knew when to walk away and stopped drawing the strip after a decade.īill Watterson is a somewhat enigmatic artist.

Some comics currently in print have continued for decades, often recycling jokes, offering overly complicated plots with a multitude of extraneous characters, and losing the crispness and energy that once made them great.

Exploring calvin and hobbes