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Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

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Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#91

Post by alsetmusic »

aqfamnzc wrote: post #27
alsetmusic wrote: post #24

This is one of the reasons I have Stupendous Man on my forearm. It's the version of him running into his classroom on the back of one of the books (arms flexing triumphantly), only I had that artist style the costume based on how he appears in Calvin's imagination. I can't imagine getting Garfield or Snoopy on my skin. CnH was massively important to me growing up. It had so much meaning. I also remember Watterson wri…

You have linked to your own comment.

Ha! What the eff. I don't know how that happened. Too late to edit.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Mysteries/Bill-Wa...

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#92

Post by cortesoft »

echelon wrote: post #40
dgritsko wrote: post #5

What a brilliantly written piece. Maintaining one's integrity is unfortunately rare enough that it makes Watterson's story so remarkable. I completely respect and admire his dedication to doing something for its own sake, for holding himself to the highest standards imaginable, and from walking away from it all for his own reasons - even if selfishly I'd rather him keep writing so that there would be more to enjoy. T…

Was this the right choice, though? Interest in Calvin & Hobbes has fallen off a cliff. I don't see any references to it in public anymore, and it used to be everywhere. Kids today probably don't even know about it.

Is that the main goal, though? Making sure your characters stay in the public conciousness?

I am not sure that is the most important thing, or even that important at all. The characters matter a LOT to people of a certain age, and his decisions helped maintain that.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#93

Post by tombert »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #87
tombert wrote: post #50

I think about Bill Waterson a lot. I certainly don't blame Jim Davis for "selling out". He made a marketable character, and I don't blame him for trying to make his money because of it. I don't have a ton of artistic talent but if I created a lovable comic character and someone offered me a dumptruck full of money to sell toys and t-shirts and cartoons, I'm pretty sure I would take it, and I might even take it even i…

Eh. There is one thing I don't agree with in the name of integrity: Waterson didn't allow sales of a stuffed pet tiger akin to Hobbes, which millions of children (me included) must've dreamt of. He could've made it affordable and so keep his integrity.

I mean, I think he was just afraid that the comic would become a merchandise machine instead of a comic, and I think he didn't want that.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#94

Post by rbanffy »

I can safely say the three biggest influences in my teens were Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, The Muppet Show, and Calvin and Hobbes. Sagan ignited my passion for learning and made me realise I a rare ability to understand complicated things visually.

The Muppets taught me that nothing in life should be beyond ridicule, and that I should be the first one to laugh at myself, and to never be afraid to do stupid things. Also that a touch of surrealism is key to a healthy life.

Calvin gave me a sense of belonging, and made me realise I was not as weird as I originally thought. If people enough like it to the point newspapers publish the strips, I would not be alone. The final strip really hit me hard. I miss those two.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#95

Post by senordevnyc »

defen wrote: post #57
echelon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was this the right choice, though? Interest in Calvin & Hobbes has fallen off a cliff. I don't see any references to it in public anymore, and it used to be everywhere. Kids today probably don't even know about it.

I bought my 8 year old daughter the hardcover box set for Christmas. When she opened it her initial reaction was definitely "oh...thanks" (she was clearly not excited about it but wanted to be nice). Within a week it was borderline impossible to get her to put them down and go to sleep at night.

Exact same story here. I got my father in law the box set as a gift, and when my daughter was about seven she started reading them when we were visiting them. So I bought her a set of her own. She still reads them all the time at 11.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#96

Post by rbanffy »

goolz wrote: post #75

Dang man, C & H taught me so much as a young lad. Unconditional love, amor fati, the importance of being yourself. I think the way he left it all was perfect. We were robbed of future delights but in the end it could not have been more in character. I hope Mr. Watterson is enjoying his final sebatical.

I hope he’s secretly drawing Calvin and Hobbes and that, somehow, the two are enjoying their adventures. As long as they are drawn, they are alive.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#97

Post by rbanffy »

scubbo wrote: post #37
tanseydavid wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the impression it was a dog whistle for manosphere spazzes Everyone thinks this until they see the movie or read the book.

I mean...they _are_. That doesn't mean that they doesn't have quality beyond what those dregs see.

A lot of them praised The Boys right up to the point they realised it was making fun of them. They took years of the TV series to get it.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#98

Post by rbanffy »

robocat wrote: post #62
FatherOfCurses wrote: post #13

"A few weeks later, the project is finished. Watterson probably takes a moment to stand in the middle of the room and look up, contemplating the months of work, the tins of paint he went through, the things he learned about technique, about the joy of a job done for its own sake, about himself. Then he opens a tin of whitewash, climbs up the bed-chairs-table one last time, and paints over his work. He leaves the ceil…

> He leaves the ceiling white, empty, fresh. Did anyone ever try and recover the painting/palimpsest?

Some things are meant to be made, not necessarily seen.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#99

Post by LandoCalrissian »

echelon wrote: post #40
dgritsko wrote: post #5

What a brilliantly written piece. Maintaining one's integrity is unfortunately rare enough that it makes Watterson's story so remarkable. I completely respect and admire his dedication to doing something for its own sake, for holding himself to the highest standards imaginable, and from walking away from it all for his own reasons - even if selfishly I'd rather him keep writing so that there would be more to enjoy. T…

Was this the right choice, though? Interest in Calvin & Hobbes has fallen off a cliff. I don't see any references to it in public anymore, and it used to be everywhere. Kids today probably don't even know about it.

Everything comes to an end friend, not everything needs to go on forever. Maybe it is forgotten, left behind, but that's not really important. What's important is it ended on his terms and some of us had the privilege to experience it.

There will still be people that find Calvin for the first time, and they will get the same privilege. I'm glad he did it his way and I think most of his new fans will as well.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity

#100

Post by fragmede »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #87
tombert wrote: post #50

I think about Bill Waterson a lot. I certainly don't blame Jim Davis for "selling out". He made a marketable character, and I don't blame him for trying to make his money because of it. I don't have a ton of artistic talent but if I created a lovable comic character and someone offered me a dumptruck full of money to sell toys and t-shirts and cartoons, I'm pretty sure I would take it, and I might even take it even i…

Eh. There is one thing I don't agree with in the name of integrity: Waterson didn't allow sales of a stuffed pet tiger akin to Hobbes, which millions of children (me included) must've dreamt of. He could've made it affordable and so keep his integrity.

There's like 100 of them on Etsy right now.
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