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Dear Mr. Watterson

dearmrwatterson.com

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Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#21

Post by teejaygreen »

danso wrote: post #10
raldi wrote: post #8

When Calvin & Hobbes shut down in 1995, Bill Watterson wrote a letter explaining why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson#End_of_Calvin_an... His two stated reasons were the pressure of coming up with seven strips a week and a distaste for the tiny space newspapers gave him to work with: " I believe I've done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a mor…

Knowing so little about him (I think this documentary claims to have the first audio recording of him in 10 years), it's hard to know how he's viewed the Web age...it's possible that he, being someone who grew up and was inspired by Peanuts in newspapers, still believes that is the prime medium (that, and books), and may not feel compelled to produce for the web, especially if his success so far has allowed him to li…

This does not have the audio interview with him, that's in Stripped, a documentary about comics that's not out yet: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sequential/stripped-the-...

However, you can hear about 6 seconds of his interview in the trailer.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#22

Post by scott_s »

raldi wrote: post #12
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The page you link to gives the reason from an interview he did in 2010: "This isn't as hard to understand as people try to make it. By the end of ten years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say. It's always better to leave the party early. If I had rolled along with the strip's popularity and repeated myself for another five, ten, or twenty years, the people now "grieving" for Calvin and Hobbes wou…

If that's the case, it's interesting that he was unable to see / admit it in 1995, and instead heaped all the blame on newspaper editors cramping his style.

I don't see much difference in meaning between the quotes from 1995 and 2010.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#23

Post by jljljl »

adamc wrote: post #15
RodericDay wrote: post #13

I love Calvin & Hobbes but I dislike how casually it's touted as the best comic strip of all time. It's pretty unfair given that most people haven't really exhausted the genre. I think (Mafalda)[ http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/07/dwyck-the-dreams-of-chi... ] is at least just as good.

I love Calvin & Hobbes as well, but I'd list Pogo as pretty serious competition, and there are a number of other great, historically important strips (e.g., Krazy Kat).

Funny that you mention these two, as Bill Watterson cited both Pogo and Krazy Kat as major influences on Calvin and Hobbes in the Tenth Anniversary Book.

BTW, if you are a fan and for some reason have not read the Tenth Anniversary Book, I strongly recommend it. Watterson's commentary throughout is awesome and really highlights the brilliance of the strip.

http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Hobbes-Tenth-Anniversary-Book/d...

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#24

Post by [deleted] »

raldi wrote: post #12
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The page you link to gives the reason from an interview he did in 2010: "This isn't as hard to understand as people try to make it. By the end of ten years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say. It's always better to leave the party early. If I had rolled along with the strip's popularity and repeated myself for another five, ten, or twenty years, the people now "grieving" for Calvin and Hobbes wou…

If that's the case, it's interesting that he was unable to see / admit it in 1995, and instead heaped all the blame on newspaper editors cramping his style.

[deleted]

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#25

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

raldi wrote: post #12
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The page you link to gives the reason from an interview he did in 2010: "This isn't as hard to understand as people try to make it. By the end of ten years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say. It's always better to leave the party early. If I had rolled along with the strip's popularity and repeated myself for another five, ten, or twenty years, the people now "grieving" for Calvin and Hobbes wou…

If that's the case, it's interesting that he was unable to see / admit it in 1995, and instead heaped all the blame on newspaper editors cramping his style.

The blaming the papers wasn't a 1995 thing. By that point he'd already taken one sabbatical because of the pressure he felt and had managed to get the papers to accept some small changes to the format of the Sunday strips because he wasn't happy with the work he was able to do. Regardless of his intentions for the future and what he thought he may or may not be able to do, his dissatisfaction with the medium and the newspapers was very real.

If you read what he's said about the situation and his unhappiness with it my guess would be that when he quit he really just wanted out and he he probably didn't know what he was going to do next. Realising that he felt he'd done all he wanted to do with the format probably came later when he had some distance.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#26

Post by m_myers »

adamc wrote: post #15
RodericDay wrote: post #13

I love Calvin & Hobbes but I dislike how casually it's touted as the best comic strip of all time. It's pretty unfair given that most people haven't really exhausted the genre. I think (Mafalda)[ http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/07/dwyck-the-dreams-of-chi... ] is at least just as good.

I love Calvin & Hobbes as well, but I'd list Pogo as pretty serious competition, and there are a number of other great, historically important strips (e.g., Krazy Kat).

Calvin & Hobbes and Pogo are two of my favorites also. But for sheer volume of jokes and puns packed into each strip, it's hard to top Get Fuzzy. Its basic premise is similar to Garfield (man living with cat and dog, both of whom can talk), but it's written by a cartoonist who hasn't been coming up with the same jokes for 30 years straight.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#27

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

fusiongyro wrote: post #18
troygoode wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He never said his "something else" would be something that could/should be shared with the public.

He never said it wouldn't, either, and our experience with creative people who work in the public eye suggests that this is anomalous. I get that he's not, like, accountable to us, but our expectations were not unreasonable and neither is our disappointment. Of course if you have a gift, you can decide to selfishly guard it instead of sharing it, even after sharing it for so long. Doing so kind of makes you an asshol…

This comment reminds me of the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror episode where an omnipotent Bart is forcing Crusty to perform 24 hours a day.

He made people happy for a decade (and longer with reruns and memories) and you've decided he's an asshole for not doing it for longer.

I think that's harsh - ultimately you're saying you want him to do work he isn't happy with and causes him stress for your entertainment.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#28

Post by calibraxis »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #25
raldi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the case, it's interesting that he was unable to see / admit it in 1995, and instead heaped all the blame on newspaper editors cramping his style.

The blaming the papers wasn't a 1995 thing. By that point he'd already taken one sabbatical because of the pressure he felt and had managed to get the papers to accept some small changes to the format of the Sunday strips because he wasn't happy with the work he was able to do. Regardless of his intentions for the future and what he thought he may or may not be able to do, his dissatisfaction with the medium and the…

Yes, and he very likely was aware of the issue back in 1995. In an article about him, someone mentioned: "It used to be that 'you did it forever, no matter what the quality was,' says Moore, who doubles as a Times news editor. 'The new camp [of cartoonists] says that when the quality of the strip starts diminishing, you get out of the business.'" (http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-16/news/ls-3760_1_bill-w...)

His "resignation letter" was naturally too short to contain his complex thoughts on the subject.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#29

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

bmelton wrote: post #14
danso wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing so little about him (I think this documentary claims to have the first audio recording of him in 10 years), it's hard to know how he's viewed the Web age...it's possible that he, being someone who grew up and was inspired by Peanuts in newspapers, still believes that is the prime medium (that, and books), and may not feel compelled to produce for the web, especially if his success so far has allowed him to li…

I'm still confused how the litany of "Calvin peeing on X" stickers have been allowed to happen. It's clearly Calvin, and not some derivative. It clearly isn't parody or satire (of the work itself, or otherwise protected). And there are clearly financial beneficiaries of the stickers. As a long-time lover of C&H, it simply confounds me.

Most of them are small time producers who probably aren't worth tracing and going after - Waterson hated them though.

Re: Dear Mr. Watterson

#30

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

calibraxis wrote: post #28
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The blaming the papers wasn't a 1995 thing. By that point he'd already taken one sabbatical because of the pressure he felt and had managed to get the papers to accept some small changes to the format of the Sunday strips because he wasn't happy with the work he was able to do. Regardless of his intentions for the future and what he thought he may or may not be able to do, his dissatisfaction with the medium and the…

Yes, and he very likely was aware of the issue back in 1995. In an article about him, someone mentioned: "It used to be that 'you did it forever, no matter what the quality was,' says Moore, who doubles as a Times news editor. 'The new camp [of cartoonists] says that when the quality of the strip starts diminishing, you get out of the business.'" ( http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-16/news/ls-3760_1_bill-w... ) His…

There is commentary is one of the later books which covers off some of what he was feeling at the time. Reading that I don't think there's much doubt that his dissatisfaction was with the constraints of working as a commercial cartoonist rather than anything that would change between Calvin and Hobbes and another cartoon.
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