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Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

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Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#41

Post by smsm42 »

whatshisface wrote: post #4

Is it just me or are the strips... just not that funny? All three of them are basicly the same joke, with one containing a minor reference to Watterson's page formatting preferences. Now that I think of it, that's really par for the course (or maybe a birdie) for newspaper comic strips in general. I guess it just seems strange to see the world's best living cartoonist come out of the fortress of solitude and do somet…

I find it pretty funny, but this kind of humor is not for everybody. All people have tastes, so if it's not in yours, that's OK. And the world's best cartoonist doesn't owe us anything - including leaving us in tears. I think if you one likes him - one should be grateful for the opportunity to enjoy his talent once again. And if it's not your cup of tea - well, there are many other things to enjoy :)

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#42

Post by vacri »

guelo wrote: post #24

C&H was great but calling Bill Watterson the greatest living cartoonist is ridiculous as long as Gary Larson is still around.

Larson was fun and biology-oriented (for those who are into that), but Watterson's work gave a much deeper insight into the human condition. Mind you, Watterson probably hasn't had a chewing louse named after him (Strigiphilus garylarsoni).

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#43

Post by JoeAltmaier »

NAFV_P wrote: post #40
calibraxis wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please share where I could find wonderful comics? Are these good places to look: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/ and http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/42-web-comics-you-need-to-...

Not exactly a comic, but MATT from the telegraph often cracks me up no end: http://telegraph.newsprints.co.uk/view/14935264/tg3482987_ma...

Pretty good stuff. The obnoxious copyright symbol is unusual though. I wonder what possible reason there is for that.

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#44

Post by vacri »

wisty wrote: post #23
whatshisface wrote: post #4

Is it just me or are the strips... just not that funny? All three of them are basicly the same joke, with one containing a minor reference to Watterson's page formatting preferences. Now that I think of it, that's really par for the course (or maybe a birdie) for newspaper comic strips in general. I guess it just seems strange to see the world's best living cartoonist come out of the fortress of solitude and do somet…

I think the jokes are by Stephan, and Bill just did the drawing. And yes, it's just a bunch of references to Bill and Stephan's work. Also, the final strip is pretty good. Not the one drawn by Bill ... the followup here - http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/07

It's a bit of a pity then, since the primary strength of Watterson's work is his writing. His art is good, sure, but what made his name was the underlying substance, methinks.

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#45

Post by Angostura »

tesseract wrote: post #17
fernly wrote: post #10

I wonder if Watterson really believes the gag line for the third strip, "Nah, the art form's dying"? He might, being (apparently) a neo-luddite of some sort. But there has never been as many, or as good, comics as there are now, or as many busy, thriving comic artists. Hint: they are not found at gocomics.com.

"I could do better if I had more space" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Syndication_a...

Berkeley Brethed ran several Bloom County strips which featured the need for more space too, such as: http://www.thecomicstrips.com/store/add.php?iid=82665

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#46

Post by maxerickson »

vacri wrote: post #44
wisty wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the jokes are by Stephan, and Bill just did the drawing. And yes, it's just a bunch of references to Bill and Stephan's work. Also, the final strip is pretty good. Not the one drawn by Bill ... the followup here - http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/07

It's a bit of a pity then, since the primary strength of Watterson's work is his writing. His art is good, sure, but what made his name was the underlying substance, methinks.

He did it for fun (and for the charity auction). I think he should be able to do that without people complaining that they didn't get enough out of it.

(I mean, I think he quit, at least in part, because he'd said a lot of what he thought he had to say and started feeling like a turnip)

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#47

Post by coldcode »

I've always wished I could draw. Even XKCD's minimalist art style is still an artist drawing stuff which is beyond me. I can't draw a straight line with a computer (they're very heavy). C&H was not only great art, it was an amazing look on adult life despite it being about a kid and a stuffed tiger.

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#48

Post by randallsquared »

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #9
noonespecial wrote: post #2

Its... its like _why doing a guest post for Zed Shaw. Can't. look. away.

I'm not sure who gets the shorter end of a comparison between Zed Shaw and Stephan Pastis.

So... you're saying it's a good comparison?

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#49

Post by FoeNyx »

probably_wrong wrote: post #32
calibraxis wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please share where I could find wonderful comics? Are these good places to look: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/ and http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/42-web-comics-you-need-to-...

That second list has some very good ones. Some other ones that are or were popular: Girl Genius, winner of several awards for both story and art, a story about a world ruled by MAD SCIENCE: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ 8-bit theater (finished now), an overall parody of Final Fantasy: http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/02/episode-001-were-goin... Megatokyo - it used to be pretty big among manga fans, I don't know…

Among other great comics cited in various replies around here, I would also suggest :

• The not-updated-often-but-still-great « perry bible fellowship » : http://www.pbfcomics.com

• The overly optimistic « Buni » : http://www.bunicomic.com/

• The Norwegian POV : http://www.optipess.com/ (relevant to main topic http://www.optipess.com/2010/09/20/no-girls-allowed/ ; or to news http://www.optipess.com/2010/10/08/missing-piece/ )

• Not always SFW (depends where you work of course) :

  • Science, Sex and Fun  « Saturday morning breakfast cereal » : http://www.smbc-comics.com

  • Often trashy but also often very funny « Cyanide & Happiness » : http://explosm.net/comics/

Re: Ever Wished Bill Watterson Would Return to the Comics Page? He Just Did

#50

Post by randallsquared »

hysan wrote: post #12

Though not linked, today's strip ( http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/07 ) seems like a fun ending to their collaboration. Assuming the short story arc is over.

The blog post says that he promised not to say anything until it was over, so it is.
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