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Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

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Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#101

Post by dhosek »

kragen wrote: post #99

even more than movies and rock-and-roll, comic strips were the primary art form of the 20th century, making charles schulz the most influential artist in history (on the public, not on art). watterson was the greatest of the greats. i wonder if he published any later work under a traveling-wilburys-style pseudonym to avoid it being overshadowed by calvin & hobbes, the way outland was engulfed by breathed's history, o…

He did some guest strips on Pearls Before Swine a few years back, but I think he’s been largely enjoying just making the art he wants to make which isn’t comic strips.

I’ve often said that Charles Schulz was the Beatles of comic strips. The cartoonists who came after fell into categories: those who said they were influenced by him and those who lied about it. But given your evaluation, perhaps it’s more relevant to say that the Beatles were the Charles Schulz of rock music.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#102

Post by dhosek »

c5karl wrote: post #89
munchler wrote: post #7

Fishing the comics section out of the Sunday paper to read a big Calvin and Hobbes strip was a joy. At the peak of the era, our paper (The Washington Post) actually had two separate comics sections, one with C&H on the front and the other with Peanuts. There was also Doonesbury and Bloom County, many other lesser strips, and even magazines like Parade and Potomac, all of which together provided a full morning’s enter…

The genesis of the Post's gigantic comics section (three full pages on weekdays, if I remember correctly) was that they picked up all of the comics that had been run by the Washington Star when the Star (along with all the other evening papers) finally ran out of steam and closed up shop.

I think the L.A. Times might have had three pages of comics in the dailies back in the 80s as well. It’s been a long time though.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#103

Post by dhosek »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #20
putlake wrote: post #9

Since influential people are on this forum, someone should get Bill Watterson nominated for the Nobel prize in literature. His work deserves that honor as much as, if not more than, Bob Dylan.

If you look at the list of nominees it's not exactly a mark of lasting impact https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nominees_for_the_Nob...

Nominees don’t really mean that much. The list of nominators allows for a lot of people to be put forward. The list of actual laureates is probably better to look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_in_Lit...

And given the global nature of the award, it’s not necessarily surprising if many of the names are unfamiliar. I’m pretty familiar with writers in English, but would have a hard time naming more than a dozen German authors and more than three or four Scandinavian authors. Scanning the list for authors who wrote exclusively in English the only unfamiliar names were Wole Soyinka and Abdulrazak Gurnah which is as much an indictment of my unfamiliarity with African writers as anything else.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#104

Post by dhosek »

bombcar wrote: post #65
irrational wrote: post #61

I was a teenager in the 80s. I can remember going outside in the dark before school to get the paper so I could read C&H during breakfast. I didn’t know at the time that they would someday be reprinted in books, so I would cut each one out and tape it into a notebook. The other main comic strip I enjoyed at that time was The Far Side. Recently I reread both Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side. Calvin and Hobbes is sti…

Far Side really works well on a “one a day” timeline - binging it doesn’t work as well as it does with C&H.

Binging C&H can be dangerous as so much laughter in a short timespan can make you pass out.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#106

Post by dtgriscom »

dhosek wrote: post #101
kragen wrote: post #99

even more than movies and rock-and-roll, comic strips were the primary art form of the 20th century, making charles schulz the most influential artist in history (on the public, not on art). watterson was the greatest of the greats. i wonder if he published any later work under a traveling-wilburys-style pseudonym to avoid it being overshadowed by calvin & hobbes, the way outland was engulfed by breathed's history, o…

He did some guest strips on Pearls Before Swine a few years back, but I think he’s been largely enjoying just making the art he wants to make which isn’t comic strips. I’ve often said that Charles Schulz was the Beatles of comic strips. The cartoonists who came after fell into categories: those who said they were influenced by him and those who lied about it. But given your evaluation, perhaps it’s more relevant to s…

The strips in question (if you have gocomics.com access):

https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/04 https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/05 https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/06/06

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#107

Post by elendee »

froggertoaster wrote: post #84

Anyone else struck by how captivating Bill Watterson is as a writer, both in C&H and out?

yes I was not expecting to read the whole thing. But it was so pleasant. He uses paragraphs as the Spirit in the Sky intended: each one opens an idea and then closes it. Compare his opening sentences to his closing sentences; they almost always relate directly to each other. I'm guessing this guy double knots his shoelaces.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#109

Post by darby_nine »

slater- wrote: post #68
darby_nine wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the best literature ever written isn't very "important" (although, I think you're greatly underestimating Calvin & Hobbes's influence) Secondly, I also question the influence of Bob Dylan. There's no indication that he was anything but a reflection of the political turmoil at the time. He was just a poet with some banger turns of phrase. I also found his emotional distance to the actual politics to be rather…

incorrect to compare Dylan to 2pac and Mitski (a “varied feminist artist?”) I understand the impulse of trying to tear down the establishment guy, but your take is absurd.

How would you characterize his impact? 2pac deserves comparison.

Re: Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)

#110

Post by TheAmazingRace »

savanaly wrote: post #79
TheAmazingRace wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To each their own, but the book would never have sold any copies if Bill's name wasn't attached to it. I purchased a copy on Amazon and thought I was hoodwinked. It felt like a pure cash grab.

Can't believe someone would look at the art in The Mysteries and call it a cash grab. It oozes personality and thoughtfulness. It's true it wouldn't have sold any copies if his name weren't attached though.

The art certainly was sorta-interesting (if not weirdly AI-gen looking), but somehow I expected more for his out of the blue return after decades being off the radar.
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