Man was Calvin & Hobbes awesome. IMNSHO every comic strip currently in print still lives in its shadow. C&H had it all - good illustration, good writing, life insight. It was a real life line for weird kids.
I don't know. The farside is pretty good, as well as Pearls Before Swine. Oh, and Cyanide and Happiness. None of them reach the meta level of social/theological commentary that C&H did, but they're still really, really good on their own, doing their own things.
An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
81–90 of 94 posts
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#82Man was Calvin & Hobbes awesome. IMNSHO every comic strip currently in print still lives in its shadow. C&H had it all - good illustration, good writing, life insight. It was a real life line for weird kids.
I don't know. The farside is pretty good, as well as Pearls Before Swine. Oh, and Cyanide and Happiness. None of them reach the meta level of social/theological commentary that C&H did, but they're still really, really good on their own, doing their own things.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#83Side note, but every time I DON'T see a Hobbes plushy, a Calvin bauble head, the Calvin and Hobbes TV series, etc. I'm so thankful that Watterson grimly held onto the merchandising rights of his characters. He maintained such a high standard for his comic right unto the end. Not everything in this world needs to be commoditized to death. "But how will new generations learn about Calvin and Hobbes without Calvin and H…
Whenever the topic of copyright comes up on HN, the prevailing view in comments section is that copyrights should be relatively short and cultural artifacts should be available to everyone to use as they please. So I find it interesting ("interesting") how people seem to universally appreciate that Calvin & Hobbes are protected from any 3rd-party use, meanwhile they universally revile Disney for not allowing people t…
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I'm so thankful that Watterson grimly held onto the merchandising rights of his characters. I'm always kind of bummed about it, instead of quality official merchandise there are a bunch of peeing calvin stickers on lifted pickup trucks.
Those stickers would exist regardless. They are a wild meme from the preinternet.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#85Man was Calvin & Hobbes awesome. IMNSHO every comic strip currently in print still lives in its shadow. C&H had it all - good illustration, good writing, life insight. It was a real life line for weird kids.
I don't know. The farside is pretty good, as well as Pearls Before Swine. Oh, and Cyanide and Happiness. None of them reach the meta level of social/theological commentary that C&H did, but they're still really, really good on their own, doing their own things.
I also think Bloom County deserves to be on the list of all-time greats.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those stickers would exist regardless. They are a wild meme from the preinternet.
If he had licensed the rights to a company making official merch, they'd have went after the companies making the shitty knockoff stuff.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have immense respect for Watterson. He's the only artist I can think of to achieve that level of fame and success and not sell out. Selling out is barely even a concept any more because it's simply assumed, and Watterson is still out there in a cabin in the woods, communicating only by mail and refusing every corporate offer that comes his way.
>He's the only artist I can think of to achieve that level of fame and success and not sell out. Gary Larson of The Far Side comes close but never touched the highs of Calvin and Hobbes
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#88Side note, but every time I DON'T see a Hobbes plushy, a Calvin bauble head, the Calvin and Hobbes TV series, etc. I'm so thankful that Watterson grimly held onto the merchandising rights of his characters. He maintained such a high standard for his comic right unto the end. Not everything in this world needs to be commoditized to death. "But how will new generations learn about Calvin and Hobbes without Calvin and H…
I do wonder what will happen when it enters public domain. Will it have been too long, so nobody will bother creating merchandise and derivative works? Or will there be an explosion of Calvin and Hobbes material? I can’t think of a comparable test case.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#89Man was Calvin & Hobbes awesome. IMNSHO every comic strip currently in print still lives in its shadow. C&H had it all - good illustration, good writing, life insight. It was a real life line for weird kids.
I don't know. The farside is pretty good, as well as Pearls Before Swine. Oh, and Cyanide and Happiness. None of them reach the meta level of social/theological commentary that C&H did, but they're still really, really good on their own, doing their own things.
Re: An Interview with Bill Watterson (1987)
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know. The farside is pretty good, as well as Pearls Before Swine. Oh, and Cyanide and Happiness. None of them reach the meta level of social/theological commentary that C&H did, but they're still really, really good on their own, doing their own things.
...theological?