New drawings from ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ artist Bill Watterson

Wyatt Ong

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

New drawings from ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ artist Bill Watterson
If you've ever spent a rollicking afternoon with 'Calvin and Hobbes' or wished for just a glimpse of new work from Mr. Watterson, this one's for you

MANILA, Philippines – If you thought you’d never see new work from Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson again – surprise! 

Watterson has collaborated with Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Stephan Pastis on a series of three strips, which features a younger character named Lib showing up the cartoon Stephan with her own drawing skills. The artwork by “Lib” was actually created by Bill Watterson. 

On his blog, Pastis confirmed this collaboration and the story behind this history-making partnership. Watterson, he said, replied to one of his emails about a strip made by Pastis that in its self-deprecating way, paid tribute to Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes. In his reply, he also suggested a collaboration where he could step in and draw a few strips. 

It was the highlight of my career,” writes Pastis on his blog of his experience, detailing how they finally settled on corresponding via email. 

Watterson’s original idea for how to work his drawing into Pastis’ strips was to have his character be injured and then “suddenly be able to draw.” Pastis later suggested  (with much anxiety, he admits) introducing Lib (or as he says, “almost ‘Bill’ backwards), and having Bill draw what Lib would come up with. (Click to see the first, second, and third strips featuring Watterson’s work.)

Watterson, says Pastis, proved not to be difficult to work with. Editing Watterson, however, was the greater challenge for Pastis, who on his website declares Calvin and Hobbes one of several comics that influenced his work. 

“Like at one point when I wanted to change a line of dialogue he wrote, I prefaced it by saying, ‘I feel like a street urchin telling Michelangelo that David’s hands are too big.’ But he liked the change. And that alone was probably the greatest compliment I’ve ever received,” writes Pastis. 

Pastis says that Watterson asked him not to reveal his participation until all the strips with his work in it had run. 

In a piece by The Washington Post, Watterson himself told writer Michael Cavna that the “goofy collaboration” between him and Pastis was intended in order to “raise some money for Parkinson’s research in honor of [artist] Richard Thompson.” 

“It was generous of Stephan to let me hijack his creation, and more generous still to donate the originals,” he says in the same article.

Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes, about a precocious young boy’s adventures with his best friend, a stuffed tiger, are beloved by generations of fans long after the last strip was published in December 1995. 

Together, Calvin and Hobbes navigated baby-sitters and Calvin’s mom’s scary cooking, created Calvinball, and antagonized (and probably secretly adored) Susie Derkins – among many other adventures that readers look back on today with much nostalgia and love.  – Rappler.com

For more on Pearls Before Swine, visit the Facebook page

 

 

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