Calvin & Hobbes creator speaks!!! (Sorta)

Get the name of our school right - it's the Midvale School for the Gifted.

 

One of my all-time favorites.

 

I still have an Opus stuffed animal that I got in junior high or high school.

 

This was my favorite Far Side.

 

Anything for a dead deer, eh, Wisconsin?

 

Perry Bible Fellowship, imo a worthy successor to Far Side:

 

FWIW, Larson has repeatedly requested that his work stay offline, and wrote an open letter published by his syndicate about it: http://www.creators.com/a-note-from-gary-larson.html

In one of his anthologies / collections, Watterson wrote there he was under intense pressure to license Calvin and Hobbes for products almost immediately, but he fought against it. That's probably not the sole reason that the comic stayed excellent throughout its run, but Watterson having that mindset of not cheapening his artwork with reproductions probably helped. Nowadays, I wonder if creators are even given the option.

Pearls Before Swine kind of channels Calvin and Hobbes at times, as well as Peanuts, but it's much more meta than both. I really enjoy it, and its the only comic I still keep up with, but it does require a good knowledge of what else is on the funnies page to be comprehended at times. (Especially Family Circus and Cathy.)

 

I like Get Fuzzy, too.

 

The internet is getting a little too smart for its own good. eBay just used that picture as a Facebook ad on my wall.

 

There's a middling-to-pretty good Calvin and Hobbes documentary called "Dear Mr. Watterson" on Netflix streaming right now. Obviously, no appearance from Watterson, but it does place the strip in the context of what came before it and after it.

It was one of those rare things in life that balanced cynicism and wonder. Our art usually does one or the other.