Why Bill Watterson Vanished
American Conservative,
by
Nic Rowan
Original Article
Posted By: Ruhn,
8/16/2023 10:29:25 PM
When Bill Watterson walked away from Calvin and Hobbes in 1995, he was exhausted. The comic strip had consumed ten years of his life, the latter half of which were spent fighting his syndicate for creative control and warring with himself as he fitfully came to realize that he had nothing left to say about a six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger. And the decision couldn’t have come at a worse time: Calvin and Hobbes was at the height of its popularity. To quit then seemed like career suicide. It was suicide, the intentional, ritualistic sort.
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
DVC 8/16/2023 10:45:13 PM (No. 1535866)
Makes zero sense to me. I did like the comic strips, and have several books.
11 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
earlybird 8/16/2023 11:17:00 PM (No. 1535877)
To get away from tiresome people like Vic Rowan? Being creative, being bugged by barnacles like Rowan trying to hope some of your fame rubs off on them, and their trying to do the pathetic amateur psych job on you?
I have his perfect cartoon on my fridge. Calvin in bed, covers pulled up to his chin. Caption: “I don’t feel like todaying.”
Maybe that was Watterson’s real explanation?
14 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
minuteman 8/16/2023 11:20:38 PM (No. 1535879)
My all time favorite comic strip but I couldn’t make it through this article.
14 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Catherine 8/16/2023 11:51:23 PM (No. 1535902)
I loved Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson sounds like a tortured soul, tho. I couldn't finish the whole article, but did try.
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Pearson365 8/17/2023 12:24:32 AM (No. 1535923)
Are there still Sunday comics? Not the news stories about politics and politicians, but actual comic sections. Watterson retired at the peak of his career and just as newspapers began their slow decline into little more than DNC house organs.
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
buckeye1 8/17/2023 12:29:24 AM (No. 1535924)
It's not a crime to say that you're done. I couldn't finish the article either. It just went on and on and on. He chose not to whore out his conic strip characters to his syndicate. He was not a money whore either.
7 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Highlander 8/17/2023 12:33:37 AM (No. 1535929)
I enjoyed C & H always, but I can understand the creator’s dilemma. It seems he was over his head and struggled constantly with keeping the creative juices flowing.
3 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
pros7767 8/17/2023 8:12:32 AM (No. 1536094)
My Dad loved this comic strip! He always used to say "Everything you need to learn, you can learn from Calvin and Hobbes." I guess he saw the deeper meanings in the strip.
Spoiler alert: For those who couldn't get through the article, he and his wife adopted a daughter when they were in their forties and he sounds like he is loving being a Dad!
2 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
kono 8/17/2023 3:17:41 PM (No. 1536407)
Larson and Watterson -- seemingly coincidental with my entry into 20s and slide into 30s... Both seemed to launch, fly, return, and retire roughly in sync. It's just hard to fathom how that could have lined up so ideally.
I did read this whole article and enjoyed the memories. What confused me: This starts with Rowan making abundantly clear how definitively Watterson left the public eye, refusing all efforts to suck him into interviews. But then it seems to present a long, heartfelt retrospective conversation with the artist, which makes me wonder whether the interview was imagined, or maybe Watterson's repeated refusals eventually gave way.
0 people like this.
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