/co/ what's up with Bill Watterson?
It's been 20 years since the end of Calvin and Hobbes.
I can understand feeling accomplished and not making an effort to top what you'll be remembered for but damn, can't we atleast get some random illustrations here and there. The guy just disappeared.
>>77382807
no. let him enjoy his retirement.
It's not his fault that you don't pay attention to his modern output.
That's how he likes it
>>77382807
He made a poster for a documentary film called "Stripped", another poster for a French comic festival, and did art for Pearls Before Swine, and that was all in the past couple of years.
But he shouldn't have to start making comics again. He's sick of dealing with newspapers (which are dying out anyway), and still makes tons of money off of comic collections and reprints of C&H, so he never has to work again.
Anon, have you seen the Heathcliff threads on /co/? What about Marmaduke? Or Garfield. Do you like Beetle Bailey? Blondie? Gasoline Alley?
Cartoons that go on too long always turn to shit. It's like the Simpsons, only comic strips were doing it long before the first season of the Simpsons ever aired.
Watterson knew this. He retired at the top of his game. If you like Calvin and Hobbes, you should be grateful for it.
>>77382952
>did art for Pearls Before Swine
Sweet Jesus, why couldn't he have just died?
As said, he seems to have found that sweet spot of being able to enjoy retirement and wealth without the tragic crash and burn a lot of people do by flaming out with increasingly sucky comics or going bankrupt.
I'm sure stations would fall over themselves if he wanted to do a cartoon.
He has gotten burned by being generous in the past. He used to slip signed C&H collections into the local bookstores as surprises and people just went to sell them on Ebay. So he went 'fuck that shit'
>>77382807
He is just an odd autist recluse. It's best for him to remain in hiding just like Ditko
>>77382901
>>77383079
>/co/ the image
>>77383078
Autist? Autists don't write and illustrate like that. He just wants complete privacy from a roiling mass of disgusting, unpleasant, terrible people who read his stuff. People like you and me.
>>77383088
>/tv/ is shitposting about a celebrities death
>/pol/ won't get out of my living room spouting about jews
>/v/ won't leave my room spouting about SJW
>>77383088
There was a Junji Ito pic done that had an old woman throwing eggs at a pimply hambeast. JUst slap 4CHAn on it and you sum things up.
>>77382993
>Heathcliff
>shit
lmao
>>77383000
It was actually pretty funny. Watterson was drawing as a little girl to make fun of how shitty the regular art is.
I love Watterson. He's such a role model. He never sold out, never made merch, great cartoonist, no shitty ego. I know that he could afford retiring because C&H is ridiculously famous, but everyone else in that position would've run it into the ground.
>>77383104
This is correct
>>77383161
>/v/ won't leave my room spouting about SJW
KEK
It's a pity he doesn't really know much about technology, because he'd be great at a webcomic. It's literally all the freedom he fought to get from the newspapers.
>>77383238
Those were good times
>>77383631
with 1000x the screeching entitled mouthbreathing critics.
great idea.
>>77382807
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUTauS99cD8
I heard Bill Watterson did some guest strips for some nobody's comic, and the guy pretty much said Bill Watterson was a deranged recluse who refuses to use computers and doesn't trust anyone
Calvin and Hobbes is so insanely good. It's like a warm comfy blanket.
>>77383335
Yeah, I seriously doubt that I could turn down all the undoubtedly massive deals he must have been offered. I really respect him for being able to refuse to sell out as I probably would have.
>>77384574
frankly I sometimes dream of being able to stop using a computer, living on my own in seclusion in a nice cabin and enjoying my life.
But instead I've got you faggots keeping me here like a filthy crack whore who just can't quit.
>>77383500
Actually it's spouting about ethics in game journalism
>>77382807
He's too busy not giving a fuck and knowing he done good every time that fat royalty check is deposited in his bank account.
Leave the man in peace. If he wanted your attention, all he'd have to do is grab it.
>>77382952
>we will never get a C+H movie/show with Waterson as the director
>>77383079
>mfw when reporting a post
>>77384617
> tfw relatives come back from honeymoon in the US
> they brought me a shirt with Calvin on it acting all gangsta
> Had to pretend I loved it
>>77384755
C+H won't work as a movie or a show. Think of one storyline in the comic that could be adapted into a movie without it being dumbed down and have unnecessary "The Feels" moment thrown in?
>>77383088
And if she had pink hair it would be tumblr
>>77383631
Yeah that's good, open yourself up to thousands of emails every day telling you to do more Calvin and Hobbes, people linking you to porn of Calvin and Hobbes, feminists calling you a racist/sexist shitlord for not making a tranny character, etc.
For his sake I hope Bill stays far away from the Internet.
>>77385552
>people linking you to porn of Calvin and Hobbes
This would be the fucking worst for an author. Miyazaki lost much of his enthusiasm for animation when he saw that people were making tons of porn of Kiki. I mean, all the effort you made to breathe life into the characters goes down the train in the worst way imaginable.
That would really made me sad if I had characters, I'd become a recluse for sure.
>>77383197
>le reddit cat meem
>>77383079
>>77383088
my seids
>>77385603
alternatively, knowing people draw porn of my characters would be signaled as the epitome of admiration
seriously, there's few things as blissful and satisfactory as knowing people like shit you do to the point of attempting to mimic you, even r34 takes part of exactly that to an extent
>>77385656
This is a very twisted way of seeing it 'cause it's clear that admiring someone's work and drawing porn of it are completely unrelated things. The only requirement is that your character is compatible with the fetishes of someone with way too much time on his hands and that's practically impossible to avoid.
>>77385603
>This would be the fucking worst for an author.
only for some
While I'm sure ol' Bill has no desire to see this image uncropped, there are (usually younger) artists who view r34 of their characters as a compliment, not an insult
>>77385291
>>77385291
It would make a great series of shorts. Like 5 minutes between some shows.
>>77385679
>>77385682 worded that better than I did
this was pretty much what I was trying to get to
>>77385603
I think there's worse things in the world than sex.
>>77385699
I guess it's subjective, yeah.
>>77385705
Well yeah but how many people draw stuff like gore fanart? Not to mention that unless your characters are featured in a Family Guy episode, it's going to happen because it's someone's fetish.
>>77385603
I'd find it flattering if people made porn of my characters. Not saying Miyazaki should have been okay with it, just saying what I personally would think.
He's the J.D.Salinger of the comic world.
>>77385291
Also I imagine that, when the show starts to go philosophical and use advanced vocabulary like the comic, some producer guys will say, "Kids won't understand these parts and get confused. We have to cut it all out and maybe introduce more slapstick and references to internet memes because that's what our marketing research team says kids love."
C&H is one of those things which can only work as the vision of one person, and I dunno if it would recieve the same respectful treatment of Peanuts because it's not famous as that comic.
>>77382807
I heard he mostly does nature oil paintings now. He always loved that shit even in backdrops of C&H, so presumably he's happy.
I wonder if he even sells them or not.
>>77386360
>I wonder if he even sells them or not.
He burns them after they're completed so people won't find them, sell them and profit from him after his death.
>>77382993
He even said that in one of the interviews. It was something like "If I kept going, you all wouldn't be happy, you'd be telling me to stop already"
>>77386328
Isn't it pretty much as famous as Peanuts though?
>>77386328
Wait... was the peanuts movie good? I just assumed it'd be shit and didn't bother.
Did some work on Pearls
>>77386328
>C&H
>not as famous as Peanuts
I'd like to see an example of one person who knows of Peanuts but not Calvin and Hobbes.
>>77386481
Mediocre to bad.
Its pretty tame and nothing really happens. Snoopy steals the show but even he can't save the whole thing.
Its just plain boring because its a highly sterilized sample of everything one would think of when you say "Peanuts" with a loose plot and shit music. I would've been happier if they had made a series of halfway decent shorts or done something like the old movies that actually had something happen.
>>77384955
How can they even be sold? Watty surely wouldn't allow that.
>>77386518
So respectful but bland. About what I expected.
>>77385552
It's not like he would actually have to interact with fans.
>>77386526
He doesn't. He goes after them whenever he finds somebody churning it out wholesale, but if it's just some small shop's bootleg artist, how's he going to know?
>>77383104
This. Fame destroys everything worth having. You can see in Calvin & Hobbes what it is he loves. So he retired there and protects his seclusion; it's the only way. He's a wise, wise man.
>>77384955
Aaaaah fuck that same thing happened to me, I've hated shirt bootleggers ever since.
>>77386436
No. Peanuts help boosts its appeal by appearing in several markets and merchandising.
C&H is simply memorable but would draw blank stares for most young audiences or people who were past its printing years.
>>77386526
>>77386615
>>77386570
It's not Watterson's drawing. The people who gifted this to me had no idea who C&H are, so it was just an unfortunate choice.
>>77383197
my nigga
>>77385619
>implying heathcliff isn't the 4chan to reddit's gazorpazorpfield
>>77383335
I agree with everything you said except the shitty ego, Watterson always had a huge bug up his butt about any and all popular media being shit, and we can argue that he's right about that but it always came off as curmudgeonly for a guy who was only in like, his 30s while he was writing
>>77387704
I wouldn't call that ego, just a strong opinion on things. It would be proof of an inflated ego if he took part to the popular media circus while berating it, 'cause that would have meant he thought himself above the criticism. He disliked it and backed down from it.
For the record, Watterson said in an interview that if he could do it over again he'd allow some respectful merchandise. Completely shunning it has made it harder to argue in court against bootleggers, since they're nit really taking profits away from Watterson.
>Personally, I like paper and ink better than glowing pixels, but to each his own. Obviously the role of comics is changing very fast. On the one hand, I don’t think comics have ever been more widely accepted or taken as seriously as they are now. On the other hand, the mass media is disintegrating, and audiences are atomizing. I suspect comics will have less widespread cultural impact and make a lot less money. I’m old enough to find all this unsettling, but the world moves on. All the new media will inevitably change the look, function, and maybe even the purpose of comics, but comics are vibrant and versatile, so I think they’ll continue to find relevance one way or another. But they definitely won’t be the same as what I grew up with.
The guy's only 57 years old, the same age as my parents. He doesn't have any children, which may explain his supposed avoidance of online comic making.
>>77388100
he's so right too- many more people get to be creators, but every one of them has a minuscule amount of influence.
I kind of wonder if he does read webcomics if he was able to see that far-
>>77388152
I wonder what he means by that, especially with making less money. Patreon seems to be supporting the more popular artists fairly well, and Kickstarter is a decent tool as long as they have a very organized plan for the money.
>>77382993
>Implying Heathcliff was ever not shit
>>77385603
You would have to be a pretty sensitive fuck to get so distraught over people drawing porn of your characters.
>>77386485
He's pretty right.
>>77388257
Again, he's old. He doesn't know about ways of making money outside of the publishing system.
>>77388257
I think he means individual comics and not the market as a whole. With how many are being churned out right now, you can't buy them all, so only the big ones sell while all the niche ones have to fight among themselves for the scraps instead of having a few nice titles getting all the scraps. Even the big ones make less money because there are more of them.
>>77388257
>And this is when I found out that Bill Watterson is not comfortable with scanners or Photoshop or large email attachments. In fact, by the end of the process, I was left with the distinct impression that he works in a log cabin lit by whale oil and hands his finished artwork to a man on a pony.
Yeah, Watterson isn't going to open a Patreon any time soon.
This is the closest Watterson will get to drawing anything titillating.
>>77390338
Calvin's Mom and Rozalyn do things to me.
>>77382807
He grew up in Ohio, near Cleveland in a place called chagrin falls.
He finally got away from it all of course he wants to be left alone
>>77390357
They might, but they aren't drawn with the intent of being "hot babes".
Im going to post then whole Pearls x Watterson series, I found it pretty great
>>77390448
>>77385801
Same
>>77390456
>>77390466
>>77390475
>>77390483
and the last one
>>77390490
Alright, that last one was pretty good.
>>77388257
>I wonder what he means by that, especially with making less money.
He means that Penny Arcade's idea of making bank isn't anything remotely like Jim Davis'. Khoo does an amazing job (let's give the man his due and propers, AMAZING) for one guy, but he's not King Features Syndicate and his product doesn't appeal to 95% of Americans of all ages.
I think he quit his strip at a good time. To be perfectly honest, I feel his strips the last couple of years weren't quite as great as his earlier stuff. The art was better but the humour wasn't quite there at times.
>>77390475
Oh my fucking god, I can recognize Watterson's weird-ass shading tones.
>>77390490
Feels complete.
>>77385603
>>77385682
>>77385656
>>77385801
>>77388329
I think us growing up with a lot of good quality r34 and internet porn has changed our mindset on it
You have to remember, in previous generations the only drawn porn was super shit mags or trashy cheesecake comics
Now you get professionals that can post porn online anonymously as a stress reliever
>>77388257
webcomics don't have massive amounts of merch and cross branding that newspaper comics do/did
>>77390953
>forgetting about tijuana bibles
they're just babies
>>77390953
It's not a quality thing (after all where did the quality come from? it's not like people who could draw didn't have shitty fetishes before). It's the fact that the internet revealed everyone to be as fucked up as everyone else and so it became a lot more open and accepting about it.
You could credit the potential anonymity of the distribution network, but no one even posts anonymously anymore. They construct a social identity out of their fucked up bedroom shit.
>>77385603
That's only if you're a hypersensitive cunt.
>>77384611
THIS
i just cant decide between it and peanuts because its 2 side of a golden penny
>>77385291
it could have a show honnestly
There is ton of time when C+H when making jokes about some plot like that time calvin uncle visited him.
>>77385291
>>77385696
>>77392342
I read somewhere (from a credible source, but I can't remember where) that Waterson was afraid of someone voiceacting Calvin, and it'll mess everyone's (to put in more modern terms) headcanon voices or something.
>>77390401
Fuck, that's very close to me.
>>77387237
Oh I know. He goes after obvious bootlegs when he finds thouse too, I've heard. Though obviously he can't find every tourist trap that has a picture of his character pissing on a rival sports team and he doesn't even look to begin with.
>>77383078
But Ditko is still actively making comics. True, they're 110% batshit insane, but he's making the comics he wants to do.
>>77391856
But pennies are made of copper
>>77388100
He actually mentioned a daughter named Violet in the Complete Series intro. He's just a real old-school parent I guess.
>>77390401
If someone wanted to buy a little cabin in the woods in the US and make comics in complete isolation, how much would it cost to live there?
>>77386485
> Works on Pearls before Swine
> All the guest strips are barely-concealed vitriol crapping all over the art
Fucking hilarious and awkward at the same time
>>77383078
>>77383104
The correct term is misanthrope.
>>77395709
It's self depreciation, not vitriol. Pastis was in on the joke, hell, the scenario was his idea.
Stop assuming this was Watterson pulling some petty GOTCHA.
>>77386500
>I'd like to see an example of one person who knows of Peanuts but not Calvin and Hobbes.
Outside the US, you will find thousands.
>>77396026
Everyone in Europe.
>>77385682
>>77397078
man I wonder what Christopher Robin and Calvin are up to
>>77385291
Snow Goons.
Duh.
>>77390338
He could draw a pretty nice female figure when he wanted to
>Bill Watterson could probably do better comic book style art than most people professionally employed creating it
>we will never get a super pulpy, Miller-in-the-80s-esque Bill Watterson cape comic
>>77382901
That 15 panel story would take Bendis 3 issues and 5000 speech balloons to do.
