Bill Watterson: Visionary?
 

For those of you who don't know, Bill Watterson, the author/cartoonist of Calvin & Hobbes, arguably the greatest comic strip of all time, could be called the most principled cartoonist to ever work in the newpaper business. This is not because of what he put in his strip, but what happened between him and his sindicate. He refused to merchandize, claiming it cheapened his charaters, and disliked the newpaper formats, calling them too restrictive. He also said that the comics page tended to play it too safe, leaving no room for true visionaries or newcomers, relying on tried and true comics who jumped the shark years ago.

Being a geek who loves to study up on the history of pop-culture, I found his values to be greatly similar to those of the early webcomic artists, who went to the internet over the printed press for reasons not unlike those stated above. The only difference is that Watterson came a decade earlier.

That being said, I have to questions:

1. Given the undeniable popularity of Calvin & Hobbes, do you think that his ideals inspired early web cartoonists like Pete Abrams or Scott Kurtz to invent an artform?

2. Do you think that Watterson should make Calvin & Hobbes a webcomic, given the artistics freedoms the medium gives?

Somehow, when I read your post in influences I knew this would turn into a thread in and of itself.
1) I don't know who those are or their works, so I can't answer with any real discernment.
2) Are you saying putting the old ones online or making new ones and putting them online? Assuming it's the second, I think he shouldn't. Granted, I love calvin and hobbes, and was sad that it ever ended, but let's face it, making a webcomic would put way too much cop-out pressure on Bill. Those shirts and stickers you see with calvin are all unofficial, and he wants to keep it that way. Brian sure hasn't said no to the temptation of easy money (not a bash, I'd make shirts too if I were you). Now, I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want him to make new ones, but I understand partially why he doesn't.

Note: For titles of books, movies, and series; italics is preferred to underline and is the standard.

1) What RR said
2) That would be awesome, and having the old classics posted as well would be interesting.

1) Probably not in any direct way. They may have sympathized with his struggle, but I think their decision to take root on the web had more to do with their own preferences and circumstances than a specific desire to follow in his path.

2) When Calvin and Hobbes ended 12 years ago, it seemed pretty clear that Watterson never had any intention of bringing it to another medium. I'm not sure the internet would have changed this had it been a more viable route at the time, but by the time it became such, I think he'd long since made that choice anyway. So it's an interesting thought, but it's unlikely.

1. Pete Abrams writes Sluggy Freelance and Scott Kurtz writes PvP. They were some of the earliest webcomic writers.
2. I was thinking the new ones, but the old ones would prolly be put up as well.

The reason that Calvin and Hobbes was ended was because he didn't want the characters to get stale. A comic can only go so long before it runs out of material, and becomes the same joke every day. Watterson wanted to cut it off before it could reach that level. Lord knows that if C&H got to the point of Garfield, no one would be happy. Ever.
Therefore, post the comics online? Sure, if'n he feels the desire. New ones? We won't, and I wholeheartedly support that decision.

Here and here is your Calvin and Hobbes webocmic. Nothing beats the original.

Calvin & Hobbes. Fuck yes Calvin & Hobbes. The only comic (that I know of) that is philosophical and gets away with it. Even when I was a little lad and I couldn't read them, I'd still look for them every day. I recall being extremely sad when I heard there weren't going to be any new ones :(

1) Doubt it. Webcomic makers have mainly different reasons and goals when making webcomics as opposed to print comics IMO.

2) New Calvin & Hobbes webcomics? No. Hell no. Posting old Calvin & Hobbes comics on the internets? Sure. I already have all the book collections except for one, but maybe there are some others that I missed.

This suggests an experiment:

Take old C&H strips, and rewrite them to make them as shitty as Garfield*.

I wonder if it's even possible.

(Triple Word Bonus: as shitty as BC)

Actually never mind I just remembered that they already make this comic; it's called Red and Rover.

"I guess it takes Juan to know Juan."