# Bill Watterson returns to comics without telling anyone **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256 "2014-06-07T06:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/21 "2014-06-07T17:17:02Z")
Calvin and Hobbes is the best in my opinion. It has also held up perfectly as opposed to early Doonesbury or Bloom County which would be on my list after C&H. Far Side has held up pretty well also and is probably the second likeliest for me to go back and read after C&H. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/22 "2014-06-07T17:24:55Z")
I never really got into Doonesbury. But Bloom County and Far Side are definitely on my list. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/23 "2014-06-07T17:31:27Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I never really got into Doonesbury. But Bloom County and Far Side are definitely on my list. I think with Doonesbury it is a matter of the strip being much better than the competition in the 70s and when he went on hiatus in around 1983 the strip was never as good after he came back. It was an exceptionally smart and edgy strip in its initial run and this was before Bloom County, Far Side & Calvin and Hobbes. So it was a strip that had its run but unlike the others mentioned came back and kept going at a lesser level. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/24 "2014-06-07T17:33:27Z")
When PBS first appeared in the Vegas newspaper, I was really disappointed in it and didn’t carfe for it at all. Since then, it’s grown on me quite a bit, but it still isn’t among my favorites. However, I do think that Stephen Pastis is a cool guy, and this not only cements that, it also elevates Bill Watterson to “awesome sauce” status. The work they both did for the Richard Thompson book was incredible, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/25 "2014-06-07T17:38:28Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > The third and final strip is perhaps the most successful in terms of humor, but it’s also the least Watterson-y. It’s interesting that he was able to make it work so well drawing in a markedly different style than what he’s known for. You have to remember that he liked playing around in different styles sometimes, like the more realistic soap-opera style when Calvin argued with Susie, or Calvin as a private eye. It fits in well in line with those. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/26 "2014-06-07T18:28:03Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Amazing! I don’t read Pearls Before Swine but maybe I should start. The samples I saw were funny. I adore his Sunday pun strips. [This one is an instant classic.](http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2014/04/06#.U5NZCXYyl_Y) ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/27 "2014-06-07T18:44:57Z")
I’m reminded of the story of The Beatles and Saturday Night Live. There was an episode in 1979 or thenabouts where, as a gag, the producer appeared on camera and offered The Beatles something like FIFTY-EIGHT DOLLARS! to reform. They could split it four ways and give Ringo a little bit less. And by coincidence Paul McCartney was watching it on TV in New York, and he phoned up John Lennon - and John Lennon was watching it too, and for a tiny brief moment they thought it would be funny to get hold of George and Ringo and turn up at the SNL studios the next week and collect the reward. Alas it never happened. And this ties in with Bill Watterson returning to cartoons because… it’s… I mean, he did it. I wonder if he got paid? I wonder if he has a huge shed full of comics he has been drawing for the last twenty years, and they’re all going to be released when he dies? Like the stash of Dolly Parton nude photographs that she must have had had taken in the 1970s. It must exist. (looks it up) Oh, the details are different. According to [this](http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/satnite.htm), the sum was $3,000, and McCartney was actually at Lennon’s apartment, and it was 1976. I’ve often wondered what they would have played. Did anybody care about The Beatles in 1976? They were has-beens at that point, surely. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/28 "2014-06-07T18:45:43Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > I’m reminded of the story of The Beatles and Saturday Night Live. There was an episode in 1979 or thenabouts where, as a gag, the producer appeared on camera and offered The Beatles something like FIFTY-EIGHT DOLLARS! to reform. They could split it four ways and give Ringo a little bit less. > > And by coincidence Paul McCartney was watching it on TV in New York, and he phoned up John Lennon - and John Lennon was watching it too, and for a tiny brief moment they thought it would be funny to get hold of George and Ringo and turn up at the SNL studios the next week and collect the reward. > > Alas it never happened. And this ties in with Bill Watterson returning to cartoons because… it’s… I mean, he did it. I wonder if he got paid? I wonder if he has a huge shed full of comics he has been drawing for the last twenty years, and they’re all going to be released when he dies? Like the stash of Dolly Parton nude photographs that she must have had had taken in the 1970s. It must exist. > > (looks it up) > > Oh, the details are different. According to [this](http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/satnite.htm), the sum was $3,000, and McCartney was actually at Lennon’s apartment, and it was 1976. I’ve often wondered what they would have played. Did anybody care about The Beatles in 1976? They were has-beens at that point, surely. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/29 "2014-06-07T18:50:58Z")
What I’ve always wondered about if Paul and John showed up at SNL at 12:52, is the logistics. Can Lorne say, “Hey, we’re just going to keep transmitting and if the affiliates want to cut off 1/2 the Fucking Beatles to show some jets and a poem, they can go right ahead.” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/30 "2014-06-07T19:08:53Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > I’ve often wondered what they would have played. Did anybody care about The Beatles in 1976? They were has-beens at that point, surely. The whole point of the joke is that people still cared and still talked about a Beatles reunion. Beatlemania (the show) became a hit on Broadway the next year. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/31 "2014-06-07T19:13:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Calvin and Hobbes is the best in my opinion. It has also held up perfectly as opposed to early Doonesbury or Bloom County which would be on my list after C&H. Far Side has held up pretty well also and is probably the second likeliest for me to go back and read after C&H. C & H Peanuts Far Side Doonesbury Bloom County My all time faves… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/32 "2014-06-07T19:29:25Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Amazing! I don’t read Pearls Before Swine but maybe I should start. The samples I saw were funny. > > With 20/20 hindsight the clues were all there. That martian attack panel was pure Bill. The sled didn’t strike me until I read this thread. I don’t see Fraz compared to Calvin and Hobbes aside from the hair. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/33 "2014-06-07T20:23:28Z")
Irony; Watterson’s version of Pastis is actually closer to RL than Pastis’ own version of himself (although this is deliberate). ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/34 "2014-06-07T20:42:57Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > C & H > Peanuts > Far Side > Doonesbury > Bloom County > > My all time faves… Most here are probably to young to know (or care) but **Pogo** rules over them all. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/35 "2014-06-07T21:01:14Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Most here are probably to young to know (or care) but **Pogo** rules over them all. I respect the greats like Pogo, Krazy Kat, Yellow Kid, etc. Even Lil Abner. But I can’t relate to them like those I grew up with. Pogo was around when I was little, but I couldn’t relate. Later, I recognized its greatness, but it never hit me viscerally like the ones I named. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/36 "2014-06-07T21:08:03Z")
Frazz is worth checking out. It’s more the spirit of the strip that’s aligned with C&H than the surface of it. Although Waterson was more edgy and cynical: Mallett is relatively optimistic. I wish we could see more of Waterson’s work, even if it was in an entirely different medium. Sure, it wouldn’t be as good as Calvin and Hobbes, but few things are.[sup]1[/sup] I’d like to see his paintings. Maybe he could also try his hand at interviewing: it might be fun to watch him converse with one of his artistic heroes. [sup]1[/sup] Hm. Pacino is a pretty good actor. Michelangelo had some skill with the chisel. I guess vaccination is better than Calvin and Hobbes. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/37 "2014-06-07T21:58:55Z")
I had never seen a picture of Bill before the one in that link. I have to say that he is nothing like I imagined him looking. For some reason I imagined a big burly guy with a full beard and a hearty laugh, Kind of like Brian Blessed, but more reserved and with glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/38 "2014-06-07T22:45:42Z")
Calvin and Hobbs was one of my favorite comics. I went so far as to name my my cats that. but I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad for the creator of it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/39 "2014-06-07T23:14:50Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Most here are probably to young to know (or care) but **Pogo** rules over them all. We have met the enemy, and he is us. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/40 "2014-06-07T23:35:51Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Pogo was around when I was little, but I couldn’t relate. Later, I recognized its greatness, but it never hit me viscerally like the ones I named. That’s exactly how I feel about Peanuts. I recognize it’s place in comics history, but I’ve never had a real connection to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256.md?page=3)