# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/81 "2014-06-09T00:17:37Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Hey, don’t rag on “ **Nancy**.” It’s my favorite all-time strip. Perhaps it was not funny, but it definitely was not “unfunny.” :::puts him on watch list::: ---
**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 9, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/82 "2014-06-09T00:33:10Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Hey, don’t rag on “ **Nancy**.” It’s my favorite all-time strip. Perhaps it was not funny, but it definitely was not “unfunny.” **Nancy** was the **Zippy the Pinhead** of an earlier generation. And [aunt Fritzi](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_64jRVt1CleE/S-oj3BJvzWI/AAAAAAAANeY/qRPEhSXIDVo/s1600/uv13-00.jpg) was a babe! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/83 "2014-06-09T01:16:22Z")
Fritzi Ritz was always smoking hot. Wish the strip concentrated on her rather than her deformed niece. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/84 "2014-06-09T01:26:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I follow it, and find it occasionally amusing. > > Speaking of comics, why the reruns on Doonesbury? Gary Trudeau is too busy working on Alpha House, his TV series, to write comic strips. That’s why the strip is on hiatus. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/85 "2014-06-09T01:31:03Z")
All you C&H fans might want to check out a documentary streaming on Netflix called _Dear Mr. Watterson: An Exploration of Calvin & Hobbes_. Not especially remarkable, but it’s fun in a “Hey! Me too!” way. Included is a discussion of Watterson’s refusal to allow licensing of C&H merchandise. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/86 "2014-06-09T01:31:30Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I never got the humour in “Peanuts.” It never made me even remotely smirk. It was the most unfunny comic strip ever. It was fantastic in the 60s. If all you saw were more recent strips I could understand. ---
**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 9, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/87 "2014-06-09T02:12:51Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Fritzi Ritz was always smoking hot. [Damn right.](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/288/e/e/Aunt_Fritzi_Pinup__Leopard_by_GuyGilchrist.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/88 "2014-06-09T02:45:09Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It was fantastic in the 60s. If all you saw were more recent strips I could understand. I was born in 1962, but probably didn’t read “Peanuts” until the mid 70s. Boring as hell with the same repeated schtiky jokes every time. I still haven’t seen the Christmas show: apparently it involves a crappy tree. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/89 "2014-06-09T03:18:20Z")
[Some damn funny Peanuts strips here](http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/for-the-love-of-peanuts/). ---
**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 9, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/90 "2014-06-09T21:02:53Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > **Nancy** was the **Zippy the Pinhead** of an earlier generation. > > And [aunt Fritzi](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_64jRVt1CleE/S-oj3BJvzWI/AAAAAAAANeY/qRPEhSXIDVo/s1600/uv13-00.jpg) was a babe! > [@Scumpup](#): > > Fritzi Ritz was always smoking hot. Wish the strip concentrated on her rather than her deformed niece. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [Damn right.](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/288/e/e/Aunt_Fritzi_Pinup__Leopard_by_GuyGilchrist.jpg) When did the Aunt disappear? I only remember Nancy from the 70s and it was a waste of space and ink on the comics page by then. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/91 "2014-06-09T21:30:27Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > When did the Aunt disappear? I only remember Nancy from the 70s and it was a waste of space and ink on the comics page by then. Fritiz “leaned in” all the way up until the end of Bushmiller’s run with the strip. After EB quit doing the comic, I agree there’s nothing more to see. However, for construction purposes, Bushmiller’s _Nancy_ was near perfect. The flow from first panel to last is so consistently smooth. Everyone talks about the three rocks of course, but it is so much more. It’s about how Nancy and Fritzi and Sluggo are always drawn the same – to perfection --, and yet those that inhabit world around them differ wildly depending on what is needed to get to the joke at the end. The joke is the gravity of the strip, the force that moves everything in it towards the final panel. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/92 "2014-06-09T23:10:02Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > All you C&H fans might want to check out a documentary streaming on Netflix called _Dear Mr. Watterson: An Exploration of Calvin & Hobbes_. Not especially remarkable, but it’s fun in a “Hey! Me too!” way. Included is a discussion of Watterson’s refusal to allow licensing of C&H merchandise. Don’t just watch the stream; order the disk. There’s enough supplemental material to make another documentary. (I think it was pretty remarkable!) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/93 "2014-06-10T00:00:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I never got the humour in “Peanuts.” It never made me even remotely smirk. It was the most unfunny comic strip ever. No, that title _must_ go to that multi-decade assault on the nation’s sensibilities _The Family Circus._ Bil Keane ranks up there with Kim Jong Il as a human-rights violator. In my sober and reasoned opinion. ---
**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 10, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/94 "2014-06-10T00:15:16Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > No, that title _must_ go to that multi-decade assault on the nation’s sensibilities _The Family Circus._ Bil Keane ranks up there with Kim Jong Il as a human-rights violator. In my sober and reasoned opinion. Is the web site that changes the dialogue on the Family Circus still around? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/95 "2014-06-10T01:54:28Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > No, that title _must_ go to that multi-decade assault on the nation’s sensibilities _The Family Circus._ Bil Keane ranks up there with Kim Jong Il as a human-rights violator. In my sober and reasoned opinion. But without Bil Keane, we’d never have had the Dysfunctional Family Circus. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/96 "2014-06-10T08:58:22Z")
I can think of a lot of contenders for unfunniest strip. Tumbleweeds. Pluggers. Ballard Street. Especially Pluggers, because I don’t even **see** the joke. ---
**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 10, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/97 "2014-06-10T10:24:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is the web site that changes the dialogue on the Family Circus still around? [The archives are](http://dfc.furr.org/)… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/98 "2014-06-10T17:16:53Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > No, that title _must_ go to that multi-decade assault on the nation’s sensibilities _The Family Circus._ Bil Keane ranks up there with Kim Jong Il as a human-rights violator. In my sober and reasoned opinion. I don’t know. _Fred Basset_ would be my vote, although I do remember a day where I chuckled at a Fred Basset strip. I don’t remember it, but there was exactly one strip that made me at least crack a smile. ETA: [I see I’m not the only one who thinks this way.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgpbm97Mak) Maybe now that I actually own a dog, I’ll be able to appreciate it a bit more, and not look at it as trying to be “funny,” but merely a fairly straight imagining of what goes through a dog’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/99 "2014-06-10T19:23:55Z")
Why are we talking about Drek like Family Circus when we could be discussing whether Fritzi Ritz or Blondie Bumstead is hotter? FTR the mom from Family Circus does have a pretty sweet butt. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256/100 "2014-06-10T19:42:36Z")
Re: _The Family Circus_, please check out [The Nameless Dread](http://fromthisswamp.blogspot.com/2011/11/nameless-dread.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-returns-to-comics-without-telling-anyone/690256.md?page=6)