# Bill Watterson writes (but doesn't illustrate) new book, out next week **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 3, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066 "2023-10-03T21:23:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/1 "2023-10-03T21:23:58Z")
> **[Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes fame pens new book](https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/10/bill-watterson-of-calvin-hobbes-fame-pens-new-book.html?outputType=amp)** > > Bill Watterson, creator of the famed Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, has teamed with caricaturist John Kascht on a book called “The Mysteries.” > Bill Watterson – the Northeast Ohio creator of one of the most iconic comic strips and whose legendary vanishing act will rival any public recluse who has ever shunned the societal spotlight – has penned a book called “The Mysteries.” > > Watterson wrote the book while caricaturist John Kascht created the illustrations. It has been published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, distributed by Simon & Schuster and is due Tuesday, Oct. 10. > > Simon & Schuster describes it as a “fable about what lies beyond human understanding.” > > In part, it says of the book: “… a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/2 "2023-10-03T21:42:05Z")
Thanks for the reminder! Just placed my request at the library. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/3 "2023-10-04T17:37:39Z")
Shades of Lord Dunsany. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/4 "2023-10-04T23:53:45Z")
### Tyrannosaurs in F-14’s ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/5 "2023-10-10T21:02:06Z")
Got my copy today. Didn’t read it yet but quickly paged through my copy a little. To set expectations, it very small and short. Each page is a sentence or few words like a children’s book. I am not complaining, just letting people know ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/6 "2023-10-10T21:16:02Z")
Yeah, my copy just arrived, and I read it in less than five minutes. It’s basically a picture book for grown-ups and precocious children. The Amazon listing now has pictures of the book and a few sample pages. I don’t think they were there when I ordered it. I’m something of a Watterson completist, so I’m glad I have it, but frankly, I was expecting, or at least hoping for, something more substantial. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/7 "2023-10-12T15:05:02Z")
I haven’t checked reviews of all of the C&H books, but I’d wager serious money sight unseen that _The Mysteries_ has the lowest rating of any book by Watterson: 2.9 out of 5. > **[Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Mysteries](https://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Bill-Watterson/product-reviews/1524884944)** > > Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Mysteries at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. It was almost inevitable, unless he had released a new graphic novel about Calvin as a teenager, or some other masterwork, that anything Watterson did after a nearly 20-year hiatus would fail to meet the world’s sky-high expectations of him. So this reaction is no surprise. You could say it makes his releasing anything at all something of an act of courage. Or, I suppose, it could be seen as a cynical cash grab. But I think Watterson sufficiently established his ethical _bona fides_ by turning down millions in C&H merch revenue to dispel that suspicion. If his name had not been on this book, and I had picked it up at a bookstore, I’m pretty sure I would not have bought it. But as a fan and supporter, I’m glad I own it. Will I read it over and over, as I have all of the C&H books? No. Am I still interested in seeing something new, and hopefully more substantial, from Bill Watterson? You bet! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/8 "2023-10-12T16:08:30Z")
A video in which Watterson and Kascht talk about how they created the story and the pictures. If you don’t want to watch a 15-minute video, here’s an article that summarizes it. > **[Bill Watterson calls collaboration with The Mysteries' artist John Kascht...](https://www.thepopverse.com/bill-watterson-john-kascht-the-mysteries-collaboration)** > > Bill Watterson and John Kascht wrestled with radically different ideas and art styles in creating their new book The My… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HHND7L1wUl0/maxresdefault.jpg "Collaborating on The Mysteries - Bill Watterson and John Kascht") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHND7L1wUl0) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/9 "2023-10-12T20:19:33Z")
I just bought it… I will have to wait for it to arrive. I’ve tempered my expectations. Even though he is not the illustrator, I’m mostly interested in the illustrations. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/10 "2023-10-12T20:26:36Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > that anything Watterson did after a nearly 20-year hiatus My top-of-the-head math was off. It’s been 28 years since the end of C&H. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-watterson-writes-but-doesnt-illustrate-new-book-out-next-week/991066/11 "2023-10-13T16:42:57Z")
I read it. It’s interesting. It reminds me of some of the long form Sunday strips he did but with more room to tell a longer story. I could see lit professors assign this as a part of a curriculum to see what people make of the theme.