First Bill Watterson interview in 15 years

Chris sez, "Bill Watterson, creator of the timeless comic classic Calvin & Hobbes, looks back on the strip with no regrets in his first interview in 15 years. Short, but definitely worth reading."

By the end of 10 years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say.
It's always better to leave the party early. If I had rolled along with the strip's popularity and repeated myself for another five, 10 or 20 years, the people now "grieving" for "Calvin and Hobbes" would be wishing me dead and cursing newspapers for running tedious, ancient strips like mine instead of acquiring fresher, livelier talent. And I'd be agreeing with them.
I think some of the reason "Calvin and Hobbes" still finds an audience today is because I chose not to run the wheels off it.
I've never regretted stopping when I did.

Bill Watterson, creator of beloved 'Calvin and Hobbes' comic strip looks back with no regrets (Thanks, Chris!)

(Image: Hobbes and Calvin, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from walknboston's photostream)

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Brainspore

That strip was as awesome as a Tyrannosaur in an F-14.
warreno

There is some good comic content out there – Lio, for instance, and Boondocks* – and, while I miss C&H (or, for that matter, Bloom County), I think Waterson made the right choice.

For instance, consider that you can still find Peanuts running in some papers. Peanuts! A strip that was past its prime long before its creator died. Featuring a nebbish as its lead character, whose one abiding response to anything at all in life is “good grief”.

I’ve got the C&H books for when I need my fix, but Waterson’s right that he quit at the proper time.

==

* Wherever that’s got to…
skeletoncityrepeater

The headline misspells Watterson, and the post soon after this misspells Arthur C. Clarke. Lovely.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  When you say ‘lovely’ do you mean a phenomenological ‘lovely’ or an epistemological ‘lovely’?
  - skeletoncityrepeater
    
    It was a misspelling. I meant to say ‘lobely’ Everything reminds me of ear lobes.
skeletoncityrepeater

The most important thing is, the ‘Calvin Praying’ window sticker exists.
Tim

I was kind of hoping for some mention of the new biography (http://boingboing.net/2009/07/07/free-chapter-of-fort.html) by Nevin Martell. The interview seemed pretty much the same as previous I’ve read. It surely doesn’t dampen my love for Calvin and Hobbes, I’m just not sure why he even bothers giving interviews at all.
Steaming Pile

I’m so old, I remember when Garfield was cutting edge. Read any random Garfield strip from the past 20 or so years, and you can plainly see why Bill Waterson let Calvin and Hobbes ride off into the…uh…sunrise of the New Year on his sled.
Anonymous

Every time I read about Waterson’s frustration with publishers, newspapers, arbitrary space and color limitations, merchandising, etc. – I find myself thinking “Webcomic. Webcomic. Webcomic.” It seems to be such a perfect and obvious fit for him that I’m shocked the interviewer didn’t ask about it.
lakelady

While I respect and understand his decision to end C&H, since that time I have yet to see any “fresher, livelier talent” that even comes close to his brilliance.
PaulR

Such a long interview! How does anyone find the time to read the whole thing?
benher

“Exactly how hot would you say your blood boiled each time you saw a sticker of Calvin pissing on a Chevy logo? (Feel free to answer in C, F, or Kelvin)”

Sorry, I guess that classifies me as “rabid fan stuck with Seinfeld and Bill in the 90s.”
hubbledeej

More importantly, what does Bill Watterson think of the proliferation of Calvin decals on pickup trucks? Peeing on Ford logos, peeing on ex-wives, praying at shadow-casting crosses?
JohnRomeoAlpha

I would think that eventually it would dawn on the cartoonists who throw in the towel that inking a strip day after day and sweating to reinvent it in a largely futile effort to get people to see it with new perspective is the worst job in the world, except for all the other jobs. When you switch from “cartoonist” to “quitter,” what do you do next?
Anonymous

There was a fan interview in 2005.

http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/interview.html
Anonymous

< < How do you want people to remember that 6-year-old and his tiger?
I vote for "Calvin and Hobbes, Eighth Wonder of the World." >>

Indeed! Thanks for all the laughs and a few sweet tears, Mr. Watterson (oh, and Gary Larson, too)!

“Is it a right to remain ignorant?” (Hobbes)
“I don’t know, but i refuse to find out!” (Calvin)
pencilbox

Just a few days after Salinger died. Coincidence?!

It’s always refreshing to hear the cooler heads prevail on the subject of success. Fifteen years from now, I hope to read another Watterson interview, with similar answers (the questions will, of course, be the same).
Anonymous

The problem with papers that still have Peanuts is that when reading through the other strips, then reading Peanuts, you realize that a) nothing will ever touch that strip, and b) nobody besides perhaps Watterson (and a few others) understands subtle humor anymore.
readsalot

He’s got an very dispassionate take on it all, doesn’t he? Very admirable. I wonder what he’s working on these days?
Shay Guy

I would’ve asked for his opinion on the state of newspaper comics today and especially his opinions on webcomics. A lot of his frustrations, at least as voiced in the 10th Anniversary Book, don’t apply to the Web — no editors, comics can be any size you want — but on the other hand, most webcomics have to be heavily merchandised to be successful.

He might also have had some interesting thoughts on manga. C&H was written during the Dark Age of Comic Books and often satirized it. Now? There are comic books in major bookstore chains that Susie might read.