First Bill Watterson Comic Since CALVIN & HOBBES and Trailer for STRIPPED
Above you'll find the first comic that artist Bill Watterson has created since he retired Calvin & Hobbes in 1995. It is actually a poster that he created for a documentary film called Stripped. The doc explores the creation of these comic strips and their transition from newspapers to digital. It features interviews with the creators of Garfield, Cathy, For Better or For Worse, The Oatmeal, Penny Arcade, and even Watterson himself, who rarely gives interviews.
Watterson spoke to The Washington Post and explained the poster he did for the movie:
“Given the movie’s title and the fact that there are few things funnier than human nudity, the idea popped into my head largely intact. The film is a big valentine to comics, so I tried to do something really cartoon-y. I had thought of having it colored with off-registered printing dots like newspaper comics, but Dave asked if I’d paint it instead, and I think he made the right call.”
I grew up reading comics in the paper. I loved them! It was one of my favorite things to do, and Calvin & Hobbes was always my favorite. After that ended I kind of just stopped reading comics in the paper. Here's the synopsis for the doc:
STRIPPED is a love-letter to comic strips. It brings together the world’s best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newspapers die. Over 90 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview withBill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), as well as Jim Davis (Garfield), Cathy Guisewite(Cathy), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Mike & Jerry (Penny Arcade), Matt Inman (The Oatmeal), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Lynn Johnston (FBOFW), Zach Weiner (SMBC), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Scott McCloud(Understanding Comics), Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac), Jeph Jacques(Questionable Content), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) and more. STRIPPED sits down with these creators to talk about how cartooning works, why it’s so loved, and how they’re navigating this dicey period between print and digital options…when neither path works perfectly.
Stripped hits iTunes on April 1st. What was your favorite comic strip growing up?