The popularity of Calvin and Hobbes continues apace, over 20 years after creator/philosopher/one of the greatest cartoonists who has ever lived retired the much-loved comic strip.
While every fan including yours truly wishes that more new strips would be forthcoming, there’s also an acceptance and admiration for Watterson finishing on his own terms and leaving a rich legacy that continues to inspire people, including fellow cartoonists such as Berkeley Breathed, himself the creator of a revered comic strip Bloom County.
On April Fools Day this year, Breathed gave hope to every Calvin and Hobbes devotee who had hoped upon vain hope that Watterson would (a) draw fresh strips and (b) merchandise his characters, something he has steadfastly refused to ever since the strip was first published.
It was an April Fools prank alas – we all knew that deep down but hey hope makes you do crazy things sometimes – but a damn good one with copious amounts of intelligent wit and commentary on our need to own a part of something we love.
Take a look at Breathed’s Facebook page where all the action took place where you can see the supposed first new strip of many which brought together Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County in one riotously funny comic strip.
Breathed is not the first comic strip artist to pay homage to a man many admire with Stephan Pastis, who wrotes the wickedly hilarious Pearls Before Swine, and knows his way around a joke or two and wry social commentary actually teamed up with Watterson for a series of cartoons in 2014.
Brian Kesinger, a self-described “Story artist at walt disney animation studios, author and most importantly, a geek” paid his own very of the moment tribute to the iconic comic strip when he mashed up Calvin and Hobbes with Star Wars characters, releasing them via Twitter and his own site, which is well worth checking out.
And there’s been an unofficial web series, Calvin and Hobbes (web series) by ChannelHy inspired by the comic strip, and animated vignettes by Adam Brown to name just two of many.
Yes Calvin and Hobbes is alive and well but how I wish Breathed had been legit and the strip has returned once more to delight and enthrall us all once again.
(source: Paste Magazine)