If you are a Calvin and Hobbes fan

And if you’re not, by goodness you ought to be, then this story might be of interest.  Turns out before Bill Watterson amazed us with a ten year run of one of the most engaging, entertaining and insightful cartoon strips ever produced, he worked as an editorial cartoonist for a nearby Ohio newspaper.  Now he has given his stamp of approval to a new project on the history of cartoon strips.

Some day I should work up the courage to drive up there and see if I can track him down.  The notoriously secretive cartoonist is no doubt able to live off of the money he made during his incredibly successful run, and I’m sort of glad he stopped when he did.  It’s nice to go out when your ideas are still fresh.

Still, I miss seeing that little kid and his tiger.  But that was of its time.  Before there was Bart Simpson, there was Calvin.  And in its day, what a shock he was!  But in today’s environment, he comes off almost as Pollyanna.  Something Watterson himself noticed in his 10 Year Anniversary book.  Plus, Watterson’s brand of subtle and nuanced commentary would be lost in our age of bludgeoning and PC censorship.