Watterson believes in the comic as a real art form–and in his hands it often was–but the dynamics of the business, both the physical limitations on the drawing and the way the economics is split between artist and newspaper with a syndicate go-between, restricted the full expression of his art. That frustration with the four panel strip was the reason for Berke Breathed’s early retirement, and is quite likely the reason for Watterson’s as well. Larsen, though, as happy with his medium–his retirement was a factor of creative burnout rather than frustration with the limitations of the comics page of today’s newspaper. Both cartoonists annotated the books themselves, explaining the writing process and the business of cartooning. Like Gary Larsen’s Pre-History of The Far Side, this volume provides a retrospective collection selected by the author, with notes on the origin and evolution of his creation. The announcement last November that Bill Watterson would be retiring his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year should not have surprised anyone–at least, anyone who has read the recently released The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book. The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book, Bill Watterson, Andrews and McMeel, 1995, ISBN 0-8362-0438-7, $14.95
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |