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Let’s be real. Calvin and Hobbes is the very best comic strip of all time. It was perfect, it transcended its genre, and its creator, Bill Watterson, is a genius. Unfortunately for us, he is a reclusive genius who took his ball and went home nearly twenty years ago. Seriously, it has been 18-and-a-half years of near radio silence from Watterson. He opened the door a little bit about three months ago when he drew the poster for the documentary Stripped. And now he has kicked it open a little further by taking over Stephan Pastis’s comic strip Pearls Before Swine. For three days. Pastis explained how it all came about on his blog.

Pastis wrote a strip that was an homage to Watterson and sent it to him. And shock of shocks, Watterson responded with a pitch.

He said he knew that in my strip, I frequently...

Bill Watterson drew Calvin and Hobbes, the last great comic strip of the 20th century and one of the best things ever, period. Then he retired and generally opted out of public life — not quite the comics’ Salinger but maybe the comics’ Harper Lee. 2014 is the year that changed. A few months ago, Watterson illustrated the poster for the comic documentary Stripped. And this week, Watterson staged a quiet comeback to the comics page, contributing artwork to three Pearls Before Swine strips.

As recounted by Swine’s writer-illustrator Stephan Pastis on his blog, the contribution emerged out of an email exchange between the two cartoonists.

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,...

Are you sitting down, Calvin and Hobbes fans? No, the deliciously anti-establishment comic strip isn't returning, but its creator is - after a 19-year absence. Bill Watterson, the genius behind the classic comic, has just released his first original cartoon in nearly two decades: a poster for the documentary Stripped, a film that celebrates comic strips while exploring the decline of the newspaper industry. Watterson also participated in the documentary, which the official site bills as the first-ever audio interview with the very private artist. "In the right hands, a comic strip attains a beauty and an elegance that really...

Almost two decades after the end of Great-American-Comic-Strip Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson has released new art. The reclusive (but occasionally quite chatty) artist appears in Stripped, an upcoming documentary about the history of newspaper comic strips. According to The New York Times, Watterson was such a big fan of the movie that he agreed to illustrate the film’s poster. It’s a vintage Watterson joint: Animal companion, articles of clothing spraying in every direction, a hilarious cartoon derriere. Stripped comes out in April — and also features interviews with the creators of For Better or For Worse, Penny Arcade,...

Last year, Calvin & Hobbes and the comic strip's creator Bill Watterson got their own documentary called Dear Mr. Watterson. Now a new documentary called Stripped goes a little more broad by focusing on Jim Davis, Cathy Guisewite, Mort Walker, Mike & Jerry, Matt Inman and Jeff Keane, the names behind comic strips like Garfield, Cathy, Beetle Bailey, Penny Arcade, The Oatmeal and Family Circus respectively. And there's plenty more cartoonists interviewed in this documentary looking into the art of comic strips. We love how it spans from the oldest newspaper strips to today's online comics. In addition, the poster below is the first comic strip illustration Watterson has made in 18 years. Check it out! Here's the first trailer for Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder's Stripped via The Film Stage: And here's the poster for the documentary, created and illustrated by Bill Watterson: Stripped is written and directed by Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder.

Stripped: Bill Watterson, who retired from drawing the classic Calvin & Hobbes comic strip some 19 years ago, has published his first art since then, in the form of a movie poster for the new documentary Stripped. The movie explores "the art and evolution of newspaper comic strips," and features Watterson's first-ever recorded interview. The movie is now available for preorder on iTunes; a DVD will be releasd on April 2. [New York Times] Pixels: Adam Sandler will star in Chris Columbus' big-screen adaptation of the short film Pixels. The original depicted video game characters attacking New York City; the feature version is intended to be a "tentpole-sized" action-comedy akin to Ghostbusters, with the stars "rumored to be video game experts...

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Here’s a huge and very pleasant surprise: Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin & Hobbes, who retired that strip in 1995 and has not published a cartoon in the years since, has drawn a movie poster. The image is for the documentary Stripped, which is about the art and business of newspaper comic strips. Dozens […]

The post ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Creator Bill Watterson Draws Poster for Cartooning Doc ‘Stripped’ appeared first on /Film.

Calvin And Hobbes is one of the most beloved comic strips since Peanuts but its creator, 55 year-old Bill Watterson, hasn’t put comic pen to paper since retiring the characters 1995, instead passing the time painting and largely keeping out of the public eye. This poster is the first public Watterson cartoon for nearly two decades and if it isn’t a boy and his tiger tearing about on a toboggan, it’s the next best thing. The film it's advertising, Stripped, is a documentary that’s just debuted on the iTunes store. Launched in 1985, Calvin And Hobbes followed the amazing, mum-baiting antics of six year-old Calvin and the smartypants stuffed tiger he brings to life with the power of his imagination. With its energy and advanced sense of the surreal, it read like Bagpuss by way of Charlie Kaufman.As the title hints, Stripped takes a nostalgic look at some...

Famed cartoonist Bill Watterson debuted the cover art for comics documentary, “Stripped,” on Wednesday, the first cartoon the artist has released publicly since retiring the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip in 1995. Though 5-year-old Calvin was known to be a jaybird every now and then, the nude man on the cover of “Stripped” is a significant departure for the cartoonist. “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,” Watterson told the Washington Post. See video: YouTube Documentary ‘Life After Pi’ Chronicles Collapse of Rhythm & Hues (Video) The.