#379 - Exploring the Magic of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes

Dust off your favorite Calvin and Hobbes book, and join us for the latest installment of our artist spotlight series. We're analyzing the life and career of one of comic's most private and beloved creators: Bill Watterson.  Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube

TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS: 

• Remembering our first Calvin and Hobbes strip - 00:10:25
• A crash course into the life/career of Bill Watterson - 00:18:30
• The best Calvin and Hobbes strips to read  - 00:29:10
• What themes are relevant in Calvin and Hobbes? - 00:45:49
• What makes Bill Watterson's art style unique? - 00:49:32
• Why is there no Calvin and Hobbes merchandise?  - 00:55:58
• Ben's Top 3 Comic Picks - 01:08:34
• Invincible S2 teaser trailer reaction - 01:27:38

 SUPPORT THE SHOW: 

• Click here to join our Patreon community and get access to bonus episodes and special rewards for as little as a $1. 
• Take your comic experience to the limit by shopping online at Gotham City Limit!
• Use the discount code "YOO" to save 10%  when you buy merch from our store

Proudly sponsored by Collective Con


Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

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The term nostalgia derives from the Greek words nostos, return, and algos, pain.
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The literal meaning of nostalgia then is the suffering evoked by the desire to return to
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one's place of origin.
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For me, my place of origin?
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A cold October Sunday in Waldorf, Maryland.
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My dad is not turning the thermostat too high to save money, thus freezing out the rest
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of the family.
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I'm holding my copy of Bill Watterson's Yukon Hoe and I'm laughing out loud by myself.
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The cool thing about Watterson's work is that I don't long for a friend who isn't there.
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I can pick up that book in my office now and just like that, I'm back there.
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No pain, no love lost.
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Just like Hobbes, when no one is around, those pages come to life.
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Watterson lives and his work waits for me every time.
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My reservoir of joy will never run out, thanks to him.
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It's a magical world, Hobbes old buddy.
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Let's go exploring.
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Short Box Nation.
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We proudly present the artist spotlight of Mr. Bill Watterson.
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Yo!
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Short Box Nation!
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Welcome back to the podcast.
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How are you doing today?
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To all of our new friends joining us for the first time, my name is Botter, here at your
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service to welcome you to the Short Box Podcast.
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The comic review and talk show where you hear the best conversations about comic books and
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the pop culture they inspire.
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This is episode 379 and if that excellent intro didn't clue you in enough, today is
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all about us taking a nostalgic step back into the schoolastic book fair era of our
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lives and revisiting the adventures of comics, terrific tandem of Calvin and Hobbes, as well
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as paying our respects to the genius behind their creation.
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He's been called the Bigfoot of comics, but we like to call him Mr. Bill Watterson.
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Who says that?
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There's actually a quote, I'll have to find it, but another comic cartoonist had called
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him the Bigfoot.
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That was a good Stan Lee intro you did, that was nice.
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I like the alliteration.
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Now you'll learn why he's been called the Bigfoot of comics later on, but let's welcome
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the panel that's coming along for this trip down memory lane.
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Here in the studio with me is the exceptional Edmund Danzart.
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What's up Ed?
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What's up?
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I'm always trying to build you up, Ed, finding all these $10 words.
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What exceptional is a $10 word?
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All right.
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You've got more than five letters in your hand.
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Overpaying for whatever you're using.
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Ed, come on, all right, man, I'm looking out for you, all right?
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And calling in from Daddy Daycare is the man responsible for the intro you heard at the
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top of the show, Shore Black Nation.
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I'm going to give them a round of applause because it's been a minute.
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We got Cezo Cordero here with us.
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See, for those that know, I was in a ska band called Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey.
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And if that doesn't prove my Calvin and Hobbes cred, you guys can get fucked.
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That's good.
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I'm going to try to top that, all right?
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And she may not be here in person, but God damn it, is she here in spirit with us, all
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right?
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This next shout out is for our sister in podcast arms, our good friend, co-host extraordinaire,
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Ashley Lanny Ahoy.
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I'm going to go ahead and give her and her family a round of applause for the arrival
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of their precious boy, Shiloh Reese Ahoy.
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Super excited about that.
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Covering from the noodle incident.
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That was a good time.
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Another deep cut?
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That was a good time.
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So Ashley was having her baby at the same hospital that Sarah works at.
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And Sarah was able to kind of peek in.
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And funny story is that after Sarah had her C-section, she wasn't able to move.
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And they kind of advise you, kind of like, hey, just don't really get up.
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You don't have to.
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In fact, you shouldn't.
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So Sarah goes to knock on the door to visit Ashley and Josh.
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And Ashley answers the door.
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She's like walking around.
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She's like, hey, what's up?
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And Sarah's like, what are you doing?
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You should be lying down.
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She's like, I feel fine.
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She's like, oh my God.
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So Ashley already being an irresponsible mom from the jump.
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Congratulations.
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We wouldn't expect anything better.
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We don't think the rules apply to her.
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That's a problem.
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Yeah.
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We're excited for you, Ashley.
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And we're dedicating this one to you and your baby boy.
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And while we're on acknowledgments, let's go and talk about our incredible sponsors,
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Collective Con and Gotham City Limit.
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One is North Florida's premier pop culture event.
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And the other one is North Florida's premier comic shop.
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Both are the best at what they do.
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And they play a large part in helping us keep the lights on alongside the contributions
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of our incredible Patreon community.
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And speaking of Patreon, ham-fistedly speaking of Patreon, we owe them a round of applause.
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I thought you were going to say we owe them money.
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That money's spent, Jack.
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The show has gotten so bad that we owe the patrons money.
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No refunds, Jack.
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Only at the short box would we owe our patrons fucking money.
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That money's spent, son.
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Every month.
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Yo, I promise we'll get better.
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We never promise anything.
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We are in the negative, all right?
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Just to clarify, we never promise that.
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Thank you.
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That's coming from our legal department.
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This is from the legal department.
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All right.
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Earlier in December, I believe, that was the time, I presented our patrons with three classic
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comic strips to pick from.
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I wanted to do an episode highlighting the geniuses behind some of them, behind some
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of our favorite comic strips.
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So our patrons had the choice between Charles Shultz and Peanuts, Zitz, and Calvin and Hobbes.
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For Zitz?
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Zitz?
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Zitz is a personal favorite of mine.
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It was my choice to pick the Artist Spotlight poll, and that's what I went with.
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I know you're rolling your eyes, Zitz, but I went with Zitz.
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How many people voted for Zitz?
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Okay.
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Zero?
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One.
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Fuck that.
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Can you get a negative on the poll?
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I know Cesar wants to let out a louder laugh, but like I said, he's got a sleeping baby,
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and I respect that.
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My daughter is sleeping right now.
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I've tried so hard.
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Y'all are not going to sit here in disrespect.
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Let me see.
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What was- Negative eight percents.
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Negative eight percents.
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Wait until we get to that.
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I'll show you.
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All right.
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Here is the poll results for you assholes, right?
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Calvin and Hobbes won the poll with 67% of the votes, Peanuts with 22%, and Zitz with
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11% of the votes.
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All right?
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Third place, sure, but it wasn't no one digit vote.
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There was at least one or two other people.
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No far side?
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Oh, man.
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Look, this man thinks Zitz is better than far side.
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I know.
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Bloom County.
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Boondocks?
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No, we don't know Boondocks.
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I almost picked Boondocks, but- But the beautiful writing and artwork in Zitz just completely
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overshadows anything Aaron Magruder has done for the movement.
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All right.
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That's a good says poll, but no surprise there.
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All right.
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Calvin Hobbes came out on top, and this is why we get to... This is why we're together
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today.
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Yo, your mom has Zitz.
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How about that shit?
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Fuck out of here.
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My mom's got beautiful skin.
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All right?
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That's that Moroccan oil.
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She does.
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Natural.
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Now, if you're a listener that wants to take part in these terrible polls that I pick,
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or just... Or seriously, take part in picking the topics that we do discuss, I highly encourage
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you to join our Patreon community.
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We'll be looking to our patrons a lot this year to pick the topics for some upcoming
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episodes we got planned, including one for Ant-Man.
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We want to do an episode about King the Conqueror.
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I'm going to have some choices for comics for our patrons to pick.
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I know the thought of paying for another subscription is daunting, all right?
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No, it's not.
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No, it's not.
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It's not?
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Moneybag is over there?
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Mondo posters?
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No.
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Not at all.
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No.
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No.
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Well, for some of us- Yeah, this is a flex, by the way.
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Oh, major flex.
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See, he took note of all you haters out there complaining about his backdrop, and he brought
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the Mondo posters out.
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But for some of us, at least, that aren't moneybags like Cordero over there, another
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subscription is... It's a pain in the ass, but I'm going to tell you straight up, we
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are not only cheaper than Netflix, but we are way more entertaining, all right?
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You're actually going to get your money's worth investing in us.
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And we're only asking for a couple of dollars.
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You couldn't even get it out.
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You couldn't even get it out.
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I started thinking how much we owe our patrons.
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The patrons.
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This guy owes, not me.
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But honestly, we are worth investing a couple of dollars into, especially if you want to
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support what we do in a bigger way in exchange for bonus episodes, perks, and other rewards
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that we got going on.
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Check out our Patreon membership plans by going to shortboxjax.com or scroll through
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this episode show notes and click the support this show button.
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All right, Shameless Plug is out the way.
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The table is now set to talk about our main topic today, Bill Watterson and Calvin and
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Hobbs.
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Gents, I remember checking out every single Calvin and Hobbs book that my middle school
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library had to offer back in the day.
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And occasionally, if I'm being honest, sometimes I wouldn't return them.
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Sometimes I just keep them because I knew it was worth my mom paying the late fee.
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All right, that's how much I love Calvin and Hobbs.
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Oh, you mean stealing?
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I got, okay.
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Stealing purposely laws.
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I mean, it's a great area.
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What do you think, legal department, Ed?
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Was I stealing?
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There's the, what is it?
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Enough time has elapsed.
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There we go.
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It's okay.
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Thank you so much.
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Statute of limitations.
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Statute of limitations.
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Yep, that's over.
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See, take me back to the first time that you were exposed to Calvin and Hobbs, man.
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Do you remember your first conscious exposure?
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I do actually.
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I had to write this down because it's kind of weird, but it's one of the earliest memories
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I can actually remember.
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The ones I have, I was five years old and I lived in California at the time with my
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dad.
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My dad was stationed in San Diego.
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He's in the Navy.
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I was walking around with my mom and dad at a mall in the 80s and there was the first
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collection just simply called Calvin and Hobbs at a B. Dalton bookstore.
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Here's what I remember is because I couldn't read at the time, but I very, very, very vividly
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remember seeing Calvin and Hobbs on the cover.
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I was like, the artwork is so fantastic.
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It's cartoony, but the watercolors just pop.
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It's something that was burned into my brain so much so that the next time I would see
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a Calvin and Hobbs book would be five years later when we moved to Maryland.
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That was at the book fair at my elementary school there.
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What about you, Ed?
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You got a favorite memory of the comics?
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I think my first encounter, I want to say my brief time in the Boy Scouts.
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Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
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Shout out to all the weeblos out there.
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We've been recording for almost, what, eight, nine years?
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And I think it's the first time I ever heard that you were in the Boy Scouts.
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It's not a memorable time.
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Was it like for 48 hours or something?
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Zero badges.
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Didn't even try.
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You just got a participation badge?
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Thanks for joining, I guess.
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It was a very short time, but we went camping and there was this other kid who, you know,
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usually when you're young, the kids who draw are some kind of, you know, artistic, they
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like doing things artistically, kind of gravitate towards each other.
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So this one kid was like, hey man, you ever see Calvin and Hobbs?
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And newspaper strips were still around, but they were on their last legs.
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They were kind of on their way out or what represents them were on their way out or what
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I would like in a comic strip.
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So he showed me one of the books and then like you said, see that beautiful ink and
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a watercolor cover of like them on the sled, you know, just kind of bursting out of the
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woods, you know, I forgot which one it was, but you know, he would show me, cause those
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books they had those kind of nice watercolor intros, like those kind of the ones that weren't
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in the paper.
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So I remember, I think that's my first exposure to it.
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And then my folks were getting just the Sunday paper at the time.
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So I would always ask for the, mom would get the coupons and then I would get the Sunday
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paper and they were like the top, I think at the, I was reading it towards the end of
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the run.
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So where he got like the half page, you know, or a quarter page and he was doing some really
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cool stuff with panels.
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So I got to see kind of right before he tapped out.
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So I got to see kind of like his, you know, what he was fighting for the whole time he
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was doing this stuff.
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So I got to catch kind of the tail end of his career as a little kid, but I think that's
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my introduction to the characters.
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Cool.
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All right.
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And this next part goes to our, uh, well, what about you dude?
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Oh, I don't, well, I mean, he stole it.
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Remember he stole it from the library and it's not completely untrue, but I want to
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say, I mean, it was either middle school or high school.
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I, right before I got into like, as I was getting into, you know, superhero comics and
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the Marvel books, my dad had, um, I would, you know, I'd go to the library or any of
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the school elastic book fairs and I was looking for anything comic related.
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So it just happened that, you know, I mean, you know how it is at school, the closest
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thing to comics you're going to get were either like the, um, like the, the, the Marvel, Garfield
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books, comic strips.
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And then it was Marvel related.
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It might be like a handbook or something like that, or a character guide.
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Sure.
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That's what I was talking about.
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So I would just scoop up those and then, um, anything comic strip related.
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And I just remember having this period of trying to read and consume as much Calvin
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Hobbes as I could.
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And I know like other kids were into it.
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We would trade books and trades and I'd steal those too.
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And you know, be on the run from, you know, bullies and stuff.
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So I had a problem as a kid.
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I still do.
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Uh, but yeah, Calvin Hobbes was like really big for me as I was getting into comics and
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like diving to that world.
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Um, then you saw Zits and that just totally took over your,
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Yeah, he's never going to let that down.
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Man, Zits was my jam.
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Fuck it man.
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I am proud to say Zits is my jam and you guys will soon learn that Bill Watterson, and Bill
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Watterson also was a fan.
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So fuck you guys.
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I don't think I read that anywhere.
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A memory that I cherish from my younger days.
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My grandpa on my dad's side, who, uh, he lived in Jersey for his whole life, but during the
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last couple of years, maybe three, four years of his life, uh, he moved down to stay with
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us.
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This is after his wife, my dad's mom passed away.
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Um, so he was really like the only one of two only, um, grandparents I really got to
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know.
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I only got to knew my grandma on my dad's side for my dad's mom, uh, for only like a
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couple of years and then she passed away.
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So I really got to spend time with my grandpa.
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He lived with us and because of him, my dad bought a Florida times union subscription cause
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my grandpa just loves to read the paper and he'd get it daily and Sunday and that was
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something that we bonded over.
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I'd come in the garage, uh, he'd be sneaking a pack of cigarettes and knowing damn well
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he wasn't allowed to smoke, but you know how it is.
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Um, and he would give me the Sunday paper to keep quiet.
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Like, you know, don't let your dad see this.
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Um, so yeah, I used to just consume comic strips, man.
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And uh, Kevin Hobbs, I mean, wasn't syndicated then obviously.
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I mean, it ended in a 95.
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Um, so I was catching up on trades and anything the library or school, ASIC book fairs had,
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but it had a big impact and that's a big reason why I wanted to do an episode, uh, highlighting
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comic strips and you know, the work that, uh, these creators put into, cause, uh, it
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was something that, uh, me and C were talking about is you, you know, we've highlighted
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plenty of times on this show, the, the trials and tribulations and the amount of work that
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goes into creating a, a monthly, you know, comic book, you know, but when you think about,
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uh, you know, comic strips and that whole business model and the syndication behind
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those, you know, that is, that is a extraordinary, you know, feat of, of labor that goes into
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creating these comic strips on a daily basis.
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You know, you think about the writing.
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That's your full-time job.
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Like you are like Bill Watterson talks about having to scour and excavate any minute of
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his life for a possible idea for a story and how it was just so taxing.
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But the payoff for him was that he was able to say he was a legitimate artist.
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Like he's like, I'm, I'm taking this serious and I'm not just a joke machine for, you know,
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insert publication.
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And it wasn't like a lot of strips, especially, I guess now it's almost like cut and paste
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and it's just serves the punchline, you know, the images are secondary.
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This is off to a good start.
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And before we go in any deeper, I want to take a quick step back and I want to offer
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a hyper condensed crash course into the very rich career of Bill Watterson.
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We won't get into the nitty gritty.
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There's Wikipedia for that.
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And there's a really good documentary from 2013 that's on YouTube.
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It's called Dear Mr. Watterson, and that that's a good starting point as well.
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What I'm going to share is really just a level the playing field for anyone listening that
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isn't really familiar with Bill Watterson's overarching life and in the high points.
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All right, here we go.
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Bill Watterson was born in Washington, D.C. in 1958.
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He moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio at six years old.
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Watterson was described by his parents as kind of a recluse child.
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He was kind of a loner, but he could draw and he found an escape in the arts.
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So no surprise there.
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But he was also a fan of comic strips of the time like the Peanuts.
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I think Pogo was one in the Crazy Cat.
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Walt Kelly's Pogo.
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Yeah, throughout high school and well into college where Watterson would major in political
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science, he was feeding that creative fire by drawing comics and superheroes with his
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friends and contributing cartoons and strips to his school newspapers.
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He was pretty confident and dead set early on on being a professional cartoonist.
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After college and very early on in his career, Bill Watterson would befriend one of his biggest
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inspirations, Jim Borgman, who was a political cartoonist for the Cincinnati Inquirer, but
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also the creator of one of my favorite comic strips, Proudly, the Zits.
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Bill Watterson, big fan, wanted to be just like Jim Borgman, so much so that he kind
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of mimicked Jim Borgman's career pretty faithfully early on.
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Watterson would land his first professional gig as a cartoonist for the Cincinnati Post,
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which was a competing paper to Jim Borgman's Cincinnati Inquirer.
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But Bill Watterson would not enjoy the same longevity as Borgman because he was fired
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pretty early on in his contracts.
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Watterson would bounce back and he found work at an advertising agency as a designer, a
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career path that we've seen echoed among other comic greats.
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You know, Adam comes to mind kind of pursuing just jump in, he was doing ads for like a
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grocery chain, like a grocery store.
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So he's designing coupons and stuff.
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Yeah.
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And I understand he wasn't, you know, obviously wasn't a really big fan of that work.
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And that actually kind of motivated him to start working on coming up with comic strip
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ideas and getting those out and trying to see what will work.
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Of course, it was here that he developed the comic strip that we're talking about today.
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Calvin Hobbes was picked up for syndication by Universal Press Syndication and it debuted
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in 35 newspapers on November 18th.
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Calvin Hobbes and its heyday ran in over 250 newspapers.
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It was translated across the world for a global audience for a very consistent and very successful
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10 years from 1985 to 1995.
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But despite immense acclaim in winning a shit ton of awards, for lack of better terms, this
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guy has so many Eisner and Harvey awards to his names and collected additions.
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It wasn't enough to stop him from retiring the strip on November 9th, 1995.
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He wrote a letter to the editors and fans initially stating that quote, I believe I've
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done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels.
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And later interviews he cited that heated contract renegotiations and pressure from
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Universal to license and merchandise.
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Calvin Hobbes played a big role in his decision.
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He said he was leaving millions of dollars on the table, but it wasn't never enough to
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make him waiver from his anti merchandising stance, believing that doing so would cheapen
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his characters.
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Watterson has since lived a peaceful and private life in Ohio with his wife, pursuing other
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artistic ventures that come along the way and staying pretty far away from the press
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and spotlight.
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I think he's only really great.
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What's in the water in Ohio, dude?
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Right?
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I mean, Dave Chappelle lives in Ohio.
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He did the exact same thing.
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But millions of dollars on the table for artistic integrity, man.
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Well said.
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Yep.
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Watterson, for the most part, has stayed away from the press, from the spotlight.
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Like we said, he's really only kind of graced his loyal fans with the occasional poster,
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maybe a print here, a comic strip cameo here and there.
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I believe one of the most notable things he did was he was he took over for pearls and
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swine one day out of the year and actually drew that whole entire strip.
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You can find that online pretty easily.
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But for the most part, it's been kind of dry for Bill Watterson and Calvin Hobb fans since
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then.
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Ed, you're someone that loves comic history and studying the careers of comic greats like
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I am.
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Were you familiar with Bill Watterson's career?
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Did you learn anything new or interesting in your research?
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It's been a while since I've looked at a Calvin at home comic strip, honestly.
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And it's one of those things where you revisit it and it's like, it's just as good as you
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remember it, if not better, because you appreciate it more.
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But he's always been a mysterious figure even back then.
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And like I said, this is, I was familiar, but I did learn some new things.
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I learned that, like I said, you went over some of them.
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But like I said, I know that there was a chance for him to get signed by United, but they
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wanted him to use a character called a robot man.
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So basically it goes like, hey, this is a cute comic kid.
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Let's instead of that tiger, robot man.
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00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,520
There's this guy over in England, Peter Shelley.
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He's like a music label executive, pop singer, songwriter type of guy.
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I'm telling you kid, we're doing the full Garfield treatment here.
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We're doing buttons.
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We're doing underwear.
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We're doing calendars.
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We're doing toys.
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And this was early.
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This was before he got signed to Universal.
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So that was, that could have been an instant in right there.
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Money's on the table and he turned it down.
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That's always been the constant thing is how much his perspective and his integrity, you
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know, over these years, it's like he could have made, I mean, I've read like they could
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have made at least half a billion dollars they left on the table.
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And the fact that he didn't do it and the fact that he could have done it.
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And I don't think he would have lost any respect as an artist.
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Look, Jim Davis is still around and nobody shits on him.
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So he's the exact opposite.
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Those are the two, cause Jim Davis basically, he pretty much stopped drawing Garfield in
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the eighties.
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Like you look at early Garfield and you look at mid eighties Garfield, that's not the same
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guy drawing it, but he has that stamp with his name on the corner.
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That's for damn sure.
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He's got about a dozen people running his empire.
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And I remember reading a thing.
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It's like, I got into this for the, for the art to draw comics, not to run like a factory
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of bullshit, you know?
469
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,720
So that's a crazy thing I didn't know that was, I mean, he had that easy in and some
470
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,280
people would take that as an in and then, okay, now I can do my thing.
471
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:11,280
I do this.
472
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,040
It's like you do the safe picture.
473
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,520
Then you do the indie artist picture, you know, you do the blockbuster, then you do
474
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,840
the artsy stuff, you know, just to kind of them.
475
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:19,840
One for me.
476
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:20,840
Yeah.
477
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:21,840
Two for them, one for me.
478
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,960
But he was steadfast and it wasn't, I don't know if it was a hundred percent against,
479
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:31,640
I mean, there's a big part of it, but I think the main thing is he wanted that, the control
480
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:37,040
of what to do, you know, like I said, I know he was approached to do like animation.
481
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:41,600
That's something I learned too, but it was one of those deal where it's like a developmental
482
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,260
deal, but it's like, here's a grand, we get first right refusal.
483
00:24:44,260 --> 00:24:47,600
So that's not going to pay the bills for too long.
484
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,700
Another thing I learned too is like he did get his rights when he resigned in 91.
485
00:24:51,700 --> 00:24:53,660
So he was able to get the rights to his characters back.
486
00:24:53,660 --> 00:25:01,000
So that's why we still haven't seen any dolls or official merchandise for Calvin and Hobbes.
487
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,840
And he kind of went to New Mexico to even be more secluded.
488
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:11,080
I'm sure part of that is like his love for George Harriman's Crazy Cat and his kind of
489
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,080
desert.
490
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,640
If you look at those Crazy Cat cartoons, you see those ink lines and stuff, you can see,
491
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,440
that's, I see where a lot of this is coming from.
492
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,820
So he's got references to it in his own work.
493
00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:26,480
So I can picture him like if you seen Kill Bill, like his Bill's brothers in the desert
494
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,680
in a trailer, he's just with a drawing board in the middle of nowhere in the desert, just
495
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:31,680
drawing.
496
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,200
Is that where he ended up retiring?
497
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:35,840
I think he went back to Ohio.
498
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:36,840
Okay, got it.
499
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:37,840
Yeah, he did.
500
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:38,840
I don't think he can stay to New Mexico.
501
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:40,800
How long can you live there, honestly?
502
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,800
For real.
503
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:50,080
I think we should also say if you are someone that has seen or owns the infamous sticker
504
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:55,880
that you'll see in the back of a lot of trucks of Calvin pissing on whatever it may be, right?
505
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,520
You can Photoshop whatever underneath the piss.
506
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,000
That is a bootleg, ladies and gentlemen, right?
507
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,320
That is not official Calvin and Hobbes merch.
508
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:08,280
Yeah, and he kind of laughs about it now, but he said it was too much to try to, you
509
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,280
know, he can't sue everybody.
510
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:11,560
Yeah, he can't hunt everyone down.
511
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,360
So he just kind of let it go.
512
00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:20,160
And then along with those Pearl before Swine, where he did the guest panels, there was also
513
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,000
Berkeley Brethit who was a friend of his.
514
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:30,200
There was like, and I haven't read his stuff in a while, but in 2016 to 2021, Hobbes as
515
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,560
the doll would just pop up in random strips.
516
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,820
Not Berkeley's art, but like how Watterson would draw them.
517
00:26:37,820 --> 00:26:42,760
So it could be either he, what I think happened, and I could see him doing this, is he sent
518
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,160
him a blank Bristol board.
519
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,760
He drew, he had it all paneled out and he would draw Hobbes and whatever panel and then
520
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:51,200
he would just write around it.
521
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:52,200
So that's kind of cool.
522
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,480
He had that little Easter egg in his comic strip for that long.
523
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:56,480
Good stuff.
524
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:57,480
Thank you, Ed.
525
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,240
I'm going to add one little tidbit to everything you shared, which I think you and UNC might
526
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,560
really fuck with this.
527
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:10,080
Bill had a brother named Tom Watterson who in the early nineties had a pop rock band
528
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,040
called the Rells.
529
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:17,040
And Bill actually did the artwork for all of the band's releases using a pseudo name,
530
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,360
Fang Vampire.
531
00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:21,760
And if you could find a couple of those cover art.
532
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,380
Who knew Bill Watterson was a goth dude?
533
00:27:23,380 --> 00:27:25,080
If you read Calvin and Hobbes, yeah.
534
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,080
Yeah, there's some depressing stuff.
535
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:32,960
You can find some of those album covers and projects that he did on Google pretty easily,
536
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,960
but it looks nothing like his art in Calvin Hobbes.
537
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:42,200
If anything, it looks like either the prototype or his best take on Bill Sienkiewicz's style,
538
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,640
which I think they were doing around this time.
539
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,520
Bill Sienkiewicz was doing New Mutants.
540
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:48,520
It is super trippy.
541
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:53,880
Yeah, I could see like Sienkiewicz and like Ralph Steadman kind of stuff in there, too.
542
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:59,000
See there's only a few episodes where you would threaten my livelihood if I record without
543
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,000
you.
544
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:01,840
And this one, I think, was one of those for sure.
545
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,000
It was cool to talk to you leading up to this week, getting excited for the episode.
546
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:11,180
And I'll be honest, I didn't know that you had that many copies of Calvin and Hobbes
547
00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:15,500
and basically had what it sounds like the entire kind of collected trades and whatnot.
548
00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:19,040
What strips or like material did you specifically read for this episode?
549
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:20,720
And what was like a standout?
550
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,720
For the record, I did not threaten your livelihood.
551
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:23,720
I would never do that.
552
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,640
I would never take another man's money.
553
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:26,640
I threatened your manhood.
554
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:31,160
Oh, I said I would chop off your weave if you did not.
555
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,040
Yes, cut off your Johnson-Labowski.
556
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,160
It's hard for me because I'm constantly reading and rereading his stuff.
557
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:44,560
And as far as my, I'll go on the record as far as this episode is concerned, Calvin and
558
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:51,280
Hobbes is my favorite comic just because it inspired and influenced me so much.
559
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:56,440
So when you ask me a question like, hey, what strips?
560
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:58,960
It's like, man, how do I pick?
561
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,800
Tenth Anniversary is a good place to start if you're a fan and you want to know what
562
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,280
the inside of Bill Watterson's head looks like.
563
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:15,160
And as a result, there's a strip in there where Calvin and Hobbes find a baby raccoon
564
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,600
that's been injured.
565
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:25,380
And Calvin goes to get his mom to see if she can do anything, nurse it back to health and
566
00:29:25,380 --> 00:29:27,080
do something.
567
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,200
And it's one of the most heaviest strips.
568
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,800
And the other strip I think that resonated with me was when Calvin broke his father's
569
00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,580
very expensive pair of binoculars.
570
00:29:38,580 --> 00:29:46,000
And he is eating himself alive with guilt for like, I guess, because it's a week, it's
571
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,520
a weekly strip.
572
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:48,720
Every day he's putting something out.
573
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:54,920
So for probably about a good four days worth of comic book adventures, you get Calvin just,
574
00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:00,300
if you've ever been in a situation where you had borrowed something from a parental guardian
575
00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:04,920
and you broke it and you felt horrible, right?
576
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,720
And you didn't know how they were going to act about it.
577
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,160
Oh, the pain, he captures it so well.
578
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:17,680
And it's funny because now that I'm a dad, I'm looking at my daughter and she gives me
579
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,240
these like, she's nine months old, so she's looking up at me and give me these kind of
580
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,680
like, hee hee, mischievous grins and stuff.
581
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:29,680
And the way she looks is just kind of like, oh man, I'm going to enjoy these comics on
582
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:34,560
another level because Calvin's parents are good, they're good people.
583
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,200
Tenth Anniversary is a good book.
584
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,320
It's just all around.
585
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,640
And those are, both those strips are in there.
586
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,120
You just kind of have to dig through.
587
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:43,120
Yeah.
588
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:46,480
I kind of want to just follow up on that raccoon one because I was going to mention that as
589
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:47,640
well.
590
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:54,000
That one is so like heavy, like you said, but there's like the follow up strip was like
591
00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:00,280
after the main strip where he's like, it's like, man, this is so unfair that, you know,
592
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:06,920
I just met this guy and he died, but in a weird way, I'm happy this happened.
593
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,920
So he's learning empathy as a kid.
594
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:10,920
He's not nihilistic.
595
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:11,920
Yeah.
596
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:12,920
He's not a sociopath.
597
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:13,920
Calvin is a kid.
598
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,880
I never thought of him as a bad kid per se.
599
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:17,880
He's six years old.
600
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:18,880
He's six years old.
601
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,120
He's, and I relate to this, he's just a lonely kid.
602
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:27,740
You look at his world, his parents are, and they're doing, and I don't think the parents
603
00:31:27,740 --> 00:31:29,560
are negative figures.
604
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:30,560
The parents are always-
605
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,380
They both have jobs.
606
00:31:32,380 --> 00:31:34,800
Like the teacher's always brow beating him.
607
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:35,960
He's bullied at school.
608
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:41,440
Susie can only stand him for a few minutes, you know, and his buddy is Hobbs.
609
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,440
You know, this is a lonely fucking kid, but he's also a six year old.
610
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:51,720
So he has this enlightened thought of, I'm glad this happened, even though it's so sad.
611
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:58,400
And then the six year old in the final painting was like, what a stupid world.
612
00:31:58,400 --> 00:31:59,400
He says-
613
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,360
Or what a dumb world or something.
614
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:02,360
No, it's stupid.
615
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:10,920
He says, I wish he wasn't dead, even though he is, and I'm sad and it hurts that he's
616
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,120
gone.
617
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:19,600
I'm happy to have met him, and I didn't even know he existed until a couple days ago.
618
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,640
And like I said, then like the last panel is him walking away with Hobbs saying, what
619
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,140
a stupid world.
620
00:32:24,140 --> 00:32:27,220
And there's the six year old.
621
00:32:27,220 --> 00:32:34,600
There's a whole page, a whole extra days or four more panels where Hobbs and Calvin are
622
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,680
in bed and they're talking about the nature of death.
623
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:45,520
And they're like, man, that's crazy, how this all happened and what does it all mean?
624
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,360
And then like the last panel is them under their bed because they scared themselves into
625
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,320
sort of a weird existential dread.
626
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:56,160
And they're like, why are we talking about this at night?
627
00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:02,280
At the Sega sounding a little meta right now, hearing us how recognizable these stories
628
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:07,440
are and us kind of throwing off, hey, that strip about the raccoon, hey, the strip about
629
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:13,920
that, it almost sounds like we're talking about our favorite song or something like
630
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:14,920
that, right?
631
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:15,960
Like our favorite movie.
632
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,400
And I think that's a commonality when I talk to other people about Calvin Hobbs is everyone
633
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:26,360
knows the classics and then everyone's got their favorite B side or strip that maybe
634
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:27,560
most others don't like.
635
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:33,540
And I think that's just a testament to one, I think the longevity of Bill Watterson's
636
00:33:33,540 --> 00:33:37,760
career, even though like compared to maybe some other folks, you're like, man, there's
637
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,480
10 years is short and maybe the bigger picture of things.
638
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:46,320
But when you drill down to how many, 10 years, 365 days in a year, he was writing a strip
639
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:47,320
almost every day.
640
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:48,320
And he had no assistants.
641
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,560
A lot of those guys have a team working on it.
642
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:51,560
One man shop.
643
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,680
Yeah, just like Charlie Brown.
644
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:56,160
Oh, Charles Schultz.
645
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:57,160
Charles Schultz, sorry.
646
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:58,240
Wow, that's weird.
647
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:03,560
But yeah, he's basically Charles Schultz, even though he kind of had this big kind of
648
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,040
commercial empire, he was drawing those strips till the end.
649
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:11,880
You could see with the line and kind of how it was a shakier line towards the end of the
650
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:12,880
peanuts run.
651
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,840
I mean, he was going to the very end and he even at that point in his life, he worked
652
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:17,840
by himself.
653
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:18,840
Yeah.
654
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:24,200
I wanted to chime in and say that for this one, I went ahead and dusted off attack of
655
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:29,480
the deranged mutant killer monster snow goons trade paperback or collected edition.
656
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:34,360
One because the name is so wild and funny.
657
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,260
Snow goon is a great fucking phrase.
658
00:34:37,260 --> 00:34:38,620
That's what I call all my snowmen.
659
00:34:38,620 --> 00:34:41,200
I don't make snowmen, I make snow goons.
660
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,680
The one where it's like look like a car hit him.
661
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:45,680
Like a group of snow.
662
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,900
Oh my god, it's so funny.
663
00:34:48,900 --> 00:34:52,520
It's not the title story that was my favorite in this collection.
664
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:58,000
But it was a one in particular where Calvin and his neighbor, Susie are playing doctor
665
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,000
and patient.
666
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:00,000
Oh, that's a great one.
667
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,640
The art style is flipped.
668
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,040
It's like Mary Worth or something like a adventure comic or serial.
669
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,040
Yeah, it's like a romance comic.
670
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:08,040
Yeah.
671
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:09,040
Yeah.
672
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:10,040
Yeah.
673
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,800
So if a baby, I don't want a baby.
674
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,480
So if you don't read it to the very end, you're like, where the hell is this coming from?
675
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:16,840
The art style has changed.
676
00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:17,840
Like who are these adults?
677
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,060
Who's this doctor?
678
00:35:19,060 --> 00:35:22,500
When you read the dialogue, it is so funny.
679
00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:27,380
Two adults in a doctor's office setting, you know, doing a routine visit.
680
00:35:27,380 --> 00:35:31,440
But the dialogue and words coming out of their mouth is like, oh, this is obviously just
681
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:32,680
two children fucking funny at each other.
682
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:36,160
Even the first like throwaway jokes, like I brought something home today.
683
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,100
He's like, I hope it's a divorce or something.
684
00:35:39,100 --> 00:35:40,100
That's when they're playing house.
685
00:35:40,100 --> 00:35:41,100
Yeah.
686
00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:42,320
He's like, Mr. Bun can be our baby.
687
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,960
He's like this.
688
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:51,320
So broader to I think what you're what you're tapping on here is that typically in Calvin
689
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:58,520
and Hobbes, you have a child and a stuffed tiger speaking like adults.
690
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,360
Here the comedy comes from adults.
691
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:01,360
Yeah.
692
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,400
Treating each other like immature children.
693
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,180
And it's chef's kiss good.
694
00:36:07,180 --> 00:36:12,320
It's a prime example of how Bill Watterson's comedy works on so many levels.
695
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,880
Like there's the joke at the surface, there's a middle layer and then there's a deeper one
696
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:17,880
if you want to go that deep.
697
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,700
And I think this is a prime example of that.
698
00:36:19,700 --> 00:36:27,360
But also the range of Bill Watterson's style and abilities as an artist, like that, you
699
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:33,080
know, he can go ahead and completely give you a different style in the same in the same
700
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:34,080
collection.
701
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,360
And it and he does this quite a few times, whether it be like going monochromatic, doing
702
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:43,200
the Spaceman spliff, spiff the Spaceman stuff and some of the other adventures that he puts
703
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:44,200
Calvin in.
704
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,880
Like he shows you like I can I can kind of do it all right.
705
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:51,000
It's not he doesn't strike me as someone that that brags, you know, verbally.
706
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:56,720
He doesn't sound very verbose, but he really lets the his his work kind of speak for it.
707
00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:01,560
And it's cool because it's the fantasy part of the strip is the more realistically rendered.
708
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:02,560
Yeah.
709
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,560
So it switches that element of what's fantasy because he's always said this comics more
710
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:12,860
than an imaginary friend, you know, rabbit that I'm sorry, a tiger that comes to life
711
00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:16,260
when, you know, no one else is around.
712
00:37:16,260 --> 00:37:20,640
So in going on that, I really loved his dinosaur stuff.
713
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:21,640
Oh, yeah.
714
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,600
And I remember in that 10th anniversary book, there was like one.
715
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:29,440
He said that when Jurassic Park came out, he didn't draw dinosaurs for like a year.
716
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:34,280
He's like, how can I compete with the millions of dollars on screen?
717
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:39,480
But there was one I thought and it's and you can tell he can kind of think like kind of
718
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,520
go back to being a kid.
719
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:42,520
There's a couple.
720
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:43,520
It relates one.
721
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:49,300
It was the Tyrannosaurus Rex is in the F-14 or F-16s.
722
00:37:49,300 --> 00:37:53,640
And then there's the one where he's flying and then blows up his skull with a jet.
723
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,840
And he got so much heat for that.
724
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,640
And he's like, who is like, I hated school.
725
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,800
What kid didn't dream about, you know, blowing up their school?
726
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:02,800
You know, right.
727
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:07,360
And this was before all the, you know, school shootings and stuff happened.
728
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:08,600
This was way before that.
729
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:10,600
But it's just a kid fantasy.
730
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:16,080
At this age of finding Calvin Hobbs, I think Bart Simpson was also another character that
731
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:20,340
I looked at as a kid like, oh, I wanted to be Bart Simpson, but I was not going to get
732
00:38:20,340 --> 00:38:22,360
an ass whooping for all the shit he'd done.
733
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:23,360
Right.
734
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:24,360
I was not going to risk that.
735
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:31,080
Calvin Hobbs or Calvin to me was, I think, who I maybe related to closer at that age,
736
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,840
where vivid imagination, didn't have a bunch of friends.
737
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:36,640
I think, you know, my brothers were my friends.
738
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:37,640
Right.
739
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,320
But school friends wise, I didn't have a lot, but I was always drawing.
740
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:44,720
So like Calvin really resonated with me as a kid.
741
00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:51,380
And you would think that, you know, Bill Watterson writes Calvin so well, gives him such a unique
742
00:38:51,380 --> 00:38:52,800
and believable child.
743
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,560
Like, you know, this is an adult writing, you know, a child, like a really believable
744
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:57,560
child.
745
00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,820
You would think like, oh, he's just pulling from his own life.
746
00:38:59,820 --> 00:39:01,680
You know, this must have been how he was as a kid.
747
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,600
And he just this is where that well of inspiration is coming from.
748
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:08,200
But then, like I said in the beginning, you know, his parents are telling you, no, he
749
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:09,200
was actually a recluse.
750
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:11,380
He wasn't, you know, very social at all.
751
00:39:11,380 --> 00:39:16,040
So even for Bill Watterson, it's it must have been I wonder if it was therapeutic to write,
752
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,000
you know, like what he wanted to be as a kid, you know, what would you wish you would have
753
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:20,040
been able to do?
754
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:22,580
If you have the 10th anniversary, he talks about it.
755
00:39:22,580 --> 00:39:29,160
He says that he he says he loves the character of Calvin because he's so not like him.
756
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:33,600
He says, I love writing for Calvin because I'm nothing like him.
757
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:38,840
And it's easy for me to put myself in the state of, OK, what wouldn't I have done as
758
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:47,120
a child and and just really go in places where my mind is like, this is fun because it's
759
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:48,180
not me.
760
00:39:48,180 --> 00:39:50,920
He says he very often disagrees with Calvin.
761
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:51,920
Yeah.
762
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:56,200
And that's kind of what Hobbes that's kind of where he kind of argues against the imaginary
763
00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:01,020
friend thing, because they are always at odds.
764
00:40:01,020 --> 00:40:05,120
You know, there's there's there's they have a lot in common, but there's a lot of philosophical
765
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:06,600
differences between the two.
766
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,120
The named after the philosophers.
767
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:09,120
Yeah.
768
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:10,600
Tom Hobbes and John Calvin.
769
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,440
But even like when you said it's like when he would do the strips with the kid drawings
770
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:19,800
and the kid style lettering, it's like that guy is a fantastic letter letter.
771
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:20,800
Oh, yeah.
772
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:25,040
Like, you know, he would do like when Calvin's drawing something to show his dad or whatever.
773
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:28,720
And it goes back to like it looks like a legit children's drawing.
774
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:35,560
It's like he's so he's such a good he's such so technically precise in his work.
775
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:40,120
I think I would be able to pick out that typeface for Calvin and Hobbes and the font he uses
776
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:41,120
from anywhere.
777
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,040
You could just have it lined up in a bunch of other types and I could probably pull that
778
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,120
out.
779
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:49,240
I wanted to make one more mention as far as one of my favorite comic strips.
780
00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:53,860
And this was one that honestly I was introduced to just this morning by Sazer.
781
00:40:53,860 --> 00:40:56,680
We hopped on a call, you know, just sharing our excitement for the episode again.
782
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:58,000
I know you're going with this.
783
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,400
And I was asking him what his favorite was.
784
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:05,680
I was telling him about the the doctor one and see shared with me when I hadn't seen
785
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:06,680
it was one.
786
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,320
I don't think I had an official name, but it starts off, you know, first there was nothing.
787
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:11,320
Then there was Calvin.
788
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:16,240
And it's basically Calvin imagining himself as God, creating a universe.
789
00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:17,240
That's a good one.
790
00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:19,440
See what I'm saying is like, I don't even have to.
791
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:20,920
There doesn't there is no name.
792
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:21,920
He's got the beard.
793
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:24,320
These are the best hits, right?
794
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:25,920
Like Calvin Hobbs has got.
795
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:29,520
So anyways, that strip is so good.
796
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,400
Like, and once again, art style completely throws you off in the beginning.
797
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:34,400
You're like, oh shit.
798
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:35,400
Okay.
799
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,360
This is one of those stories where the imagination, you know, this is that perspective in the
800
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,840
last two panels or not only the last two, I think the last panel brings it home and
801
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:47,040
you realize, oh, it's Calvin playing with these new toys of his and he's, you know,
802
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,020
he's playing God or whatnot.
803
00:41:49,020 --> 00:41:54,240
So there's a, there's an example of what you're talking about, like what syndicated newspaper
804
00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:59,360
comic strip artist was basically saying, okay, here are the influences I'm going to pull
805
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,760
in for this particular episode.
806
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:08,320
I'm going to use Michelangelo's, you know, version of God visually.
807
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:18,680
I'm going to comedically kind of spoof the idea of maybe some of these religions that
808
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:23,720
portray God in a bloodthirsty way might be saying something about the childish nature
809
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:31,240
of that kind of a God while also then kind of bringing it home and saying, by the way,
810
00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:32,800
the stakes are freaking low guys.
811
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:36,600
I wasn't really saying any of that because it turns out it's just a shitty little kid
812
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:43,000
playing with tanker toys and his parents are none the wiser, right?
813
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:48,600
So it's like, there's so much going on and there's so much set up, set up, set up punchline.
814
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:52,120
Is that the one where like, there's like, he's been quiet for a while.
815
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,080
We better go check on him.
816
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,760
It's literally only one panel and the parents are proud.
817
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,620
Like it's like, you know, Calvin's really been, you know, really taken with these tinker
818
00:43:01,620 --> 00:43:02,620
toys.
819
00:43:02,620 --> 00:43:03,620
Like he hasn't said much.
820
00:43:03,620 --> 00:43:09,760
Like it's kind of like, yes, cause he's freaking, he's acting like a crazy God, this evil deity.
821
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,520
It is imagination squared captured on paper.
822
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:18,480
Like once again, going back to like how multi-layered it is, these characters are products of Watterson's
823
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:19,980
imaginations.
824
00:43:19,980 --> 00:43:24,260
So you've already got that, but then he's portraying the imaginations of said imagined
825
00:43:24,260 --> 00:43:26,040
characters that he came up with, right?
826
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,120
Like it's, it's, it is so multi-layered.
827
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:30,800
And like I said, you could take it at face value.
828
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:32,800
It's a really well drawn strip, very funny.
829
00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:35,800
You go down deeper down the rabbit hole to where Caesar took it.
830
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,560
And then there's that middle layer.
831
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:38,920
It's just impressive all around.
832
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:45,880
And to think that he was able to do this every, you know, 24, what, 365, seven days a week,
833
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:46,880
whatever it may be.
834
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:50,560
Um, yeah, he had to dig in some very deep places.
835
00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:52,120
Can I also make a recommendation?
836
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:53,120
Yeah, hit it.
837
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:58,720
The Washington Post, and I actually cut it out and I saved it when I was, gosh, 1995.
838
00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:03,240
I was in eighth grade about to go into high school.
839
00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:08,920
Uh, they put out an article called So Long Kid and it was written by a journalist.
840
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:10,960
His name is, uh, Frank Ahrens.
841
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:16,320
So if you can find So Long Kid by the Frank Ahrens Washington Post, it's, it's a tear
842
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:17,320
jerker.
843
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:18,320
It's amazing.
844
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:20,240
And it's a really good tribute to Calvin and Hobbes.
845
00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:25,000
I actually still have the cutout article in, uh, the 10th anniversary book.
846
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:31,080
It's freaking yellow and old and I need to laminate it or something.
847
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:32,080
That's good stuff.
848
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:36,660
I'm going to stop myself from also jumping in on this best of Calvin hit list.
849
00:44:36,660 --> 00:44:37,660
And I want to move on.
850
00:44:37,660 --> 00:44:41,960
I want to move the conversation to talking about some of the themes that you find prevalent
851
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:42,960
in this work.
852
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:44,200
We've kind of touched on some of them.
853
00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:48,720
I want to go a little deeper into what are some of the themes that you find abundant
854
00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:51,280
in his work and to see if you don't mind taking that first.
855
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:52,280
Sure.
856
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:58,200
Um, I don't know if his work is thematic so much as it is an autobiography written in
857
00:44:58,200 --> 00:44:59,200
parable.
858
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:05,280
Um, and if there is a theme to his work, I think it's never underestimate the reader's
859
00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:07,400
appetite for quality.
860
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:09,000
Hmm.
861
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:12,280
That's what I would say the theme is to.
862
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:14,400
That pregnant pause was nice.
863
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:15,400
Drop this mic.
864
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:16,400
Hold on.
865
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,760
That's a good mic C.
866
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,720
That's damn well said.
867
00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:27,600
He tends to sprinkle in like commentary too, like on the comic medium, uh, the occasional
868
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:32,140
commentary about the industry that he's in, uh, his, you know, working and personal encounters
869
00:45:32,140 --> 00:45:35,160
with fame and, and you know, what, what he had going on.
870
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:36,960
But I don't think you would catch that.
871
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:43,260
It's not very apparent unless you knew about like his struggles, you know, with the syndication
872
00:45:43,260 --> 00:45:46,520
thing and, and, you know, pressure to merchandise.
873
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:51,880
Like I think this is where his private nature benefits the comics where it doesn't feel
874
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:53,360
unless you know what's going on.
875
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:57,560
If you know, you know, if you knew what was going on behind the scenes, then you can kind
876
00:45:57,560 --> 00:46:02,680
of catch certain Easter eggs, but I don't think he ever lets the behind the scenes drama
877
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:03,740
take center stage.
878
00:46:03,740 --> 00:46:08,320
It's always about like, you know, uh, embodying like innocence and childhood imagination.
879
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:09,320
Yeah.
880
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:14,800
There's like, so I can't really put one wide net over it cause he does tackle a lot of
881
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:15,800
different things.
882
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:20,380
Even if it's just for a strip, he'll make fun of our criticism, but I would say it's
883
00:46:20,380 --> 00:46:25,820
like there's some really subversive kind of misanthropic stuff about humanity, which is,
884
00:46:25,820 --> 00:46:33,560
you know, Hobbes is nature or Hobbes the philosopher's, um, you know, basically his, uh, his philosophy.
885
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,400
And just, just boundless imagination.
886
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:38,680
But there's that, and maybe it's just me.
887
00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:44,040
Maybe I'm just projecting because of my childhood, but there's kind of like this, uh, loneliness
888
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,960
and this kind of escapism with this imagination.
889
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:52,200
That's you know, there's, it's a lot of reflective stuff, a lot of insightful things, but it's,
890
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:58,200
I see it and I see this with Peanuts too, where it's just kind of this, you're, you're,
891
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:01,880
you're making the best of a, of a relentlessly cruel world.
892
00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:06,400
You're, you're, you're like said, Charlie, Charlie Brown never gets the redhead girl,
893
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,280
never wins the, the, the baseball game.
894
00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:11,960
Everyone calls him a blockhead, never kicks the football.
895
00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:17,920
That kid is just, but he still goes, he still, you know, goes through his only friend is,
896
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:18,920
is Snoopy.
897
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:20,960
I see a lot of like parallels there.
898
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:21,960
Yeah.
899
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,800
Good, good people won't add to the misery.
900
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:25,800
Yeah.
901
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,040
This world has doled out randomly.
902
00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:36,000
Um, and if they can make it a little bit better than that's what we need to concentrate on.
903
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:37,000
Right.
904
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:42,480
Even Calvin as, as, as imperfect and as petulant sometimes as he is.
905
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:49,120
And as you said, misanthropic as he is, he still adds to the world with his creativity,
906
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:51,720
his imagination and his empathy.
907
00:47:51,720 --> 00:47:56,360
And it's just like that last trip where it's like, well, we have this blank canvas.
908
00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:59,560
We can, let's go exploring the world.
909
00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:00,840
It's a nice reset point.
910
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:04,720
We can, we have chances in life to that we can reset things.
911
00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:09,320
We can start over, we can kind of take a new path and it's basically that snow represents
912
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:10,640
that it's like, let's go exploring.
913
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:12,000
And he just drives out.
914
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:13,960
It's a beautiful end to that strip.
915
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:14,960
Oh, sick.
916
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:15,960
Yeah.
917
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:16,960
All right guys.
918
00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:20,280
So you both know, Watterson, he hasn't been in the news much at all since his retirement,
919
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:25,480
but there was a recent headline back in November of last year about an original hand colored
920
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:33,040
Calvin and Hobb strip selling at auction for $480,000, making it one of the most valuable
921
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,000
comic strips ever sold.
922
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:36,680
You're both artists in your own right.
923
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:41,200
What do you think makes his art style unique and a standout from his contemporaries?
924
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:47,120
What set him apart, especially for comics at the time was just the skill level he would
925
00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:48,120
develop.
926
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:52,520
And I'm not saying a lot of these artists can't draw, you know, maybe Scott Adams.
927
00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:53,520
He doesn't draw.
928
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:54,520
I will.
929
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:55,520
I will.
930
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:56,920
He took the words out of my mouth.
931
00:48:56,920 --> 00:49:02,680
But you know, the, the visuals are secondary in a lot of comics during that day, but he
932
00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:05,440
wanted to put those visuals in the forefront.
933
00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:07,080
He's, he's old school.
934
00:49:07,080 --> 00:49:08,600
He's using a Windsor brush.
935
00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:10,160
He's using pen nibs.
936
00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:12,000
He's using classic equipment.
937
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:17,200
He's not, this was pre, you know, pre digital coloring, you know, or at least the early
938
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,200
stages of digital coloring.
939
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:21,820
He's working in these very strict parameters.
940
00:49:21,820 --> 00:49:26,160
Every strip looks different, even if it's just Calvin standing around, you never see
941
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:31,620
like a stock cut and paste foreheads with a punchline, you know, that's, that's what
942
00:49:31,620 --> 00:49:32,620
set him apart.
943
00:49:32,620 --> 00:49:34,320
I mean, he's like a throwback.
944
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:41,480
He was like a throwback to George Harriman, to Windsor McKay, to a lot of those classic
945
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:46,960
newspaper artists when the medium was at least given more room to be expressed, you know,
946
00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:48,320
given more room in the paper.
947
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:53,080
The technical skill that he was showing at comics that time, it just, it popped off the
948
00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:58,080
page, especially when he was getting that half page layouts and playing with the panels
949
00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:02,840
where it wasn't just the nine panel grid, you know, or however many panels it was.
950
00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:04,160
It was just like circles.
951
00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:05,160
It was no panels.
952
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:06,680
It was just one big picture.
953
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:12,000
Sometimes it's, man, it was, he was really doing some inventive stuff in a medium that
954
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,440
was, it's doesn't exist anymore essentially.
955
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:15,440
Well said.
956
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:16,440
Thank you Ed.
957
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:17,880
So you want to chime in on that?
958
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:18,880
Sure.
959
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:25,920
So Watterson is unique in that he, he desperately wants to shove in as much artistic beauty
960
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:32,500
in as many styles as you can shake a stick at in six panels on Sunday and four every
961
00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:34,320
day of the week.
962
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:37,040
That's a lot of art.
963
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:41,920
And his contemporaries, as far as I'm concerned, they're not Scott Adams.
964
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:43,160
They're not Gary Trudeau.
965
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:47,280
And that's not throwing shade on those guys.
966
00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:48,840
They're Neil Adams.
967
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:50,440
They're Al Williamson.
968
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:51,440
They're Gary Gianni.
969
00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:56,680
I named dropped Gary Gianni and Al Williamson because they both worked on Prince Valiant,
970
00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:00,920
which is another one of those art strips that like say what you want about the story, but
971
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:03,560
the artwork is fantastically beautiful.
972
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:06,560
Alex Raymond just got it created.
973
00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:09,560
It's so boring, just boring, but beautiful.
974
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:10,560
It's what I'm saying.
975
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:11,560
Yeah.
976
00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:12,560
It looks good.
977
00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:13,560
Bernie Wrightson too.
978
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:14,560
I'll throw him in there.
979
00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:16,760
You can say like even like Wally Wood, Frank Rosetta, those guys started in strips too.
980
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:17,760
Yeah.
981
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:18,760
Yeah.
982
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:23,960
Since our listeners are maybe more familiar with comic books as opposed to the graphic
983
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:31,520
art of comic strip, I would compare him to Stuart Immonen in that both he and Stuart
984
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:37,460
Immonen are similar in that they can change styles at the drop of a hat to match the story.
985
00:51:37,460 --> 00:51:38,460
The versatility.
986
00:51:38,460 --> 00:51:39,460
Yeah.
987
00:51:39,460 --> 00:51:40,460
Yeah.
988
00:51:40,460 --> 00:51:41,460
Well said.
989
00:51:41,460 --> 00:51:46,360
I'll add in that I think there is a believable and effortless movement between panels whenever
990
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:52,680
he draws, especially any strip involving Hobbs pouncing on Calvin, which is kind of a running
991
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:53,680
gag.
992
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:54,680
It's definitely kinetic.
993
00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:55,680
Yeah.
994
00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:56,680
Yeah.
995
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:57,680
Right.
996
00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:04,840
The way he shows movement in those specific comics, it just flows really well, even between
997
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:06,320
the gutters.
998
00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:10,320
There's nothing there, but the way he draws it, it's kind of like a seamless connection
999
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:12,140
from the previous panel.
1000
00:52:12,140 --> 00:52:14,680
Even though, and the way he plays with time too.
1001
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:19,360
It's not every second, but you can still see, your mind still kind of fills in the blinks
1002
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:21,520
in between that kind of gutter spaces.
1003
00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:27,440
I'll also say his settings, man, whimsical, really detailed, and it feels like he transports
1004
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:28,440
you on location.
1005
00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:32,080
Grew up in Jacksonville, Florida all my life.
1006
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:36,960
But when I read those, when I read Calvin and Hobbs, I feel like I'm being transported
1007
00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:42,280
to a small town or on a home that's got some woods in the back.
1008
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:43,760
And I've fucking never seen woods.
1009
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:47,400
I'm going to say, let me tell you right now, he nails it.
1010
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:52,720
I didn't grow up in Florida, so now that I've lived here long enough, I realize there's
1011
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:58,760
nothing but just swamp and palm trees, and the seasons don't change.
1012
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:05,320
Up north, I was able to enjoy Calvin and Hobbs because I did build Snowman.
1013
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:06,840
I did go out sledding.
1014
00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:12,800
I had a cold in the wintertime, and it sucks.
1015
00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:17,120
All the stuff that they're talking about and waiting for summer to come and you're like,
1016
00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:20,960
oh, I can't wait because you're like, this winter's awesome for the first two months.
1017
00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:24,280
And then you're like, oh my god, how many more months of this?
1018
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:26,560
And then you get the flu or whatever.
1019
00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:30,280
But anyway, yes, Potter, he nails it.
1020
00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:31,400
And I'll go ahead and say it.
1021
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:34,960
I think he draws some of the best snow.
1022
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:38,160
John Romita Jr. I think draws rain.
1023
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:43,080
He draws rain like it is pouring 40 days and 40 nights.
1024
00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:46,380
Bill Watterson and snow is a match made in heaven.
1025
00:53:46,380 --> 00:53:51,500
You feel like you could grab snow from the comic itself and make a little snowball.
1026
00:53:51,500 --> 00:53:55,160
And last but not least, I'll say Bill Watterson nails expressions.
1027
00:53:55,160 --> 00:54:00,360
The range of faces that he can give Calvin are so impressive, and it feels like there's
1028
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:04,840
no limit to what facial expression Calvin may have.
1029
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:08,720
And that is one thing that I think made it really stand out to me when I was really into
1030
00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:13,240
comic strips and reading, you know, the daily paper and the Sunday paper was comic strips
1031
00:54:13,240 --> 00:54:18,720
like Garfield and even Boondocks, even though I love Boondocks, I really enjoyed Garfield.
1032
00:54:18,720 --> 00:54:22,020
It got a little stale because it was always the same facial expression.
1033
00:54:22,020 --> 00:54:24,320
The character designs didn't really change a lot.
1034
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:26,560
Like you just knew what you were getting into.
1035
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:33,000
Both Calvin and Hobbs, like we had mentioned, he plays around with the style so much.
1036
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:36,120
And you know, the face is always like a really emotive.
1037
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:40,040
And I think that's what really sets it apart from some of his contemporaries.
1038
00:54:40,040 --> 00:54:41,160
For sure.
1039
00:54:41,160 --> 00:54:45,280
Like we've kind of mentioned, Bill Watterson is a very private person.
1040
00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:50,920
You can count on two hands how many interviews he has granted the public in the span of his
1041
00:54:50,920 --> 00:54:51,920
career.
1042
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,800
Like literally, you could count them all on like two hands very easily.
1043
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:59,960
And that list is even shorter if you're counting official artwork that he's put out to the
1044
00:54:59,960 --> 00:55:02,360
public since the end of Calvin and Hobbs.
1045
00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:06,440
Like he's very selective with his projects if he takes any projects at that.
1046
00:55:06,440 --> 00:55:09,980
Like the man is a recluse to the highest magnitude.
1047
00:55:09,980 --> 00:55:14,040
I was curious to hear from both of you, do you think Watterson's private nature and the
1048
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:20,360
lack of like merchandising and that stuff, has that had a positive or negative impact
1049
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:26,720
on the legacy of Calvin and Hobbs and potential discoverability for like future generations?
1050
00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:37,680
If you ask me when I'm 10, I will tell you, why can't I buy Hobbs' stuffed animal?
1051
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:39,340
But I'm 10 and I'm an idiot.
1052
00:55:39,340 --> 00:55:45,840
If you ask me now, I think he did the best possible thing as an artist.
1053
00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:52,120
He brought so much credibility, so much credibility to anybody that's ever wanted to do a newspaper
1054
00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:54,640
style strip.
1055
00:55:54,640 --> 00:55:59,500
Anyone that's ever wanted to do it and thought, well, the only way I can and hold on to my
1056
00:55:59,500 --> 00:56:04,060
artistic integrity, I don't care about the money, is to sell out.
1057
00:56:04,060 --> 00:56:07,900
And he was like, no, you don't have to do that.
1058
00:56:07,900 --> 00:56:15,720
If you care about the art form, then care about the art form.
1059
00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:16,920
He lives.
1060
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:18,440
He's never going to die.
1061
00:56:18,440 --> 00:56:21,560
Calvin and Hobbs is his Bible.
1062
00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:22,560
It's autobiographical.
1063
00:56:22,560 --> 00:56:29,960
In 10 years, he's managed to basically let you peek inside of how he thinks about things
1064
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:35,640
politically, philosophically, what his views are on the afterlife, what he thinks of his
1065
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:43,200
mom and dad, does he believe in the power of love, imagination, loyalty, friendship,
1066
00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:45,400
bureaucratic systems.
1067
00:56:45,400 --> 00:56:48,880
He's institutions, favorite foods.
1068
00:56:48,880 --> 00:56:51,840
He's got it all in there.
1069
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:53,580
It's really, really cool.
1070
00:56:53,580 --> 00:57:01,400
And I think that his work is an exercise in parable.
1071
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:06,680
And I can have a good time anytime I pick up any one of those books and not worry about
1072
00:57:06,680 --> 00:57:12,160
whether or not the integrity of his work was ever compromised.
1073
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:13,960
I can't speak for the future.
1074
00:57:13,960 --> 00:57:16,600
After he passes away, I don't know what's going to happen.
1075
00:57:16,600 --> 00:57:24,320
And someone might, something evil and some draconian machination might make it so where
1076
00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:33,080
his stuff is available for the public to consume in a way that is not in line with his wishes.
1077
00:57:33,080 --> 00:57:35,360
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
1078
00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:37,160
But for now, he's the goat.
1079
00:57:37,160 --> 00:57:38,440
Well said.
1080
00:57:38,440 --> 00:57:43,480
And I think when you think about what you just shared, I think it amplifies what Watterson
1081
00:57:43,480 --> 00:57:48,560
himself shared in that last letter to the editors, which was, for lack of better terms,
1082
00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:51,200
I've said everything I've had to say.
1083
00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:52,400
Ed, what about you?
1084
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:56,720
And what are your thoughts on lack of merchandising and impact on the legacy?
1085
00:57:56,720 --> 00:57:57,720
Yeah, I agree.
1086
00:57:57,720 --> 00:58:00,320
I agree with C. It adds to his mythos.
1087
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:06,080
It's like, I don't want to see him on Twitter talking about political views.
1088
00:58:06,080 --> 00:58:13,280
I think he's, for me, as private as I am, he's kind of like, if I could have made it
1089
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:16,760
as an artist, that's like, man, this is like the perfect career.
1090
00:58:16,760 --> 00:58:18,640
Although I would love some action figures of my stuff.
1091
00:58:18,640 --> 00:58:19,960
I'm not going to lie.
1092
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:27,080
But it's like you said, he believed in the art form over, I remember reading something
1093
00:58:27,080 --> 00:58:33,120
where he's like, it's not, if we can merchandise, it's like, why?
1094
00:58:33,120 --> 00:58:34,120
Why should we?
1095
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:38,240
We need to ask why we're doing this.
1096
00:58:38,240 --> 00:58:43,300
And I don't think, because like we even like growing up in the 80s and 90s, we're used
1097
00:58:43,300 --> 00:58:48,580
to like, okay, we get the comic, the comic, we get some toys, we get the movie, we get
1098
00:58:48,580 --> 00:58:52,520
the, you know, but he wanted, and he could be a control freak.
1099
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:53,520
I don't know.
1100
00:58:53,520 --> 00:58:54,520
I don't need to know the man personally.
1101
00:58:54,520 --> 00:58:57,600
It's like, you don't want, I kind of like that mystery about him.
1102
00:58:57,600 --> 00:59:04,040
I don't want to know his, you know, Piccadillo's and his odd, you know, things that make up
1103
00:59:04,040 --> 00:59:05,040
everybody.
1104
00:59:05,040 --> 00:59:07,400
You know, sometimes you just want some distance.
1105
00:59:07,400 --> 00:59:12,920
And I think, and I'm glad he came up without Twitter and social media and stuff.
1106
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:16,920
Although I'm kind of curious to what he thinks about the Wild West we have now as far as
1107
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:18,440
doing comic strips where you can.
1108
00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:19,440
He loves it.
1109
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:26,660
So if you, he's coming, it's actually in the first four pages of the 10th anniversary,
1110
00:59:26,660 --> 00:59:30,900
he talks about how, not comic strips, comic books.
1111
00:59:30,900 --> 00:59:33,000
He says they're flourishing.
1112
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:37,400
This is 1995, so that means he's aware of what's going on.
1113
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:39,920
And at that point, Image had already come out.
1114
00:59:39,920 --> 00:59:45,320
You know, by that point, you know, Marvel and DC were already well established.
1115
00:59:45,320 --> 00:59:50,120
But even like webtoons or even like daily strips that are just online specifically.
1116
00:59:50,120 --> 00:59:53,360
Oh, I'm sure he's jazzed about that.
1117
00:59:53,360 --> 00:59:54,360
You know what he would say?
1118
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:56,000
He'd say, y'all ain't getting paid for it.
1119
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:57,440
It could not be me.
1120
00:59:57,440 --> 00:59:58,440
Yeah.
1121
00:59:58,440 --> 00:59:59,440
Yeah.
1122
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:00,440
That's the thing too.
1123
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:05,360
That's what you give up because you have this, this publishing house, this syndication who,
1124
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:10,080
where I think he made, you know, he didn't need to get rich, but I think he's all right
1125
01:00:10,080 --> 01:00:11,400
because of the book sales.
1126
01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:12,680
They're New York Times bestsellers.
1127
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:16,960
They've been in reprints, millions of editions.
1128
01:00:16,960 --> 01:00:19,920
Like I said, those nice hardcovers that came out five or six years ago.
1129
01:00:19,920 --> 01:00:22,880
There's going to be another hardcover set that comes out, I'm sure.
1130
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:24,440
He's getting those checks still.
1131
01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:27,040
So I'm not worried about him financially.
1132
01:00:27,040 --> 01:00:33,680
But it's nice that he, he basically did something artistic completely on his terms.
1133
01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:38,760
And that's rare, you know, nobody meddled with him, nobody, and even the merchandising
1134
01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:42,960
things, I think if he signed off, like he wouldn't even have to like run a factory.
1135
01:00:42,960 --> 01:00:48,880
And I don't think if he put out a limited edition statue or dolls or something, I don't
1136
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:51,080
think anyone would call him a sellout.
1137
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:55,640
You know, it's like, you know, once you get into like the kids meals and you know, once
1138
01:00:55,640 --> 01:01:02,360
you get into like underwear and like all kinds of crazy shit, and then we can have that talk.
1139
01:01:02,360 --> 01:01:07,020
But he just stood firm and he could have cashed out and he could still cash out.
1140
01:01:07,020 --> 01:01:10,880
He could come up and say, yeah, I want to make a Hobbs doll official, put them in Targets,
1141
01:01:10,880 --> 01:01:11,880
20 bucks.
1142
01:01:11,880 --> 01:01:13,600
You know, he could do that in a snap.
1143
01:01:13,600 --> 01:01:19,440
He holds himself to such a rigorous standard, you know, like the normal is here and his
1144
01:01:19,440 --> 01:01:20,440
standard is here.
1145
01:01:20,440 --> 01:01:22,200
And it's like, Bill, we just want you to meet us.
1146
01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:27,640
And that's the thing with artists always say, we don't do it for the money, but we need
1147
01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:29,260
money to pay shit.
1148
01:01:29,260 --> 01:01:35,120
You know, J.A. don't accept, you know, exposure.
1149
01:01:35,120 --> 01:01:41,340
So here's, here's the cool thing about what you just said, Ed, is that Roger Corman has
1150
01:01:41,340 --> 01:01:47,140
this really cool speech where he talks about film being a compromised art form in the sense
1151
01:01:47,140 --> 01:01:56,800
that if it's just one guy making a movie, which means he has the money to make it, to
1152
01:01:56,800 --> 01:02:02,800
buy all the equipment, he's the only person doing all the work, shooting, editing, lighting,
1153
01:02:02,800 --> 01:02:03,800
all that stuff.
1154
01:02:03,800 --> 01:02:09,760
And that is the one singular piece of work that will not be compromised artistically,
1155
01:02:09,760 --> 01:02:10,760
right?
1156
01:02:10,760 --> 01:02:11,760
But that's not the way it works.
1157
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:16,640
It's, you have to hire people, camera people, you have to hire all this stuff.
1158
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:21,160
So now it, because it's a business, movies are a compromised art form.
1159
01:02:21,160 --> 01:02:25,760
So it's kind of hard to criticize them because they've, they're compromised, right?
1160
01:02:25,760 --> 01:02:30,760
I still do and I still try and it makes me cry and it hurts my penis.
1161
01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:31,760
Oh, but, but.
1162
01:02:31,760 --> 01:02:33,800
We see a doctor.
1163
01:02:33,800 --> 01:02:36,920
There's no hope for me.
1164
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:40,360
Anyone that knows me, there's no, there's no hope for me.
1165
01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:45,080
But the cool thing about Bill Watterson is that he did it.
1166
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:51,160
He is the one man show and his work is not compromised in the least artistically.
1167
01:02:51,160 --> 01:02:59,080
So it's like even comic strips by their nature are a compromised medium in the sense that,
1168
01:02:59,080 --> 01:03:03,200
look, you can be a freaking Michelangelo all you want, but at the end of the day, these
1169
01:03:03,200 --> 01:03:05,940
things are here to sell papers.
1170
01:03:05,940 --> 01:03:13,440
And he worked within that world and fought and wrangled and, and you know, every day
1171
01:03:13,440 --> 01:03:14,440
he took sabbaticals.
1172
01:03:14,440 --> 01:03:19,540
It was just like, I got to, I need breaks, you know, and, and I got to like even hand
1173
01:03:19,540 --> 01:03:21,000
it to the syndicate.
1174
01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:26,160
I mean, in that beginning where he had no clout, they could have made dolls, you know,
1175
01:03:26,160 --> 01:03:28,400
they technically own the rights to it.
1176
01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:31,800
So, and I don't know if that's part because of the book sales we're doing.
1177
01:03:31,800 --> 01:03:37,120
So I don't know all the behind the scenes, but the fact that they could have pushed that,
1178
01:03:37,120 --> 01:03:41,240
you know, they could have said, sorry, bro, I'm going to get someone else to draw this
1179
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:43,820
now, you know, hit the bricks junior.
1180
01:03:43,820 --> 01:03:48,360
So they, they, they withheld and they kept up their end of the bargain, which is rare
1181
01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:49,360
as well.
1182
01:03:49,360 --> 01:03:50,360
Surprising as hell.
1183
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:51,360
Yeah.
1184
01:03:51,360 --> 01:03:54,680
I think Bill Watterson has left it in the hands of fans like us to pass it along to
1185
01:03:54,680 --> 01:03:56,560
the next generation.
1186
01:03:56,560 --> 01:04:01,840
I think if you're considering how, you know, this current generation consumes media and
1187
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:06,480
the need for, you know, being on digital, you know, merchandising, you know, for awareness,
1188
01:04:06,480 --> 01:04:08,040
things like that.
1189
01:04:08,040 --> 01:04:12,800
I think when you think about it from that perspective, it, you know, it leaves much
1190
01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:16,680
to be desired, but then you've got like folks like us that are keeping his name alive, you
1191
01:04:16,680 --> 01:04:20,600
know, like, like, see, I can imagine, you know, when Sammy comes of age, you'll probably
1192
01:04:20,600 --> 01:04:22,320
be reading Calvin and Hobbes, right?
1193
01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:26,840
Like we are getting our stuff tiger and painting it yourself.
1194
01:04:26,840 --> 01:04:27,840
Yeah.
1195
01:04:27,840 --> 01:04:28,840
Like we are the generation.
1196
01:04:28,840 --> 01:04:31,240
I think that will keep Calvin and Hobbes alive.
1197
01:04:31,240 --> 01:04:35,840
And in regards to the comic industry, Bill Watterson was actually just recently inducted
1198
01:04:35,840 --> 01:04:38,120
into the Will Eisner award hall of fame.
1199
01:04:38,120 --> 01:04:40,460
I think he was inducted in 2020.
1200
01:04:40,460 --> 01:04:44,360
So in regards to like the comic industry, they're still, you know, he's still making
1201
01:04:44,360 --> 01:04:45,360
news.
1202
01:04:45,360 --> 01:04:47,620
They're still, you know, showing their appreciation.
1203
01:04:47,620 --> 01:04:52,000
But I would like to think much like reading Calvin and Hobbes, the actual strips, it's
1204
01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:54,680
not always, I don't think it's always going to come easy, right?
1205
01:04:54,680 --> 01:04:59,360
Like Watterson never spoon fed, you know, you, the jokes or the meanings and things
1206
01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:00,360
like that.
1207
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:04,520
So I don't think, so I don't think he's worried if a new generation finds it or gets it.
1208
01:05:04,520 --> 01:05:07,600
I think, you know, it's a chapter of his life that is now closed that he put his all into
1209
01:05:07,600 --> 01:05:08,600
and he enjoyed.
1210
01:05:08,600 --> 01:05:12,680
And if, and I, and I, and I would imagine that for him, it's like, well, if you find
1211
01:05:12,680 --> 01:05:14,240
it and you love it, great.
1212
01:05:14,240 --> 01:05:15,920
If it, if you don't, that's on you.
1213
01:05:15,920 --> 01:05:18,400
I don't think he's that concerned with legacy.
1214
01:05:18,400 --> 01:05:26,760
I'll tell a story that is, is to, to, to your point, when he was in Ohio, he would very
1215
01:05:26,760 --> 01:05:34,240
sneakily go into a bookstore and autograph his, his books and then put them back in there
1216
01:05:34,240 --> 01:05:38,280
for people to buy and not tell anybody, you know.
1217
01:05:38,280 --> 01:05:44,160
You think he ever got caught like, Hey, Hey, this asshole is writing in the books.
1218
01:05:44,160 --> 01:05:45,160
Get him.
1219
01:05:45,160 --> 01:05:49,080
He stopped doing it because people were selling them online.
1220
01:05:49,080 --> 01:05:50,080
Yeah.
1221
01:05:50,080 --> 01:05:53,080
And when he found out, he was like, okay, Jesus, I can't even do this.
1222
01:05:53,080 --> 01:05:54,080
Can't have nice things.
1223
01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:55,080
Yeah.
1224
01:05:55,080 --> 01:05:56,080
Yeah.
1225
01:05:56,080 --> 01:05:57,080
Damn.
1226
01:05:57,080 --> 01:05:58,080
I've never met someone so allergic to capitalism than Bill Watterson.
1227
01:05:58,080 --> 01:05:59,080
I love it.
1228
01:05:59,080 --> 01:06:00,800
It's like, I tried to fuck you guys.
1229
01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:02,120
You'll never see me again.
1230
01:06:02,120 --> 01:06:03,120
Ninja vanish.
1231
01:06:03,120 --> 01:06:04,440
All right.
1232
01:06:04,440 --> 01:06:09,680
With that said, the chances of Bill ever hearing this episode are, are definitely slim to none.
1233
01:06:09,680 --> 01:06:10,680
I, he doesn't have a Twitter.
1234
01:06:10,680 --> 01:06:12,240
I don't even think he's probably got a phone.
1235
01:06:12,240 --> 01:06:16,240
No, I'm so sorry if we've offended you.
1236
01:06:16,240 --> 01:06:17,280
He's in the woods painting.
1237
01:06:17,280 --> 01:06:18,280
He's painting a lake somewhere.
1238
01:06:18,280 --> 01:06:19,280
Exactly.
1239
01:06:19,280 --> 01:06:23,440
I can't, I can't live my life knowing if I've made him mad or if he doesn't like me.
1240
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:24,440
I don't want to know.
1241
01:06:24,440 --> 01:06:26,280
Nah, he's on that Bob Ross tip.
1242
01:06:26,280 --> 01:06:27,280
He's like, it's all right, brother.
1243
01:06:27,280 --> 01:06:28,280
You gotta suck and that's okay.
1244
01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:29,280
Embrace it.
1245
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:32,280
I've probably got to see you laugh.
1246
01:06:32,280 --> 01:06:34,800
I got my cabin made out of gold.
1247
01:06:34,800 --> 01:06:37,840
I got my 2,500 acres in Ohio.
1248
01:06:37,840 --> 01:06:41,280
And not only that, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would indulge himself
1249
01:06:41,280 --> 01:06:42,280
in praise anyways.
1250
01:06:42,280 --> 01:06:46,320
But regardless, I think we did him and Calvin and Hobbes proud with this episode.
1251
01:06:46,320 --> 01:06:49,520
I think we covered as much as we could for today's intent and purposes.
1252
01:06:49,520 --> 01:06:51,160
So I'll address the listeners.
1253
01:06:51,160 --> 01:06:52,160
All right.
1254
01:06:52,160 --> 01:06:56,240
If you enjoyed this deep dive in this style of conversation, check out other artists spotlights
1255
01:06:56,240 --> 01:06:59,400
that we've done, like the one we did about Rick Remender, one of the hardest working
1256
01:06:59,400 --> 01:07:02,200
names in comics back in episode 369.
1257
01:07:02,200 --> 01:07:05,120
And if you're a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, if you know something about Bill Watterson
1258
01:07:05,120 --> 01:07:08,840
that we don't know that you'd like to share with us, man, chime into the conversation.
1259
01:07:08,840 --> 01:07:12,080
Shoot us an email, hit us up on Twitter and Instagram.
1260
01:07:12,080 --> 01:07:14,260
Let me know if you want me to share it on the episode.
1261
01:07:14,260 --> 01:07:17,680
We'd love to hear from fellow Calvin and Hobbes fanatics.
1262
01:07:17,680 --> 01:07:19,360
Let's get to our next topic for today.
1263
01:07:19,360 --> 01:07:20,360
All right.
1264
01:07:20,360 --> 01:07:25,240
And that's looking at the future of comics and the titles worth picking up next month.
1265
01:07:25,240 --> 01:07:27,520
Let's go ahead and grab a fistful of comics.
1266
01:07:27,520 --> 01:07:37,840
You can either have a mouth full of teeth or a fist full of comics.
1267
01:07:37,840 --> 01:07:42,600
Fistful of Comics is a segment dedicated to helping all you comic curious newbies and
1268
01:07:42,600 --> 01:07:47,960
regular Wednesday warriors find the best new titles worthy of your time and attention.
1269
01:07:47,960 --> 01:07:51,760
Of course, we are lucky enough to be joined by Ben Kingsbury for this part of the show.
1270
01:07:51,760 --> 01:07:56,680
He's the owner of Gotham City Limit, Jacksonville's premier comic shop, and nothing makes this
1271
01:07:56,680 --> 01:08:02,120
man happier than helping people take their comic shopping experience to the limit.
1272
01:08:02,120 --> 01:08:06,280
He has provided me with a list.
1273
01:08:06,280 --> 01:08:09,200
I haven't heard this.
1274
01:08:09,200 --> 01:08:14,560
I love it that you're like, and it's like, look, only two seconds, only two seconds.
1275
01:08:14,560 --> 01:08:17,400
So we won't be busted for the copyright infringement.
1276
01:08:17,400 --> 01:08:18,400
That's funny.
1277
01:08:18,400 --> 01:08:19,400
All right.
1278
01:08:19,400 --> 01:08:25,320
Ben has provided me, first of all, before I get into that, Ben was really excited to
1279
01:08:25,320 --> 01:08:28,360
hear that we were doing a Calvin and Hobbes episode today.
1280
01:08:28,360 --> 01:08:31,320
I mean, Ben's already at a like a 10, right?
1281
01:08:31,320 --> 01:08:32,320
As far as energy goes.
1282
01:08:32,320 --> 01:08:36,640
When you hear we were doing a Calvin Hobbes episode, his energy is now like at a 15.
1283
01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:40,960
So we did something really special with this week's list and recommendations.
1284
01:08:40,960 --> 01:08:44,960
Like he always does, he provided me with a list of three new comics that he thinks are
1285
01:08:44,960 --> 01:08:47,000
worthy of the short box stamp of approval.
1286
01:08:47,000 --> 01:08:50,360
I'm going to get the music going and we're going to see what's on the agenda today.
1287
01:08:50,360 --> 01:08:51,360
All right.
1288
01:08:51,360 --> 01:08:52,600
First up.
1289
01:08:52,600 --> 01:08:55,600
So like I said, he was super excited about the Calvin Hobbes.
1290
01:08:55,600 --> 01:09:00,240
He's got a whole theme for these recommendations and an interesting one at that.
1291
01:09:00,240 --> 01:09:03,440
So I'm gonna let him tell you what his first pick is.
1292
01:09:03,440 --> 01:09:08,800
Good morning, good afternoon and or good evening short box listeners.
1293
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:13,200
I'm Ben K representing Gotham City Limit, Jacksonville, Florida.
1294
01:09:13,200 --> 01:09:18,460
And these are my three final word or cut offs you should add to your pull list immediately.
1295
01:09:18,460 --> 01:09:19,600
You know what's weird?
1296
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:22,440
Day by day, nothing seems to change.
1297
01:09:22,440 --> 01:09:25,580
But pretty soon, everything is different.
1298
01:09:25,580 --> 01:09:27,760
That's probably one of my favorite Bill Watterson quotes.
1299
01:09:27,760 --> 01:09:30,440
I'm a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan.
1300
01:09:30,440 --> 01:09:34,280
Still own all my original Calvin and Hobbes books from when I was a young man.
1301
01:09:34,280 --> 01:09:39,780
My best friend, Pacer the Amazing Shop Dog and I live our lives like we imagine Calvin
1302
01:09:39,780 --> 01:09:41,040
and Hobbes would.
1303
01:09:41,040 --> 01:09:48,280
So in honor of Calvin and Hobbes, here's my FOC picks with a little dynamic duo twist.
1304
01:09:48,280 --> 01:09:52,720
First up, Marvel Comics, Rogue and Gambit number one.
1305
01:09:52,720 --> 01:09:55,960
Destiny strikes for your favorite X-Men duo.
1306
01:09:55,960 --> 01:10:01,960
With Destiny kidnapping Rogue, it's time to hop on for a thrill ride with Rogue and Gambit
1307
01:10:01,960 --> 01:10:05,840
that will lay bare some of Krakoa's biggest secrets.
1308
01:10:05,840 --> 01:10:09,540
Calvin and Hobbes, Rogue and Gambit, peanut butter and jelly.
1309
01:10:09,540 --> 01:10:11,680
Add this to your pull list now.
1310
01:10:11,680 --> 01:10:13,080
That's funny.
1311
01:10:13,080 --> 01:10:19,800
I would have never thought to imagine to put Rogue and Gambit in the same conversation
1312
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:21,600
as peanut butter and jelly and Calvin and Hobbes.
1313
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:24,960
All right, Rogue and Gambit number one comes out March 1st.
1314
01:10:24,960 --> 01:10:26,960
That's the first pick on Ben's list.
1315
01:10:26,960 --> 01:10:30,420
This next one continues this theme of dynamic duos.
1316
01:10:30,420 --> 01:10:35,800
But Ben's taking us to outer space to highlight a iconic dynamic duo and comic books.
1317
01:10:35,800 --> 01:10:37,680
Here's Ben for you.
1318
01:10:37,680 --> 01:10:42,960
Next up on the list, another dynamic duo, Han Solo and Chewbacca.
1319
01:10:42,960 --> 01:10:44,900
Issue number 10.
1320
01:10:44,900 --> 01:10:46,400
Why issue number 10?
1321
01:10:46,400 --> 01:10:53,040
Because this is the first issue of a major new event coming to the Star Wars universe.
1322
01:10:53,040 --> 01:10:57,720
We all know the hardest part of going to a comic book shop is figuring out where to start.
1323
01:10:57,720 --> 01:11:03,240
Well, if you love anything to do with Star Wars and or Han Solo Chewbacca, make sure
1324
01:11:03,240 --> 01:11:06,200
you add this one to your pull list.
1325
01:11:06,200 --> 01:11:10,760
Han Solo and Chewbacca, Calvin and Hobbes, peanut butter and jelly.
1326
01:11:10,760 --> 01:11:11,760
Get this one added.
1327
01:11:11,760 --> 01:11:14,360
I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm getting hungry.
1328
01:11:14,360 --> 01:11:16,600
He needs to stop.
1329
01:11:16,600 --> 01:11:18,800
I'm getting real hungry right now.
1330
01:11:18,800 --> 01:11:22,120
Han Solo and Chewbacca also hit shops March 1st.
1331
01:11:22,120 --> 01:11:24,120
Get that on your pull if that piques your interest.
1332
01:11:24,120 --> 01:11:27,200
And last but not least on this list, Ben is wrapping up strong.
1333
01:11:27,200 --> 01:11:33,480
He's bringing us back Earthside for a husband and wife combo that we all know and love.
1334
01:11:33,480 --> 01:11:37,880
And finally, DC Comics presents Superman number one.
1335
01:11:37,880 --> 01:11:39,360
What's this dynamic duo?
1336
01:11:39,360 --> 01:11:41,960
Well, Superman and Clark Kent, of course.
1337
01:11:41,960 --> 01:11:44,120
All right, well, that's a stretch.
1338
01:11:44,120 --> 01:11:46,320
However, I needed to fit this one in.
1339
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:52,200
Joshua Williamson, who is absolutely crushing all of DC's new comics, including the Lazarus
1340
01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:58,760
Planet series ongoing right now, is back to bring in the dawn of the new DC.
1341
01:11:58,760 --> 01:12:00,240
Superman number one.
1342
01:12:00,240 --> 01:12:02,460
Jamal Campbell doing the artwork.
1343
01:12:02,460 --> 01:12:05,120
That's a dynamic duo in and of itself.
1344
01:12:05,120 --> 01:12:06,120
So that's it.
1345
01:12:06,120 --> 01:12:07,960
Those are my FOC's picks of the week.
1346
01:12:07,960 --> 01:12:09,560
Thanks for being here.
1347
01:12:09,560 --> 01:12:14,400
Remember, with great power comes great responsibility and always take it to the limit.
1348
01:12:14,400 --> 01:12:15,400
There we go.
1349
01:12:15,400 --> 01:12:18,840
That was Ben Kingsbury, ladies and gents, and you've just been taken to the limit.
1350
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:19,840
All right.
1351
01:12:19,840 --> 01:12:21,800
Our lawyers are back and down.
1352
01:12:21,800 --> 01:12:22,800
They're back and down.
1353
01:12:22,800 --> 01:12:23,800
Our lawyers got us.
1354
01:12:23,800 --> 01:12:24,800
The stopwatches.
1355
01:12:24,800 --> 01:12:25,800
That is fair use right there.
1356
01:12:25,800 --> 01:12:32,960
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, how many of your local comic book shop owners
1357
01:12:32,960 --> 01:12:42,960
have the personality and the sheer chutzpah to go on this podcast and basically say, hey,
1358
01:12:42,960 --> 01:12:47,880
look, guys, I'm going to be on here talking about peanut butter and jelly just so you'll
1359
01:12:47,880 --> 01:12:51,600
come into the store and have an experience.
1360
01:12:51,600 --> 01:12:57,840
Ben is willing to go out of his way to go crazy and be silly for the sake of you, the
1361
01:12:57,840 --> 01:13:02,160
listener, to come out to Gotham City Limit and have an awesome experience at his store.
1362
01:13:02,160 --> 01:13:03,160
Come on.
1363
01:13:03,160 --> 01:13:04,300
You can't you can't send out of this man.
1364
01:13:04,300 --> 01:13:05,400
You guys got to go there.
1365
01:13:05,400 --> 01:13:07,080
Get your butts over there for God's sake.
1366
01:13:07,080 --> 01:13:08,080
For Ben's sake.
1367
01:13:08,080 --> 01:13:11,800
I feel like if you buy any of these titles, Rogue and Gamut number one, Han Solo, Chewbacca
1368
01:13:11,800 --> 01:13:15,040
or Superman number one, Ben should give you a free peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
1369
01:13:15,040 --> 01:13:16,040
Free peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
1370
01:13:16,040 --> 01:13:17,040
Oh, my gosh.
1371
01:13:17,040 --> 01:13:18,640
A crustable, a crustable at least.
1372
01:13:18,640 --> 01:13:20,320
A crustable, a crustable.
1373
01:13:20,320 --> 01:13:21,320
That's a little safer.
1374
01:13:21,320 --> 01:13:22,320
That's a little safer.
1375
01:13:22,320 --> 01:13:23,320
Easier to store.
1376
01:13:23,320 --> 01:13:28,200
All right, gents, of the three options that Ben has given us, which one is worthy of making
1377
01:13:28,200 --> 01:13:29,200
it on your pull list?
1378
01:13:29,200 --> 01:13:30,200
Which one gets your sample approval?
1379
01:13:30,200 --> 01:13:31,200
Go ahead, C.
1380
01:13:31,200 --> 01:13:37,480
Man, I have been in a real Superman kick recently.
1381
01:13:37,480 --> 01:13:39,560
So I'm going to hit Superman for sure.
1382
01:13:39,560 --> 01:13:40,560
All right.
1383
01:13:40,560 --> 01:13:41,560
Cool.
1384
01:13:41,560 --> 01:13:42,560
What about you, Ed?
1385
01:13:42,560 --> 01:13:48,320
I think as much as she is way too good for this douchebag, I'm going to do a Rogue and
1386
01:13:48,320 --> 01:13:49,320
Gambit.
1387
01:13:49,320 --> 01:13:50,320
Rogue murdered someone.
1388
01:13:50,320 --> 01:13:51,320
What are you talking about?
1389
01:13:51,320 --> 01:13:52,320
She's perfect for Gambit.
1390
01:13:52,320 --> 01:13:53,320
Still too good.
1391
01:13:53,320 --> 01:13:54,320
That was an accident.
1392
01:13:54,320 --> 01:14:00,520
They're both like the trashiest people on the X-Men.
1393
01:14:00,520 --> 01:14:02,680
I'll take my trash Southern.
1394
01:14:02,680 --> 01:14:03,680
Thank you.
1395
01:14:03,680 --> 01:14:04,680
Well, they're both Southern.
1396
01:14:04,680 --> 01:14:05,680
Oh, non-Creole.
1397
01:14:05,680 --> 01:14:08,360
I think I'm going to echo C on this one.
1398
01:14:08,360 --> 01:14:12,840
I'm going to go Superman number one because there's a shit ton of covers, alternate covers
1399
01:14:12,840 --> 01:14:14,600
for that issue.
1400
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:16,720
And I'm here for it, man.
1401
01:14:16,720 --> 01:14:19,760
DC has gotten my attention for a good bit now.
1402
01:14:19,760 --> 01:14:22,520
The first non-Batman title in six months.
1403
01:14:22,520 --> 01:14:23,520
Right?
1404
01:14:23,520 --> 01:14:24,520
Shit.
1405
01:14:24,520 --> 01:14:25,520
Right?
1406
01:14:25,520 --> 01:14:27,160
So I'll probably check out Superman number one.
1407
01:14:27,160 --> 01:14:29,040
And all that, it comes out sooner than the rest.
1408
01:14:29,040 --> 01:14:30,600
And you guys know I'm impatient as hell.
1409
01:14:30,600 --> 01:14:32,160
So I'm going to check that out.
1410
01:14:32,160 --> 01:14:34,320
But listeners, that is the list for today.
1411
01:14:34,320 --> 01:14:37,760
If any of those grab your attention, heed Ben's words.
1412
01:14:37,760 --> 01:14:40,600
Go to your local comic shops, get your pre-orders in.
1413
01:14:40,600 --> 01:14:41,600
And a big shout out to Ben for that.
1414
01:14:41,600 --> 01:14:42,600
Get your sandwich.
1415
01:14:42,600 --> 01:14:43,600
Yeah.
1416
01:14:43,600 --> 01:14:44,600
And get your sandwich.
1417
01:14:44,600 --> 01:14:45,600
No, that's the thing, see.
1418
01:14:45,600 --> 01:14:47,880
If they're going to another comic shop, I mean, more power to them.
1419
01:14:47,880 --> 01:14:49,360
But they ain't getting the Ben and Jane deal.
1420
01:14:49,360 --> 01:14:50,360
No, no, no, no, no.
1421
01:14:50,360 --> 01:14:51,960
I didn't say go to another comic shop.
1422
01:14:51,960 --> 01:14:55,200
I said go take it to the limit and get your sandwich.
1423
01:14:55,200 --> 01:14:56,200
There we go.
1424
01:14:56,200 --> 01:14:57,840
Big shout out to Ben for the help this week.
1425
01:14:57,840 --> 01:15:03,720
And remember, even if you're unfortunate to not live in Jacksonville, you bums, you can
1426
01:15:03,720 --> 01:15:08,240
still take it to the limit by shopping at gothamscitylimit.com.
1427
01:15:08,240 --> 01:15:11,800
For comics and exclusive variants you won't find anywhere else.
1428
01:15:11,800 --> 01:15:13,800
Oh, wait, they can do it online?
1429
01:15:13,800 --> 01:15:14,800
Yeah.
1430
01:15:14,800 --> 01:15:15,800
Oh, shit.
1431
01:15:15,800 --> 01:15:16,800
I got no excuse.
1432
01:15:16,800 --> 01:15:17,800
No excuses.
1433
01:15:17,800 --> 01:15:18,800
No excuses.
1434
01:15:18,800 --> 01:15:19,800
None.
1435
01:15:19,800 --> 01:15:20,800
All right.
1436
01:15:20,800 --> 01:15:23,720
Next up, we'll talk about how we've been spending the non-comic reading parts of our
1437
01:15:23,720 --> 01:15:24,720
free time.
1438
01:15:24,720 --> 01:15:28,400
But we're going to go stretch our legs for a little bit and go on a quick music break.
1439
01:15:28,400 --> 01:15:33,520
I've been I'm still going I'm still finding new stuff in this music folder that DJ crumbs
1440
01:15:33,520 --> 01:15:35,760
gave me a few years a few years ago.
1441
01:15:35,760 --> 01:15:38,680
And it always feels like I'm coming across a new song I like.
1442
01:15:38,680 --> 01:15:39,680
And this is one of them.
1443
01:15:39,680 --> 01:15:55,240
So enjoy the music and we'll be right back.
1444
01:15:55,240 --> 01:16:25,200
Yo, the music you just heard was by our good friend DJ crumbs.
1445
01:16:25,200 --> 01:16:26,920
Do me a favor.
1446
01:16:26,920 --> 01:16:28,680
If you're on Instagram, give him a follow.
1447
01:16:28,680 --> 01:16:29,680
All right.
1448
01:16:29,680 --> 01:16:31,560
We got a link to his profile in the show notes.
1449
01:16:31,560 --> 01:16:32,560
That's the least you could do.
1450
01:16:32,560 --> 01:16:34,200
He's always giving us great music.
1451
01:16:34,200 --> 01:16:36,060
Big shout out to DJ crumbs.
1452
01:16:36,060 --> 01:16:37,720
Now we've got no emails to read today.
1453
01:16:37,720 --> 01:16:43,280
But if you feel like we missed anything too glaring during our Calvin and Hobbs segment,
1454
01:16:43,280 --> 01:16:47,240
maybe you know something that we don't know or maybe you have a favorite memory of reading
1455
01:16:47,240 --> 01:16:49,320
Calvin Hobbs that you want to share with us.
1456
01:16:49,320 --> 01:16:53,200
I invite you to reach out to us on Instagram, Twitter or email.
1457
01:16:53,200 --> 01:16:58,360
And you may have noticed that Cesar hasn't interrupted me yet.
1458
01:16:58,360 --> 01:17:02,560
And that's because he had to drop off or he had to go.
1459
01:17:02,560 --> 01:17:04,460
He had daddy daddy duty was calling.
1460
01:17:04,460 --> 01:17:07,160
So he had to drop off a little early.
1461
01:17:07,160 --> 01:17:10,520
But we are fortunate that we got him for at least an hour in that last segment.
1462
01:17:10,520 --> 01:17:13,360
So it'll just be me and Ed doing the rest of this show.
1463
01:17:13,360 --> 01:17:16,300
But we're getting close to the finish line anyways.
1464
01:17:16,300 --> 01:17:20,120
It is now a perfect time to tell you about the best entertainment options worthy of your
1465
01:17:20,120 --> 01:17:22,720
time personally backed by us.
1466
01:17:22,720 --> 01:17:28,960
It's time for champion season.
1467
01:17:28,960 --> 01:17:39,960
It's time for champion season.
1468
01:17:39,960 --> 01:17:43,880
Champion season is a part of the show where we highlight the movies, TV series, books,
1469
01:17:43,880 --> 01:17:48,720
video games and other entertainment options that we've been spending our free time on.
1470
01:17:48,720 --> 01:17:50,300
Ed, it's just you and me.
1471
01:17:50,300 --> 01:17:53,240
So if you don't mind taking it first, I'll close it up.
1472
01:17:53,240 --> 01:17:58,640
Yeah, I want to just kind of go with the theme of Calvin and Hobbes.
1473
01:17:58,640 --> 01:18:03,000
There's another comic strip that I really like called The Far Side by Gary Larson.
1474
01:18:03,000 --> 01:18:04,000
Classic.
1475
01:18:04,000 --> 01:18:07,580
There is a big book called If You Like to Get the Artist's Annotation.
1476
01:18:07,580 --> 01:18:11,720
And just to see how funny Gary Larson is, this book came out a while ago.
1477
01:18:11,720 --> 01:18:14,160
It's called The Prehistory of the Far Side.
1478
01:18:14,160 --> 01:18:20,680
There's a giant dinosaur skeleton with one of his weird little ugly people he drew.
1479
01:18:20,680 --> 01:18:25,200
But that has a lot of like talking about complaints he's gotten and just struggles dealing with
1480
01:18:25,200 --> 01:18:30,200
the dealing with the syndication and just coming up with ideas and how he came up with
1481
01:18:30,200 --> 01:18:34,920
ideas and his he has a very odd sense of humor.
1482
01:18:34,920 --> 01:18:38,460
But I've always enjoyed his his work.
1483
01:18:38,460 --> 01:18:39,600
So that's one to check out.
1484
01:18:39,600 --> 01:18:46,960
Number one is I'm going to champion a 90s book called Body Bags by Jason Pearson.
1485
01:18:46,960 --> 01:18:52,240
Jason Pearson just he just he passed away last month, but he they just recently announced
1486
01:18:52,240 --> 01:18:53,360
it this week.
1487
01:18:53,360 --> 01:19:01,280
And he was part of a studio gaijin in Atlanta with like guys like you know, Brian Stelfreys
1488
01:19:01,280 --> 01:19:06,560
was another big guy, another I think super underrated artist.
1489
01:19:06,560 --> 01:19:10,800
Love Gauge Studios, I believe, but he did a lot of work for Marvel and DC had a run
1490
01:19:10,800 --> 01:19:12,600
on Deadpool.
1491
01:19:12,600 --> 01:19:17,160
I remember meeting him 2010 at a Heroes Con.
1492
01:19:17,160 --> 01:19:19,440
I saw that he was going to be there.
1493
01:19:19,440 --> 01:19:23,380
And this was probably maybe 10 plus years.
1494
01:19:23,380 --> 01:19:27,400
And I brought my body bags issues with me because it's like, oh, man, I like this guy.
1495
01:19:27,400 --> 01:19:29,040
I had no idea what he looked like.
1496
01:19:29,040 --> 01:19:30,640
No idea.
1497
01:19:30,640 --> 01:19:31,880
So I was just going in there blind.
1498
01:19:31,880 --> 01:19:32,880
So cool.
1499
01:19:32,880 --> 01:19:33,880
He's here.
1500
01:19:33,880 --> 01:19:38,280
He's the main guy I wanted to see, surprisingly.
1501
01:19:38,280 --> 01:19:40,560
And I went up to him.
1502
01:19:40,560 --> 01:19:42,680
He's a really cool guy.
1503
01:19:42,680 --> 01:19:45,320
He was like dressed in a suit, looked like a million bucks.
1504
01:19:45,320 --> 01:19:47,060
He was so cool.
1505
01:19:47,060 --> 01:19:50,880
And I showed him the body bags and it was like he saw like a relic.
1506
01:19:50,880 --> 01:19:51,880
Oh, man.
1507
01:19:51,880 --> 01:19:52,880
He will read this shit.
1508
01:19:52,880 --> 01:19:53,880
Yeah.
1509
01:19:53,880 --> 01:19:54,880
He was looking at it.
1510
01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:58,240
He's like, man, I haven't seen this and no one's brought me this in forever.
1511
01:19:58,240 --> 01:20:03,200
You know, as he's been working at that time, he was, you know, doing Deadpool run.
1512
01:20:03,200 --> 01:20:06,840
So he was, you know, he was in the, I guess, major leagues, if you want to use that terminology.
1513
01:20:06,840 --> 01:20:10,040
It's like, man, this is cool, man.
1514
01:20:10,040 --> 01:20:12,040
I really appreciate you bringing this to me.
1515
01:20:12,040 --> 01:20:14,000
So I got I bought a couple prints.
1516
01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:15,000
He signed.
1517
01:20:15,000 --> 01:20:17,760
He was just really cool guy.
1518
01:20:17,760 --> 01:20:21,680
Like I said, he definitely stood out because he wasn't you know, he was dressed up.
1519
01:20:21,680 --> 01:20:24,200
He represented himself really well.
1520
01:20:24,200 --> 01:20:26,840
And I was talking to him and I was like, man, you should.
1521
01:20:26,840 --> 01:20:30,360
And I'd love for you to go back and do more, you know, body bag stuff.
1522
01:20:30,360 --> 01:20:33,440
And he's like, man, I love to.
1523
01:20:33,440 --> 01:20:35,240
But man, Deadpool pays the bills, man.
1524
01:20:35,240 --> 01:20:38,280
You know, I got to do I got to do this.
1525
01:20:38,280 --> 01:20:40,160
And that's kind of where I put it.
1526
01:20:40,160 --> 01:20:41,160
Okay.
1527
01:20:41,160 --> 01:20:42,160
That makes sense.
1528
01:20:42,160 --> 01:20:45,820
Kind of understanding kind of more of the business side of things.
1529
01:20:45,820 --> 01:20:48,960
But I followed him on Facebook and Instagram.
1530
01:20:48,960 --> 01:20:52,720
He's had some some issues over the years or not.
1531
01:20:52,720 --> 01:20:54,400
You know, nothing secret.
1532
01:20:54,400 --> 01:20:58,620
If you definitely if you followed him on Facebook, he said some pretty crazy stuff.
1533
01:20:58,620 --> 01:21:01,920
I know he was getting his demons in order.
1534
01:21:01,920 --> 01:21:06,000
Unfortunately, he was working on an actually a new body bags that he had kickstarted a
1535
01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:07,000
few years ago.
1536
01:21:07,000 --> 01:21:08,760
So he was wrapping that up.
1537
01:21:08,760 --> 01:21:10,840
Hopefully we'll see something from that.
1538
01:21:10,840 --> 01:21:13,980
I'm not 100 percent sure what the progress was.
1539
01:21:13,980 --> 01:21:19,440
But like I said, he's one of those guys that I think should have been bigger than he was,
1540
01:21:19,440 --> 01:21:24,920
you know, selfishly is like this guy should have been in that top tier of 90s guys.
1541
01:21:24,920 --> 01:21:27,880
His stuff was so cool.
1542
01:21:27,880 --> 01:21:30,840
I think body bags now would be a little problematic.
1543
01:21:30,840 --> 01:21:34,160
I think you'd have to tweak some things.
1544
01:21:34,160 --> 01:21:35,400
But I still love that world.
1545
01:21:35,400 --> 01:21:38,040
I love the characters.
1546
01:21:38,040 --> 01:21:40,440
Super he draws action really well.
1547
01:21:40,440 --> 01:21:44,120
Dude, this looks I'm just looking it up on Google right now.
1548
01:21:44,120 --> 01:21:45,600
These covers are awesome.
1549
01:21:45,600 --> 01:21:46,600
I've never seen this.
1550
01:21:46,600 --> 01:21:49,720
Yeah, he's like he's done work for everybody.
1551
01:21:49,720 --> 01:21:52,280
But I think probably one of his biggest runs was his Deadpool run.
1552
01:21:52,280 --> 01:21:54,440
He might have gotten a year on that.
1553
01:21:54,440 --> 01:21:57,660
But there was he had a lot of personal issues and things.
1554
01:21:57,660 --> 01:21:58,660
But he was still working.
1555
01:21:58,660 --> 01:21:59,760
He was still cranking work out.
1556
01:21:59,760 --> 01:22:02,440
And like I said, he was working on a new body bags story.
1557
01:22:02,440 --> 01:22:04,360
But stuff was so animated.
1558
01:22:04,360 --> 01:22:09,500
Yeah, like it was just so cool, so stylized, so cool.
1559
01:22:09,500 --> 01:22:12,720
Like I said, he should have been he should have been one of the.
1560
01:22:12,720 --> 01:22:14,800
Yeah, I believe the best.
1561
01:22:14,800 --> 01:22:17,800
Like I said, is the way he put pages together.
1562
01:22:17,800 --> 01:22:20,720
And like I said, he was he was just a cool dude overall.
1563
01:22:20,720 --> 01:22:24,240
And it sucks that he passed away.
1564
01:22:24,240 --> 01:22:31,460
But if you and he did a short run, I think he did a short four issue mini Savage Dragon
1565
01:22:31,460 --> 01:22:32,460
spin off series.
1566
01:22:32,460 --> 01:22:37,640
So he's one of the few guys that drew Savage Dragon besides Eric Larson.
1567
01:22:37,640 --> 01:22:39,200
So I guess I think it's baptism of fire.
1568
01:22:39,200 --> 01:22:40,200
I'm not sure.
1569
01:22:40,200 --> 01:22:41,720
It's kind of its own standalone thing.
1570
01:22:41,720 --> 01:22:42,720
Really cool stuff.
1571
01:22:42,720 --> 01:22:46,680
If you haven't heard of them, check out his work.
1572
01:22:46,680 --> 01:22:48,360
Like I said, revisit some of his stuff.
1573
01:22:48,360 --> 01:22:51,800
But I'm going to champion him because like I said, he was like he's only 52.
1574
01:22:51,800 --> 01:22:54,720
I believe he had a heart attack or a stroke.
1575
01:22:54,720 --> 01:22:55,720
I'm not sure.
1576
01:22:55,720 --> 01:22:59,080
I've got some conflicting articles saying some different things.
1577
01:22:59,080 --> 01:23:04,200
But, you know, I've been following him for a while and I know he was kind of, you know,
1578
01:23:04,200 --> 01:23:07,360
turning things around and looked like he was kind of getting back into it.
1579
01:23:07,360 --> 01:23:12,240
And then unfortunately, it's just one of those stories that not everything works out like
1580
01:23:12,240 --> 01:23:13,240
you think it should.
1581
01:23:13,240 --> 01:23:16,600
But he was one of those guys that had unlimited potential.
1582
01:23:16,600 --> 01:23:20,880
He should have been like I said, he should have been one of the top guys coming into
1583
01:23:20,880 --> 01:23:24,920
current times because like I said, he's he has thousand percent of the skill and the
1584
01:23:24,920 --> 01:23:25,920
style for it.
1585
01:23:25,920 --> 01:23:26,920
Thank you for sharing that, Ed.
1586
01:23:26,920 --> 01:23:28,960
You're always putting me on to some stuff, man.
1587
01:23:28,960 --> 01:23:30,520
And this looks like something I should have been on.
1588
01:23:30,520 --> 01:23:31,960
Yeah, there are no image today.
1589
01:23:31,960 --> 01:23:37,160
It was originally a Dark Horse book, but image did a kind of collected it and did kind of
1590
01:23:37,160 --> 01:23:38,680
a recolored collection of it.
1591
01:23:38,680 --> 01:23:40,560
So it's it's it should be out there.
1592
01:23:40,560 --> 01:23:42,400
You can easy to it's easy to find.
1593
01:23:42,400 --> 01:23:43,400
Actually just picked up a copy.
1594
01:23:43,400 --> 01:23:44,400
So cool.
1595
01:23:44,400 --> 01:23:45,400
All right.
1596
01:23:45,400 --> 01:23:46,400
Thank you, Ed.
1597
01:23:46,400 --> 01:23:47,800
I've got two champions today.
1598
01:23:47,800 --> 01:23:49,000
One is a manga.
1599
01:23:49,000 --> 01:23:51,640
It is called Adam, the Beginning.
1600
01:23:51,640 --> 01:23:58,600
It is by Osama Tezuka gets credit on this because it's Astro Boy based.
1601
01:23:58,600 --> 01:24:05,200
But the other two authors on this is Tetsuro Kasahara and Masami Yuki, I believe is how
1602
01:24:05,200 --> 01:24:06,200
you say it.
1603
01:24:06,200 --> 01:24:11,760
So it serves as a prequel to Astro Boy by following the lives of the two main scientists
1604
01:24:11,760 --> 01:24:16,280
from that series, Umataro Tenma and Hiroshi Ochano Mizo.
1605
01:24:16,280 --> 01:24:18,960
Mizo, I think is how you say it.
1606
01:24:18,960 --> 01:24:24,320
So it follows like them in college, like studying robotics, building their first A.I. and, you
1607
01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:30,160
know, having to do like, you know, robot wrestling and fighting rings to like make money because
1608
01:24:30,160 --> 01:24:32,720
they're part of like a really kind of low tier school.
1609
01:24:32,720 --> 01:24:34,600
So they have to do whatever they can to make money.
1610
01:24:34,600 --> 01:24:35,600
Robot Wars.
1611
01:24:35,600 --> 01:24:36,600
Yeah, exactly.
1612
01:24:36,600 --> 01:24:39,520
I would describe it as and I know that Marvel's done a series like this.
1613
01:24:39,520 --> 01:24:44,760
I just don't know the specific name, but I would describe it as a series if they made
1614
01:24:44,760 --> 01:24:48,600
a series about like Professor X and Magneto's younger years.
1615
01:24:48,600 --> 01:24:54,880
Like you know how you have like those two conflicting and sometimes overlapping mythologies
1616
01:24:54,880 --> 01:24:56,880
and like Reed Richards, Victor Vanduul.
1617
01:24:56,880 --> 01:24:57,880
Yeah, exactly.
1618
01:24:57,880 --> 01:25:01,620
Like two like genius scientists with like conflicting personalities, but they still get
1619
01:25:01,620 --> 01:25:04,840
along because they respect each other's work.
1620
01:25:04,840 --> 01:25:09,360
And it's like just telling this story of their their origin and, you know, kind of split
1621
01:25:09,360 --> 01:25:10,360
early on.
1622
01:25:10,360 --> 01:25:13,000
There's a lot of action in this manga series.
1623
01:25:13,000 --> 01:25:15,080
The style is artistically fresh.
1624
01:25:15,080 --> 01:25:19,000
The storytelling is really interesting with it being a prequel and, you know, adding something
1625
01:25:19,000 --> 01:25:21,960
new to, you know, something that is iconic, right?
1626
01:25:21,960 --> 01:25:25,080
Like Astro Boy, the God of Manga, Osamu Suzuki's work.
1627
01:25:25,080 --> 01:25:30,160
You know, it's definitely a big I think it's a ballsy task to want to tell the prequel
1628
01:25:30,160 --> 01:25:33,120
story to something like Astro Boy.
1629
01:25:33,120 --> 01:25:35,840
But they managed to pay like proper homage to the source material.
1630
01:25:35,840 --> 01:25:38,160
Let me show you how it should have been done, old man.
1631
01:25:38,160 --> 01:25:39,160
This is how.
1632
01:25:39,160 --> 01:25:41,360
This is all right, I guess.
1633
01:25:41,360 --> 01:25:43,800
But let me, this is what you should have done.
1634
01:25:43,800 --> 01:25:46,520
No, it is a it is like a big shadow.
1635
01:25:46,520 --> 01:25:47,520
It is.
1636
01:25:47,520 --> 01:25:48,520
Sure.
1637
01:25:48,520 --> 01:25:49,680
So far, it's been really fun.
1638
01:25:49,680 --> 01:25:53,100
If you do remember Metabots, remember that cartoon show Metabots?
1639
01:25:53,100 --> 01:25:54,900
We loved it as a kid.
1640
01:25:54,900 --> 01:25:59,680
So it's like if you enjoyed Metabots and you love stories about the morality of artificial
1641
01:25:59,680 --> 01:26:05,580
intelligence or like Blade Runner and stuff like that, then Adam, the Beginning is worthy
1642
01:26:05,580 --> 01:26:07,200
of picking up.
1643
01:26:07,200 --> 01:26:11,760
It's only on only two volumes of the manga have been translated to English.
1644
01:26:11,760 --> 01:26:16,620
There's a third one coming out in February, but I have I've consumed both of the first
1645
01:26:16,620 --> 01:26:17,620
two volumes.
1646
01:26:17,620 --> 01:26:18,620
I love it.
1647
01:26:18,620 --> 01:26:20,960
I highly recommend it if you're looking for something manga to read.
1648
01:26:20,960 --> 01:26:26,680
And my second champion is the Invincible season two trailer that we got this week.
1649
01:26:26,680 --> 01:26:31,880
Ed, you had posted it on our on our Instagram and I ended up watching it again for like
1650
01:26:31,880 --> 01:26:35,720
the second or third time this morning before we recorded.
1651
01:26:35,720 --> 01:26:37,980
And for those of you that might be scratching your head, maybe you missed it.
1652
01:26:37,980 --> 01:26:42,520
It's really just a short vignette that that really was kind of like a meta commentary
1653
01:26:42,520 --> 01:26:46,440
of Invincible and Alan the alien sharing a ham.
1654
01:26:46,440 --> 01:26:50,180
Well, Alan Alien is eating a hamburger and Invincible is really just kind of like watching
1655
01:26:50,180 --> 01:26:51,180
him.
1656
01:26:51,180 --> 01:26:52,620
But they kind of just have a conversation.
1657
01:26:52,620 --> 01:26:56,680
It's a meta commentary addressing like the release date, you know, providing an update
1658
01:26:56,680 --> 01:26:58,160
why it's taken so long.
1659
01:26:58,160 --> 01:26:59,160
Late 2023.
1660
01:26:59,160 --> 01:27:00,160
Yeah.
1661
01:27:00,160 --> 01:27:02,600
Super, super meta.
1662
01:27:02,600 --> 01:27:07,400
But it's a funny interaction between Mark and Alan and Seth Rogen, you know, is in prime
1663
01:27:07,400 --> 01:27:08,920
form.
1664
01:27:08,920 --> 01:27:13,920
And what I got out of it was, look, motherfuckers, it takes a lot to make an animated series.
1665
01:27:13,920 --> 01:27:14,920
And I don't know.
1666
01:27:14,920 --> 01:27:15,920
Character designs.
1667
01:27:15,920 --> 01:27:17,520
It's like, how's that sounds made up?
1668
01:27:17,520 --> 01:27:18,520
Yeah.
1669
01:27:18,520 --> 01:27:20,160
And do you agree?
1670
01:27:20,160 --> 01:27:23,400
Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I feel like the animation looks better.
1671
01:27:23,400 --> 01:27:24,560
It looks pretty sharp.
1672
01:27:24,560 --> 01:27:25,560
Yeah.
1673
01:27:25,560 --> 01:27:26,560
Looks like really good.
1674
01:27:26,560 --> 01:27:30,600
So if they needed all this time to get the animation looking right and and whatnot, I'm
1675
01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:31,600
here for it.
1676
01:27:31,600 --> 01:27:32,600
It sounds like it'll come out this year.
1677
01:27:32,600 --> 01:27:33,600
Bezos bucks going.
1678
01:27:33,600 --> 01:27:34,600
Right.
1679
01:27:34,600 --> 01:27:39,720
Hopefully this is better than that Lord of the Rings series.
1680
01:27:39,720 --> 01:27:41,520
But I am excited for Invincible.
1681
01:27:41,520 --> 01:27:44,400
I'm glad that we at least got a trailer to hold this off.
1682
01:27:44,400 --> 01:27:45,400
And that's what I'm a champion.
1683
01:27:45,400 --> 01:27:48,200
So I've got the manga, Adam, the beginning and Invincible season two.
1684
01:27:48,200 --> 01:27:49,200
I didn't know about that.
1685
01:27:49,200 --> 01:27:50,200
It looks cool.
1686
01:27:50,200 --> 01:27:51,200
I like the redesigns.
1687
01:27:51,200 --> 01:27:54,040
I'm telling you, it is rad, man.
1688
01:27:54,040 --> 01:27:58,880
Like they, you could tell they spent the way they draw the different robots and they're
1689
01:27:58,880 --> 01:28:05,240
all like, you know, based on like the classic robots from the main Astro Boy series.
1690
01:28:05,240 --> 01:28:08,360
There's another series called Pluto.
1691
01:28:08,360 --> 01:28:09,360
I don't know if you've ever heard of this.
1692
01:28:09,360 --> 01:28:11,640
I forget the name of the I'll try to look it up.
1693
01:28:11,640 --> 01:28:17,520
But there's a manga series called Pluto that also kind of served as a, you know, a kind
1694
01:28:17,520 --> 01:28:22,440
of a weird tie in slash retelling of Astro Boy.
1695
01:28:22,440 --> 01:28:23,440
Oh, here it is.
1696
01:28:23,440 --> 01:28:26,920
It was written and illustrated by Neko Urasawa.
1697
01:28:26,920 --> 01:28:32,440
And it was a murder mystery that revolves around like this detective role, just like
1698
01:28:32,440 --> 01:28:34,840
this Android that was a detective.
1699
01:28:34,840 --> 01:28:37,320
And there was a murder mystery going around.
1700
01:28:37,320 --> 01:28:41,500
Someone was killing all of the original robots and all the original robots were like Astro
1701
01:28:41,500 --> 01:28:43,100
Boy characters.
1702
01:28:43,100 --> 01:28:46,080
That manga, Pluto is it's long as hell.
1703
01:28:46,080 --> 01:28:50,300
There's eight volumes of it in total, but it is so good.
1704
01:28:50,300 --> 01:28:55,820
So it was that was another series where the writer was like, I love Astro Boy.
1705
01:28:55,820 --> 01:28:58,080
I want to do the story that ties into it.
1706
01:28:58,080 --> 01:28:59,080
That's more of an homage.
1707
01:28:59,080 --> 01:29:04,860
I know it's sacrilege to even think I could, you know, add to the lore that that Osama
1708
01:29:04,860 --> 01:29:05,860
has done.
1709
01:29:05,860 --> 01:29:06,860
But please.
1710
01:29:06,860 --> 01:29:09,000
And, you know, both of these have gotten the blessings from the family.
1711
01:29:09,000 --> 01:29:11,080
So that's a bonus one.
1712
01:29:11,080 --> 01:29:14,240
Short Box Nation, that is that's the end of the segment.
1713
01:29:14,240 --> 01:29:15,240
It's your turn to chime in.
1714
01:29:15,240 --> 01:29:16,240
All right.
1715
01:29:16,240 --> 01:29:17,240
This is your homework, right?
1716
01:29:17,240 --> 01:29:20,680
Tell us if you got a killer champion that we should check out or if you try out any of
1717
01:29:20,680 --> 01:29:22,760
the recommendations that we shared today.
1718
01:29:22,760 --> 01:29:24,720
We'd love to get some feedback.
1719
01:29:24,720 --> 01:29:26,840
Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter or email.
1720
01:29:26,840 --> 01:29:27,840
All right.
1721
01:29:27,840 --> 01:29:31,860
Ed, since you just mean you, man, this will be an easy one because I could just look at
1722
01:29:31,860 --> 01:29:36,480
you and ask you got any parting words, any lessons learned or words of wisdom that we
1723
01:29:36,480 --> 01:29:38,960
should share with the listeners before we sign off?
1724
01:29:38,960 --> 01:29:39,960
Don't sell out.
1725
01:29:39,960 --> 01:29:42,480
Not even for a fucking dollar.
1726
01:29:42,480 --> 01:29:43,480
All right.
1727
01:29:43,480 --> 01:29:45,240
I don't care if it's one stuffed animal.
1728
01:29:45,240 --> 01:29:46,240
God damn it.
1729
01:29:46,240 --> 01:29:48,200
You are not merchandising.
1730
01:29:48,200 --> 01:29:52,400
I like this quote that Bill Watterson says, and I think it's kind of encapsulates, you
1731
01:29:52,400 --> 01:29:56,680
know, his whole leaving Calvin and Hobbes and maybe his ethos.
1732
01:29:56,680 --> 01:29:58,040
But it's a quote.
1733
01:29:58,040 --> 01:30:01,200
It's always better to leave the party early.
1734
01:30:01,200 --> 01:30:06,860
I like that he was conscious enough to see that, like he had hit like the pinnacle in
1735
01:30:06,860 --> 01:30:10,720
this high and there was probably really I mean, I'm sure that he probably could have
1736
01:30:10,720 --> 01:30:14,820
had another solid run and years of acclaim and fame.
1737
01:30:14,820 --> 01:30:19,820
But I like that he decided that he made the hard decision of I'm a leave early.
1738
01:30:19,820 --> 01:30:23,560
It's the opposite of what Kanye West tells you to do, which is don't leave while you're
1739
01:30:23,560 --> 01:30:24,560
hot.
1740
01:30:24,560 --> 01:30:25,560
That's how Mase screwed up.
1741
01:30:25,560 --> 01:30:28,160
It's like we can't miss you if you don't go away.
1742
01:30:28,160 --> 01:30:29,160
Exactly.
1743
01:30:29,160 --> 01:30:30,160
Exactly.
1744
01:30:30,160 --> 01:30:34,640
Well, there you have it, short box nation.
1745
01:30:34,640 --> 01:30:36,400
Thank you for hanging out with us this week.
1746
01:30:36,400 --> 01:30:40,760
If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and help spread the word to a friend or someone
1747
01:30:40,760 --> 01:30:43,520
you know that loves comics as much as we do.
1748
01:30:43,520 --> 01:30:44,920
Next week, we are taking a break.
1749
01:30:44,920 --> 01:30:45,920
All right.
1750
01:30:45,920 --> 01:30:49,560
Well, we're going to drop something on our Patreon to hold over our number one fans.
1751
01:30:49,560 --> 01:30:52,920
But as far as regular weekly episodes, we're going to take a break next week.
1752
01:30:52,920 --> 01:30:54,840
We'll come back to following with something for you.
1753
01:30:54,840 --> 01:30:59,440
So this is why I encourage you if you just can't wait, if you love having short box content
1754
01:30:59,440 --> 01:31:03,280
every week to hold you over, become a member of our Patreon community.
1755
01:31:03,280 --> 01:31:04,280
All right.
1756
01:31:04,280 --> 01:31:06,520
You'll get access to bonus episodes and videos.
1757
01:31:06,520 --> 01:31:10,340
And we got an episode voting poll going up by the time this episode drops to help us
1758
01:31:10,340 --> 01:31:12,280
pick the topic for a future episode.
1759
01:31:12,280 --> 01:31:16,560
So if you want to take part in that and enjoy all those extra rewards and perks, click the
1760
01:31:16,560 --> 01:31:20,800
link in the show notes or go to Patreon.com slash the short box to check out what's waiting
1761
01:31:20,800 --> 01:31:22,040
for you there.
1762
01:31:22,040 --> 01:31:25,120
Until we meet again, short box nation, take care of yourselves.
1763
01:31:25,120 --> 01:31:30,400
Have a great day and please continue to make mine and yours short box.
1764
01:31:30,400 --> 01:31:31,400
We'll talk to you soon.
1765
01:31:31,400 --> 01:31:47,000
Peace.