Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

Dilbert is the funniest now.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

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There was a minor flap at some point when Watterson demaded about twice the space in Sunday comics pages. He lamented that strips got smaller and artists had less and less space to really create. So he simply said "either give me more space, or don't run it." I think some papers did drop the strip, but many gave him the space.

At the time, it was easy to think of it almost like blackmail. But when you consider that he never profited from the marketing of those characters, he really just seemed to be true to what he wanted his creation to be.


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I remember when that happened and it was more then just a minor flap. Basically he was insisting on the entire newspaper industy making a change to accomidate him. Not that i disagree with his stance, he was a major driving force in newspaper sales at the time, and the papers were regularly cutting parts of his strip out to make room for more lower quality stips. A lot of other writers were really down on him about it (newspaper comic strip creators are some of the most set in their ways artists in the world)but in the end they all benefited as others have been given the chance to take advantage of the additional space.

As for the strips, i think one of the things puts C&H in a class by itself is that he was smart enough to stop when he was on top. There was never the years of him phoning it in (Bloom County) or decades of letting the strip be written by comittee (most of the strips in the paper today).

Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

The comics page is definitely a wasteland without him.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

1. Far Side
2. Calvin and Hobbes
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3. Others

Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

The Far Side is definitely not better than Calvin and Hobbes.

It lost a lot of its luster after a while. Gary Larson admitted as much. Watterston quit while he was ahead and everything was still top notch.

Plus, C&H was better in the first place. But they were very different kinds of comics, so they're hard to compare.

Re: Calvin and Hobbes
 

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this thread got me googling and i found this transcript of bill wattersons commencement speach he delivered to Kenyon college, i found it pretty interesting.

http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm

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Thanks for that, and thanks for the interview link, shakingspear. OOT rocks.

Calvin and Hobbes transcends the strip. It really is some of the best creative material produced by an American. Twain, Steinbeck, Whistler, Capra - those are some heavyweights, for sure. But isn't what Watterson created a solid body of work that stimulates the mind and stirs the imagination?

Oh, and Whiskeytown, I hate to do this, but the Law and Order actor is Sam Waterston.

Re: Bloom County??
 

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Bloom County is a less awesome Doonesburry with Animals.

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Yup. Extremely, astoundingly derivative, and I think it got a grin out of me only once. Easily the most overrated comic strip ever.

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Early on, definitely the case...I think Trudeau even sent a "friendly" letter to Berke Breathed about this at one point. I think it came into its own big time as the years went on, though. "Outland" and other incarnations I can pretty much take or leave.