As a lifetime Calvin & Hobbes fan, I couldn’t resist a new book written by Bill Watterson: The Mysteries.
The Mysteries has absolutely nothing to do with Calvin & Hobbes, which is fine of course, I have such respect for Mr. Watterson that I’d be interested in anything he did.
The story is rather vague, if there is one at all. It has qualities of a parable. You can read into it what you want to. Is it about religion? Science? Climate change? Society? All of them? None of them? It puts Ruby to sleep immediately.
The Illustrations are by John Kascht, although, really, that was them working together over years. The story of them working together is told by them directly and a fantastic look at the creative process and collaboration:
A collection of thoughts and interesting moments:
- I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mr. Watterson talk before?
- “There is a reason why visual artists don’t work together on the same pictures. It’s like driving a car with two steering wheels.”
- lol @ the transcript being in Papyrus
- “Working through differences toward a common purpose is practically an act of defiance these days.”
- How rad is it that the final art is a combination of 3D work and 2D work? A box of clay heads!
- “Having somebody equally invested on the project on the other end of the line really gets you through a lot of frustration and doubt.”
You should definitely give the Stripped documentary about comic strips a watch if you haven’t already! Bill Watterson illustrated the poster and contributed some voiceover.