| Title | : | Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 082642984X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780826429841 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 247 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 2009 |
In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, Nevin Martell sets out on a very personal odyssey to understand the life and career of the intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. Martell talks to a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, and along the way reflects upon the nature of his own fandom and on the extraordinary legacy that Watterson left behind. This is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and it's the fascinating story of an intrepid author's search for him, too.
Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip Reviews
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As someone who considers Calvin and Hobbes to be one of his very favorite things, I breezed through this biography with expectations that in retrospect I know had no business being so lofty. Anyone familiar with C&H knows that Bill Watterson has chosen not to be a public figure and has not bastardized his creation with countless knockoffs; it's part of the mystique of the strip which consequently has a purity that I assume is why so many people continue to revere it. So the idea that we needed a biography of its creator was a noble but inherently flawed endeavor.
The main problem with this book is its subject. How do you write a biography of someone who won't talk to you and has not provided a copious public record for you to wade through? Obviously, you then have to go to people who know Watterson, but even that proves frustrating here, since most of the interviewees either remark on how little they actually know Watterson or offer boilerplate "Watterson is a genius" praise. And no matter how well-intentioned it is, interviewing Watterson's mother unsettled me a bit.
As it is, Martell relies on what interviews Watterson has given to a handful of newspapers and the commentary he's offered in his books. But anyone who's reading this book is likely a C&H fan who owns the books and has seen these opinions already. Including them here doesn't illuminate Watterson as a subject; it just makes Martell a dutiful transcriber. There's also the writing style, which struck me as too conversational to really take seriously.
Ultimately, this book is a big-hearted but doomed hagiography of one of the most cherished artistic achievements of my generation. I applaud Martell for his efforts and I have no doubt his heart is in the right place, but I'm not sure I know anything about Watterson that I didn't know before. -
One chapter in, I already realized that I was to be greatly disappointed. Watterson's secret life was no more illuminated two hundred forty pages later... I suppose the author did warn us in the foreword that this was a story about not only Watterson, Calvin, & Hobbes, but also about himself.... & that could not be any more true.
This was a story about one man's self-discovery, with (decently well) researched facts about the comic strip scattered around with quotes diligently collected from various interviews published elsewhere, published & sold as an unauthorized biography of Watterson.
... Not that I hold that against the author... I wish I could earn money (however little) writing about personal endeavors.
That being said, it was unnecessarily long, with insinuations of a possible interview with Watterson inserted in various chapters, almost as if the author knew he would have a hard time keeping readers interested. Alas, the author does essentially state in the foreword that this interview never occurs. Unfortunately, he doesn't say it outright, so readers are left thinking that maybe...
The only reason this is not rated as one star is because although I didn't like it, there was enough information and/or research included to make this readable.
I expected much more... it was pretty much, as I have already said, a self-discovery story with information the author simply put together from various other sources... The only new information unique to this manuscript was an interview with... Wait for it... Watterson's mother. Which, of course, revealed nothing even noteworthy. -
When I first found out about Looking for Calvin and Hobbes (from a BoingBoing post), I knew instantly that it was something that I wanted to get my hands on. Consequently, I pre-ordered the book immediately, and waited over 4 months for it to reach me. I was in the middle of another book that I really wasn't in to, so it was easy for me to quit reading that (Desolation Road, FWIW), and start in on Looking for Calvin and Hobbes.
I approached the book much like I do cupcakes: I was really excited to dig in to it, but I was hesitant because I knew that I'd be done with it before I realized it. It was with that in mind that I began reading, telling myself that I'd pace myself, and enjoy the journey.
And enjoy the journey I did. Martell does a fine job bringing his quest to seek out the man behind Calvin and Hobbes to the pages of the book and before readers' eyes. A quest that, while it may not have gone *exactly* as he wanted it to, still ultimately yielded some incredible results.
Most everyone knows how Watterson pretty much swore off any publicity to an even higher degree after he finished the strip than when he was actually actively drawing it, but what I never really knew much about was how the strip came to be, and Martell gives ample background information on just how Calvin and Hobbes was shaped into the bad-ass comic strip it became. From Watterson's humble beginnings drawing one-off panels for his HS paper, or early (and relatively quick) career as a political cartoonist, looking back and the events leading up to the strip's publishing, and thinking about all that had to happen in order for it to take place, it's a miracle that Calvin and Hobbes even made it to the comics page. But man, what an impact it had on a wide range of people.
Martell also includes many tidbits from interviews he had with a multitude of Watterson's contemporaries, including the artists behind Outpost, Garfield, and a host of others (honestly, I just can't remember all of them!). It was amazing to hear just how many artists had so much respect for Watterson, and how the vast majority of his peers also felt like that they wished Watterson had been just a bit more acknowledging and receptive of their respect and praise. Ultimately though, it becomes apparent as Martell begins to piece together the enigma that is Bill Watterson, that that sort of "static" was really just superfluous to Watterson; he didn't need that to get by, and never set out to garner it in the first place. He was just "born with a pencil in his hand", to paraphrase an interview with someone close to Bill (no spoilers!), and cartooning was what he loved, and he did that - for 10 years, until he decided it wasn't for him anymore, at which point he moved on, and shied away from even coming in contact with anything that reminded him of that.
So, I came away from my reading of this book with a new found respect for Bill Watterson, a respect that I know I didn't have or realize I could have when I was consuming every single Calvin and Hobbes strip and book collection I could get my hands on when I was younger. I got a better sense of why Watterson shunned licensing and merchandising offers, turned down movie deals, and hardly flinched when big names came to him wanting to collaborate. I got a better sense of how Watterson's childhood and formative years (what little is known about them, that is; needless to say, Martell put on his sleuthing hat to ferret out as much as he could) played into what he did with his life after Calvin and Hobbes. And, I got a better sense of what not only his peers, but those closest to him (friends, editor, etc.) had to say about the man who gave us Calvinball, the Transmogrifier, Spaceman Spiff, and countless other morsels of comic-y goodness. I also have respect for Martell, for tackling such a mysterious subject as Bill Watterson, and allowing the reader to live vicariously through him during his journey.
All in all, this book was a wonderful experience, albeit a quick one, that I never felt like was bogged down with filler one bit.
Just like I like my cupcakes. -
I will say this...this book is packed with heart, passion, and years of research.
Also, this is one of the biggest let downs I think I've read in quite a while.
Doing a review for this book is difficult because I'm not quite sure what it was even supposed to BE. Yes, it WAS supposed to be about searching for a Bill Watterson and finding out why he decided to disappear.
However, that's not necessarily the vibe I got from this book at all.
The first half (actually, more like the first 75%), is about the stages of Watterson's life as a cartoonist and how he decided his didn't want his com syndicated, mass-produced, and dumbed down and/or downgraded from the masterpiece the comic strip already was. It was interesting to read about, yet parts get redundant after a while and you're just waiting for the sojourn to start.
The book has a LOT of interviews from cartoonists, comedians like Patton Oswalt (who was probably only interviewed by the author about the subject because Martell even admitted he was an Oswald fanboy), people who worked for the company who published his strip, and friends and relatives of Watterson.
A lot of these "interviews" are merely celebrities bowing to Watterson and proclaiming how he inspired them, which may have been more interested if they weren't only half a page long! Part of me thinks most of the people he interviewed in here were so he could brag to people how he had a chance to interview people like Brad Bird, Stephen Pastis, Richard Thompson, etc. They were interesting, but barely serve as foundations for searching for Bill Watterson.
When Martell FINALLY gets to looking for Watterson, the trip merely consists of taking a day trip to the cartoonist's home town, looking at a few old drawings by him in a library cache, and having a three-page interview with his mother covering information we got about Watterson near the VERY BEGINNING OF THE BOOK. Also, I think Martell cut the interview WAY, WAY too short. Out of all the people he interviewed, he said the one with Watterson's mother was the longest. Didn't it occur to him that the relative who knew most about Watterson shared a plethora of information about him and maybe other people would be interested in knowing since this is a BOOK ABOUT FINDING AND KNOWING ABOUT BILL WATTERSON?!?!?
Argh! I can safely say I really didn't like this book. I rated it two stars because I do believe Martell was dedicated to this project and the mini bio about Watterson was interesting to me (I am after all a Calvin and Hobbes enthusiast).
I know I didn't like this book but...I can't really say I wouldn't recommend it to other people. It may suit others who are looking for a quick read, but for me, it felt very incomplete and abridged. A big NO-NO for me. -
Martell's book--somewhere between breathless fanzine and good high-school journalism--tells the story of the brilliant "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip and its creator Bill Watterson.
Watterson is notoriously reclusive and sometimes antagonistic to his colleagues, so the premise--find Bill Watterson and tell his story--was noble. Unlike Michael Moore, Werner Herzog, or Herman Melville, however, Martell is not able to carry off this story of mythic absence. Instead of taking a cue from the strip's hero Calvin, who would create elaborate fantasies to explain a missing homework assignment, Martell simply shows us his empty hands and tries to fill space by quoting previously published material.
It is also lamentable, if legally understandable, that there are no reproductions of any comic strips in this book. For a greater artist, that might present yet another opportunity, but Martell passes it by. As a collection of the known facts about Bill Watterson, this book does a service. There are also a few worthy quotes from other cartoonists (each of which Martell uses numerous times), but not a lot of new information about the comics community.
Calvin and Hobbes was a sui generis phenomenon--Watterson wrote, drew, and colored all his strips by himself, didn't participate in many industry events or conversations (except to lob figurative hand grenades about the perils of selling out), and ended the strip at the height of its popularity. None of these things diminish the genius of the work; in fact they are inseparable from it. The achievement of Martell's book is to remind us of the self-contained perfection of the original, and that the only way to experience it, at least so far, is to read that ur-text.
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: I grew up in Russell, Ohio, which is the town next door to Chagrin Falls--the town where Bill Watterson grew up. Because Russell consisted of a stop light and a convenient store, we spent a lot of time in Chagrin. My sisters worked at the famous Popcorn Shoppe, my brother worked at the local department store, my "odd jobs" enterprises as a 13-year old took me to various yards and basements in the town. And we all used the local library and local cinema before it got torn down.
A few years ago my brother got me the giant, fabulous, amazing "Complete Calvin and Hobbes." As I read it I realized that one of the drawings was a perfect rendition of Chagrin's Main Street, complete with the old bandstand. I called my brother to find out if he knew why that was. "Bill Watterson grew up there!" he said. I couldn't believe it--no wonder I had such an affinitiy for that strip: its bare winter trees, the toboggan rides, the lakes and days of nothing to do but get into trouble.
My brother got me a signed copy of Nevin Martell's book for Christmas this past year. Its shortcomings as literature were more than balanced by its inclusion of some stories of the librarians at the Chagrin Falls branch library and other familiar locales that I love so well. -
An undemanding hagiography written at undergraduate level with minimal evident research, and with little or nothing new to add to the legend that is Calvin and Hobbes - at least for the long-time reader of the strip.
An immediate give-away is the total lack of photographic research or cartoons to illustrate the story being told. In a biography of a cartoonist?!
The thing with Watterson, as any lover of Calvin and Hobbes will tell you, is that he's been notoriously private and near-reclusive since C&A began. So any biography of the man is going to rely on the same minimal set of already published facts: Watterson's forewords to some of the collections, the vanishingly few interviews or media articles. So Nevin Martell's book, which starts with good intentions and an undoubted love of his subject, has to rely on regurgitating these old stories, and falling back on a writing style which increasingly makes the author (Martell, not Watterson) and his futile search for new facts the subject of the book - not unlike the stuff Dave Gorman made so successful in 'Are You Dave Gorman'.
Long story short, it was a quick, undemanding, uninformative read. If you're new to C&A, then this stuff might be new and therefore interesting. But then it's unlikely you'd pick up a biography of Watterson anyway.
2/5 stars, and I think I was being generous. -
This book is not good. DO NOT READ.
You learn almost nothing new about Watterson that you wouldn't already know if you read all the collections. Most of the post-Calvin "revelations" come from stuff that was already published in the C&H 10th Anniversary book and the new hardcover retrospective. He got no reprint rights to strips, so be spends a lot of time DESCRIBING strips in the book, which is totally lame. Then, he just goes off the rails towards the end and spends and entire chapter interviewing random people he likes, using C&H as an excuse to talk to comedians and actors and other people like that.
SPOILER ALERT -- he gets no interview with Watterson.
Add to this a lot of hackneyed freshman-English-level analysis of Watterson through some of the strips common themes, and you've got a real non-page-turner.
If you were at ALL interested in this book, let me save you some time with the interesting things that are in there that are not available somewhere else:
Watterson spent a lot of time in college replicating a Sistene Chapel painting on the ceiling of his dorm room.
He started out as a political cartoonist.
Now he paints all the time.
That's it! Now don't read this crappy book. -
I was slightly disappointed after reading this book. (Okay, maybe more than slightly.) I wanted more commentary from other artists, and less quotes from Watterson's essays in his previously published books. I mean, dang gina, Martell quotes Watterson more than he quoted anyone else...I've read what Watterson has to say already...I want more outside opinion.
The book totes itself as a journey to find and meet with Watterson...but in reality, it seems Martell just made lots of phone calls leading to short interviews, and made a single trip to Chagrin Falls, OH, where Watterson grew up.
That's not a journey. That's making phone calls, and going on a day trip.
(Yeah, I'm a little bitter. But only because I just didn't get anything "new" out of this book. Martell just kind of talkes about everything fans of Watterson already know about him, except for maybe his early cartooning days, which was fairly interesting.)
Also, I have a very hard time believing this book will be of any interest to someone who isn't already interested in the life of Watterson and the choices he;s made to lead a highly private life. -
Much like the author, I too have never interviewed
Bill Watterson. I also love Calvin and Hobbes and wish that I knew more about Bill Watterson. I'm also needlessly inserting myself into this review, in lieu of new information about Bill Watterson. I've been to Ohio, too. The difference between the author and myself is that I've never written a book about how I couldn't get an interview with Bill Watterson, only this goodreads review that I didn't interview Watterson for either. Let's all go read
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes again and go exploring the way Watterson intended. And leave Watterson alone, please. -
Nevin Martell is neither an exceptional writer nor an intrepid journalist. The author of a couple airplane-gift-store-quality pop music biographies, his skill involves tracking down information that has already been recorded, and streamlining it into a highly readable format. As such, his Looking for Calvin and Hobbes is a couple hundred pages of highly readable information about the comic strip's creator, Bill Watterson.
Like many people who read their local newspaper's comic page in the mid-'80s and mid-'90s, I absolutely adore Calvin and Hobbes. I kept stacks of the anthologies by my bed as a kid, and read each one again and again and again. As an adult I've joined the ranks of the contingent that maintains Watterson's strip was more than just a series of fabulously entertaining cartoons, but a strange, beautiful hybrid of artful drawing, literate dialog, and philosophical expression. To fully complete the cliche, the strip was a true masterpiece, and I'm pretty sure Watterson was/is a genius. He was also, like many geniuses, obsessive, difficult, and even, Martell's book suggests, downright mean.
Watterson's almost militantly reclusive nature is a well known quirk amongst C & H enthusiasts, as is his relentless refusal to license his characters and therefore reap the extremely lucrative financial rewards from the merchandising circuit. Martell's book reinforces this fact, providing anecdotal evidence culled from the rare interviews Watterson has given, and some even rarer public appearances (at some of which Watterson came off as downright insane.) The best parts of Looking for Calvin and Hobbes happen when Martell does what his publishing history suggests he is good at doing: synthesizing biographical information about Watterson. A third of the book or more is spent fleshing out the details of Watterson's life, and anyone who loves the strip and is interested in its Salinger-like creator's persona will be fascinated to learn the details behind his rise to fame and fortune.
But alas, one-third of a book does not a book make. Martell tries to hook you for the long haul from the prologue, structuring his forthcoming tale around a personal quest to score an interview with Watterson. But considering Watterson is the same guy who turned down a meeting with Steven Spielberg to discuss a movie version of Calvin and Hobbes—somehow the odds don't seem to favor the significantly less important Martell. This reader certainly felt some skepticism regarding Martell's chances and sure enough, he never comes close, padding his book instead with ruminations on Watterson's influences, quotes from other cartoonists who admire the man's work, and a description of his own journey to Watterson's hometown in Ohio. He's neither a comics historian nor much of a scholar, and I found myself not caring whatsoever what he had to say about the strip itself and about the evolution of newspaper comics.
What Looking for Calvin and Hobbes could have used was a fearless and even disreputable journalist. Someone who would have had no problem staking out Watterson's house, paparazzi-style, frequenting his local haunts, and ultimately at least scoring an INTERACTION with the guy. The namby-pamby Martell can't even bring himself to track down Watterson's address, seemingly scared to even go near the guy. Instead he writes letters and sends emails to the guy's publisher, who promptly and repeatedly rejects him to the surprise of no one. Finally, Martell somehow lucks his way into an interview with Watterson's mother, a moment he describes as "the culmination of two years' worth of phone calls, emails, letters and prostrations to the void." Then he proceeds to lob at her the softest puffballs ever transcribed from a tape recorder. We learn Watterson (gasp!) put some childhood memories into the strip, and that (gasp-gasp!) his mother supported his decision to end the strip prematurely (resulting from years fighting his syndicate's licensing department and exhaustion from creating true artwork day in and day out, under deadline) but "was sad because I enjoyed it so much."
Some questions Martell COULD have asked are,
Why is your son so crazy?
What the hell does he DO nowadays besides sit back and collect millions from his book royalties?
Who is this "wife" character he claims to have and what is she like?
But those are for another book I suppose, written by someone who knows what they are doing. -
'Looking for Calvin and Hobbes' would have been better titled "Admiring Calvin and Hobbes, and Trying to Break Into Bill Watterson's Well-Protected and Should-be-Respected Privacy". It's not as snappy, but it's a whole lot more accurate.
The reader, myself included, is complicit in this of course.
Many people who loved the comic strip are curious to know why Bill stopped drawing the immensely popular duo, why he doesn't want to talk about it and why he never cashed in on merchandizing the two as so many have done before and continue to do.
Bill doesn't want to tell you, but Nevin Martell does. He also wants to scoop the world by nailing an interview that Watterson has refused everyone for decades. Does he manage it?
Let's put it this way: reading this book is like looking at a ghost. It's all peripheral vision if it's there at all. You don't see things in sharp focus but you sure do get a lot of input from those who claim to have seen him, just about everything that's ghost-written, and the author's speculations that attempt to fill in the void where the main character isn't standing.
I can't definitely say this, but it feels like you won't learn much that will satisfy you that you couldn't have read casually elsewhere.
The end of Calvin and Hobbes was and remains disappointing, so I suppose it's fitting that a book about their creator should be also. Good for Bill to preserve his privacy and shame on us for trying to take that away from him. -
I am one of the millions of people who adore Calvin and Hobbes and am one of the millions who grieved when Watterson decided to discontinue the strip. I have all the trade paperback books and periodically get one off the shelf since they can be read many times and still seem new. So, when I spotted this book, I jumped for joy since I was looking forward to learning a little more about the rather mysterious Watterson and the whole Calvin and Hobbes phenomenon. Sad to say, that didn't happen. The author fills it with Watterson quotes of which most fans are already familiar from the C/H book forwards written by Watterson, as well as excerpts from old interviews and newspaper articles. There is absolutely nothing new here and I was sorely disappointed. Additionally, the writing style is awkward, so basically it was a bust for me.
-
I tried to like this book, but I just felt "meh." I'm not a big fan of biographies, and now I remember why. The enjoyment of someone's work doesn't necessarily improve by learning about his life. While I understand the author's desire to learn more about a creative genius who has maintained a private life, ultimately, I didn't see the point. Not to say that there wasn't any value in the work -- just that it might have been better as a feature article in a Sunday magazine section, e.g., rather than a full-length book. Learning about the art and life of cartoonists was of some interest.
I did finish the book with a greater admiration for Bill Watterson, a man who has remained true to his principles and moral outlook, despite myriad offers, loaded with money, dangled in front of him. He has remained an artist, when others wanted him to be a huckster, and is apparently happy for it. -
What a great read! My being a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes and Watterson surely helps. The book is written from the heart of a huge fan. Ok, a larger fan than me as he went to such lengths to research this book. Unbelievable. Every page was interesting and easy to read. A pleasure to read. Heck, I want to be friends with this guy! Nevin Martell.
The only problem I had with the book was the back cover! A few quotes are there to get you fired up to buy the book. Fine. But The LA Times Book Review quote, decided to give away one of the mysteries of reading the book. Yes, a huge asshole decided to ruin a bit of it. Another ass decided to put it on the back cover. I’m going to have to message Nevin and make sure he didn’t pick that quote or our long-future, improbable, possible, friendship is over! -
A good way to illuminate the problems with this biography of
Bill Watterson and the (wonderful! glorious!) Calvin and Hobbes comics is to compare it to another literary biography I read this year,
Laura Miller's
The Magician's Book. Miller makes it clear up front that her book is going to be partly a story of
C.S. Lewis' life and partly the story of her evolving relationship with the Narnia books. The two elements are balanced seamlessly, and both are illuminating. Martell, on the other hand, doesn’t really commit to making his book partially about his own experiences with Watterson’s work, so when he does reference his own feelings, they seem out of place. Worse, he sets up this whole fake drama about how he might just get to conduct an actual interview with Bill Watterson!!!!...which is of course B.S., because he won’t, and the reader knows he won’t: Bill Watterson doesn’t give interviews. In many ways Miller had more access to C.S. Lewis in the writing of her book, and Lewis is dead.
Which is not to say that a book about Watterson shouldn’t be written: though limited, the information Martell was able to dig up about him is interesting, and the enigma that he presents is potentially fascinating. So I really wish Martell could have come up with a different approach to this material. One that involved accepting that no interview would be forthcoming, and so instead chose to approach Watterson from another angle. Some real literary analysis, maybe? All of the best discussion of the actual Calvin and Hobbes strips (which are totally worthy of an in-depth academic look) comes from Watterson himself, with Martell simply quoting from the artist’s mini essays in
The Calvin and Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book; I felt like I was experiencing severe déjà vu while reading certain sections. If only Martell could have presented what little background information about Watterson is known, and then used that as a jumping off point for the story of his own relationship with the comics and some real analysis about what the strip means—to him, and in a larger sense. That is a potentially fascinating book.
It’s just not this book, alas. -
Here's how I sum up this review: Skip this book and read Exploring Calvin and Hobbes.
I liked this book for the few little bits of of information about cartooning and Watterson's career that I found in the book.
Otherwise this book is incorrectly subtitled. It should be called "Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: But much more about Nevin Martell." I wasn't looking for a lot about Nevin Martell and now I'm not glad that I read it. His journey to create this book was uninteresting, his conversational tone distracting, and his jokes not very funny.
There were also times that he delved so far into Watterson's life that I felt uncomfortable. Why is it important to know that after the strip ended Watterson adopted a daughter and her name? And even if that is germane to the topic, delving further into it and trying to find out if the Wattersons kept their daughter's pre-adoption name or changed it themselves to perhaps honor a minor Peanuts character just feels like a gross invasion of the life of someone who does not want to be examined.
If Martell has as much respect for Watterson as he says he does then how can he ignore all the signs from friends and family the Watterson doesn't want this book to happen and is a bit disgusted by the prospect of it. Watterson doesn't owe his fans, any of them, this book. He doesn't owe us more Calvin and Hobbes. He doesn't owe us his story. We got something wonderful and should be able to sit with that.
Skip this book and read Exploring Calvin and Hobbes because that has the big ol interview with Watterson that this book never gets. We get it on Watterson's terms. We owe the guy that much. -
It's pretty inexcusable for a book about a comic strip and its creator to include zero images of said creator's work. Also, Martell's gratuitous insertions of himself into the narrative, ranging from "I felt creepy" stalking Watterson's childhood home to "my wife would rather be listening to Arcade Fire or TV On The Radio" are incredibly unnecessary and distracting to boot. I understand Bill Watterson was a difficult subject to tackle, and Martell does an admirable job of reconstructing parts of Watterson's life. Perhaps the film "Adaptation" inspired the author to make his own struggle to track down this elusive subject a part of the story. But it doesn't work.
Seriously, not having any artwork basically ruins this book. A work like this is journalistic in nature and the Internet is already filled with images of Calvin and Hobbes, as well as Watterson's earlier work. The "fair use" doctrine of copyright law would easily allow reproduction of a handful of strips and images. I'm assuming the exclusion of artwork was not the author's decision, but it leaves a major gap in the project of this book that cannot be filled with words. -
This book never should have been published. The author didn't have access or permission enough to do it well. He talks about old strips and photographs but I am guessing he didn't have permission to publish we don't get to see the content he is discussing. There isn't one photograph or comic strip in the book. He is obviously reaching and using a lot filler. I stopped in the middle of a general discussion of how cartoonists get syndicated. I really don't care. This reminds me of one of my last minute hastily written college essays. I suspect it was well researched, unlike my papers, but there just wasn't enough content available. My professor would have told me to revise my thesis.
I knew nothing about Bill Watterson before reading this book, apparently because that is the way he wants it. If I had known that I would have respected the man's privacy and continued to just enjoy his strip letting them speak for myself. I would recommend the Essential Calvin and Hobbs or on of the other strip compilations instead. (My copies are falling apart). -
A very interesting story about the creation of Calvin and Hobbes. The only thing that could have made it sweeter was an interview with BW himself.
On one hand, I respect his desire to cut himself off from the public. On the other, I completely understand (and share) the public's desire to know more about the genesis of Calvin and Hobbes and about the man behind the comic. But it seems that we will never get complete closure. Time to reread the books and enjoy Calvin and Hobbes all over again. :) -
This originally appeared at
The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Nevin Martell, like just about everyone who ever read him, is a Calvin and Hobbes fan -- what's more, he discovered the strip at the right age and was able to appreciate it as only a child can -- without being self-conscious about reading a comic strip and with devotion. Years later, when trying to write something more meaningful to him than another book about a pop star, he decides to write about that strip and its reclusive creator.
The reclusive part of that sentence is the key -- Watterson had (and has) pretty much dropped off the face of the earth as far as your typical person is concerned. A few select friends, business acquaintances and family members can get in touch with him, but no one else can. This isn't crippling to a book about his comic strips or himself, but it sure hampers it (especially because those people who can get in touch with him are just about as reticent as he is to talk about him or his work). Unencumbered by access to Watterson himself, and his perspective on his life and career was like, what his influences were, what made him make the creative decisions, etc. Martell dove into research -- things written about and by Watterson, archives of his previous work (when and where available) and interviews with colleagues, editors and the like.
In the kind of detail only a scholar or a fan can appreciate, Martell describes Watteron's childhood, college, and pre-Calvin and Hobbes career; then he discusses that comic strip -- major themes -- and its publishing history; Watterson's battle to keep control of the strip, its merchandising/licensing; then he describes Watterson's retirement. As much of that as he can, which isn't much. Following that, Martell focuses on things like the impact of Watterson on the industry, his relationships with other cartoonists and is influence on those who followed.
I wish he'd given us more (and maybe he gave us all he could, but I don't think so) from Watterson's contemporaries/those he influenced in the field of comics (or related fields -- he spoke with a novelist and Dave Barry, too). Martell spoke to many and gave us a lot of what he was told -- but I'd have appreciated more coming from professionals about Watterson's strengths, technique, stories -- whatever. Sure, it might have gotten a little redundant, but something tells me that it wouldn't have been too bad. These were my favorite parts of the book, and I could've listened to another hour of them easily.
I'm not convinced that I was ever as invested in Martell's journey as he seemed to think his readers would (should?) be -- and I'm okay with that. I know I tend to overshare here a tad myself -- so I understand the impulse. Or maybe I'm just callous, and everyone else got into it.
As far as Arthur's work narrating -- there's not a lot to say. This isn't a work of fiction where he can play with characters, pacing, and whatnot. It's a straightforward text and he does a capable job of reading it in a straightforward manner. I did have to remind myself a couple of times that I was listening to someone Martell's words rather than listening to him -- which I guess is a good thing.
It was a pleasant book, nothing too challenging -- and it reinvigorated an impulse to go read a collection or two of Watterson again on my part (and some of Larson's The Far Side, too -- I'm sure there's an interesting book to be written there, too). It's not a must-read, but it'll scratch an itch for those who have an interest in the subject.
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Meh. I don't know what I expected/wanted from this book. (I only found it while searching for Calvin & Hobbes at my library.) It's weird for someone to try and offer so much "insight" into the comic strip with any input from the author, or without any allowed reproduction of the comics. If that's the case, perhaps he should have abandoned this idea.
Martell notes his love and "profound respect" for Bill Watterson, and then goes to all sorts of lengths to pry into aspects of his life -old teachers, friends, random people from his hometown, his brother, his mother. Nice effort, but it seems like if you respect someone (profoundly, even) then you can respect their wish for privacy. Something really doesn't fit.
I also felt like there was something off about Martell's writing style. The words didn't flow very naturally -like he'd systematically tried to craft each sentence, and thus lost all true personality. He talks about himself a lot, but since there's no genuine first person feel it has no impact.
I did enjoy the heaps of love other writers/artists gave to Calvin & Hobbes. They mentioned specific qualities to the strip that I'd never really thought about before, particularly in the drawing stage.
All in all, I'd advise against reading this. Bill Watterson is quoted heavily from the 10th Anniversary book, so why not just read that instead and enjoy some snazzy comic strips in the process? -
There is no new information presented in this book, however the narrative style of the author makes the process of perusing old information enjoyable. The plot is non-existant and you learn more about the author than Bill Watterson, but that should be expected based on Watterson's preference for privacy.
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This is the story of an author who is loyal to his work. This is an awesome book.
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I love his passion and history of Watterson’s beloved project, but it feels like with every C&H project there’s this longing to connect with the creator. He adds depth to the legend, this is a beautiful book and I loved when he visits Watterson’s Cleveland suburb.
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I would advise anyone picking up this book to put it back and just read the 3,160 strips contained in the Complete Calvin and Hobbes.
This poorly written book sheds little light on Bill Watterson and the reasons he chose to stop drawing the strip and become a recluse from interviews. It’s 240 pages of an author’s fan gushing and very little beyond that. -
All through reading this, I imagined an archeologist trying to put together pieces and hoping that what was assembled came close to the real thing. For a man as intensely private as Watterson, whose own parents and brother refuse interviews to honor his wishes, secondary sources are about the best Martell could do. My feeling manifested explicitly in Martell's epilogue:
"I had an epiphany near the end of writing this book, which made me realize that I was in the midst of an archeologist's puzzle[...]The archeologist accepts at the outset that all the pieces aren't there and they don't even know what they're trying to put together."
After reading this, I do believe I will in my near future pull out my Complete Calvin and Hobbes that I saved from the fire (minus the sleeve) and read all 3160 strips again.
One primary source available to Martell was Watterson's October 27th, 1989 address to a Festical of Cartoon Art at Ohio State University:I consider it a great privilege to be a cartoonist. I love my work, and I am grateful for the incredible forum I have to express my thoughts. People give me their attention for a few seconds every day, and I take that as an honor and a responsibility. I try to give readers the best strip I’m capable of doing. I look at cartoons as an art, as a form of personal expression. That’s why I don’t hire assistants, why I write and draw every line myself, why I draw and paint special art for each of my books, and why I refuse to dilute or corrupt the strip’s message with merchandising. I want to draw cartoons, not supervise a factory. I had a lot of fun as a kid reading comics, and now I’m in the position where I can return some of that fun.
Principled to this day. -
I'm not alone in my love for Calvin and Hobbes. Most of my friends were into comic books when they were young. The closest I came was the comic strip about a boy and his tiger.
When something helps form your likes and sensibilities as a child, especially something as finite and universally praised at Calvin and Hobbes, anything that takes a closer look and can give you more information is of interest. Nevin Martell's book is no different. The personal approach made me feel like I wasn't so odd for constantly reading an old comic strip. The look at the larger industry showed me some things I didn't know and introduced me what I may have missed.
If you like Calvin and Hobbes or are interested in comic strips as a medium, you may get a kick out of this book. -
I love Calvin and Hobbes. Why only 3 stars for the book?
The book was strongest when the author interviews colleagues, friends, agents, and publishing houses. Reading the genesis of the comic was fascinating; learning of watterson's fight to retain 100% ownership over his artistic vision was incredible. This was 1/3 of the book.
The rest was a summary of watterson's essays in his collections, most notably the 10th anniversary collection. I have read this dozens of times. Nothing was new.
If you love Calvin and Hobbes and want to learn new stuff, read chapters 1-4 and 6. After that, it's all old news to the die hard fans. -
Interesting in that it collects all the known info about Watterson into one place, and draws opinion from a large cast of qualified interviewees; but this is part of the “new non-fiction” where the author inserts himself into the story – and although it works, I’m not yet convinced this method is best.
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Honestly you would be better off just reading the comics themselves or looking at the Wikipedia page. He doesn’t get to interview Bill Watterson so he just has to borrow info from other interviews. That being said, this is pretty long for having no new info to go off of. He describes the comics which I found irritating because I can just go read them!
