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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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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?
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So that's a crazy thing I didn't know that was, I mean, he had that easy in and some
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people would take that as an in and then, okay, now I can do my thing.
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I do this.
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It's like you do the safe picture.
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Then you do the indie artist picture, you know, you do the blockbuster, then you do
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the artsy stuff, you know, just to kind of them.
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One for me.
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Yeah.
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Two for them, one for me.
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But he was steadfast and it wasn't, I don't know if it was a hundred percent against,
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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.
