Once Upon a Geek

Bill Watterson gave an interview this week to Plain Dealer reporter John Campanelli.  This was Watterson’s first interview since 1989.  Below is an excerpt:

JC: Because your work touched so many people, fans feel a connection to you, like they know you. They want more of your work, more Calvin, another strip, anything. It really is a sort of rock star/fan relationship. Because of your aversion to attention, how do you deal with that even today? And how do you deal with knowing that it’s going to follow you for the rest of your days?

BW: Ah, the life of a newspaper cartoonist — how I miss the groupies, drugs and trashed hotel rooms!

But since my “rock star” days, the public attention has faded a lot. In Pop Culture Time, the 1990s were eons ago. There are occasional flare-ups of weirdness, but mostly I just go about my quiet life and do my best to ignore the rest. I’m proud of the strip, enormously grateful for its success, and truly flattered that people still read it, but I wrote “Calvin and Hobbes” in my 30s, and I’m many miles from there.

An artwork can stay frozen in time, but I stumble through the years like everyone else. I think the deeper fans understand that, and are willing to give me some room to go on with my life.

To read the entire interview, click here.  My thanks to Joel Schroeder, OnThink, and my wonderful wife for sending me information about this interview.

Happy New Year!  Today is the final day of CALVIN AND HOBBES SNOW DAYS!  I hope you’ve enjoyed these snowmen strips all week.  Also, have you made a pledge yet to Dear Mr. Watterson, a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator?  If not, then click here for information on how you can help.

One last time, bring on the snowmen!

Today is day four of CALVIN AND HOBBES SNOW DAYS!  Enjoy these snowmen strips.  Also, please consider making a pledge to Dear Mr. Watterson, a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator.  For more information on the fund raising for Dear Mr. Watterson, please click here.

And now, bring on the snowmen!

Today is day three of CALVIN AND HOBBES SNOW DAYS!  Enjoy these snowmen strips.  Also, please consider making a pledge to Dear Mr. Watterson, a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator.  For more information on the fund raising for Dear Mr. Watterson, please click here.

And now, bring on the snowmen!

Today is day two of CALVIN AND HOBBES SNOW DAYS!  Enjoy these snowmen strips.  Also, please consider making a pledge to Dear Mr. Watterson, a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator.  For more information on the fund raising for Dear Mr. Watterson, please click here.

And now, bring on the snowmen!

I’m officially declaring this week CALVIN AND HOBBES SNOW DAYS!  Each day this week will spotlight a handful of Calvin & Hobbes comic strips featuring snowmen.  This collection won’t cover all of the snowman related strips, but will tackle many of them.

You may recall I’ve posted before about the upcoming film, Dear Mr. Watterson.  Well they’ve just started a funding campaign at www.kickstarter.com to raise $12,000 to help pay for the costs of production for the movie. So far, over $5,000 has already been pledged. Kickstarter.com is a website that allows them to gather pledges for the film (you can pledge easily, especially if you already have Facebook and Amazon.com accounts).  If they don’t hit their goal of $12,000 then they won’t get any of the funding.

Please consider making a pledge if you are able. The minimum pledge is only $3, and there are incentives, including the opportunity to be in the film, or to get a finished copy on DVD when it is released. I believe this is a worthwhile project and encourage everyone to consider pledging.  If you are interested, please visit Kickstarter.com by clicking here.

And now, bring on the snowmen!

Dear Mr. Watterson is a film project spearheaded by Joel Allen Schroeder.  According to their website,  “Dear Mr. Watterson is a film that will look to the readers and fans of Calvin & Hobbes to tell the story of the strip and its creator. As we follow the life and career of Bill Watterson through this unique perspective, the undying appreciation and love of Calvin & Hobbes and the man behind it will be evident in the anecdotes, stories, and memories shared by readers of the strip and friends and colleagues of Mr. Watterson.”

If you’ve been reading ONCE UPON A GEEK for a while, then you probably know I’m a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes.  I gotta say folks, this film looks great!  Check out the trailer below:

Teaser from DMW on Vimeo.

I’m really excited for this project!  In the spirit of the upcoming film, I wanted to share my own first experience with Calvin and Hobbes here.  I first became aware of the strip in the summer of 1987. I was about 15 years old and visiting my father in Madison, Wisconsin.  Where I lived in Florida, the local newspaper did not carry the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip; in fact, I’d never heard of it. Like any bored teenager in the 1980s, I read the daily comics for amusement.  I quickly discovered that the Madison paper carried a much wider variety of strips than my paper back home.  One such strip was called Calvin and Hobbes.  It was hilarious!  I immediately related to the character of Calvin and began seeking out the strip each morning. As Madison was a recycling town (not a common practice back in ‘87), my father’s garage was full of old newspapers. I spent hours sifting through these old papers reading Calvin and Hobbes strips. Within the matter of a week, I’d read several months worth of the strip.  I was hooked!  At the end of the summer, I returned to my hometown and it’s sadly inadequate newspaper.  This could have resulted in the end of my love affair with Calvin and Hobbes, however, my step-mother intervened to provide my much needed Calvin-fix.  She dutifully cut out the Calvin and Hobbes strips every day and would mail them to me in batches about once every three weeks. I would wait anxiously for this package of joy. I’d then tape the strips down on three-ring paper, essentially making my own books. Eventually, my local paper picked up the strip and the official collections became readily available. However, I’ll never forget my initial discovery and those wonderful packages from my generous step-mother. There you have it… the secret origin of a Calvin and Hobbes junkie!

If the upcoming film looks interesting to you, there are a few avenues for you to stay connected with the project.  First, check out the web site at dearmrwatterson.com for updates on the film.  Next, join the Facebook group dedicated to this movie.  Finally, check out their new Twitter account.

I found out about the film recently when I was interviewed for Racket Magazine.  They stumbled across my praise for Calvin and Hobbes here and contacted me to ask about my fandom of the comic strip.  You can read the interview Racket Magazine did with both Joel Allen Schroeder and myself by clicking here.

And remember each night as you lay down to fall asleep… something under the bed is drooling.

I’m closing out my DragonCon 2009 coverage with my favorite costume photos. Some have been shown here previously, but they bear repeating. To see all of my DragonCon photos, be sure to visit my Flickr page. If you have a favorite costume that I left out, be sure to mention it in the comments. A small handful of these photos were taken by folks other than me. In those cases, I’ve linked to their original photo.

A really great Bumblebee from “Transformers”

These ladies were having a blast in their gender-bender “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” costumes.  They were totally in character and so were the screaming fans!

Cookie Monster Michael Jackson.  Really funny, but is it too soon?

The Convention Vixens return to DragonCon.  You can find more on the ConVixens by clicking here.

Star Wars Jedi impaling a Clone Trooper.  This was a really neat and creative costume.  The lightsaber was connected to the trooper on both sides and was lit up.  Impressive, most impressive.

A really good Snake Eyes from “GI Joe”

Is this the future of Marvel Comics now that they’ve been bought by Disney?

The Ghostbusters!  This group won the Hall Costume Contest for Best Movie Group.  The detail on their costumes is amazing!

The popularity of the new “Star Trek” film inspired quite a few simple, yet effective costumes.

The most in character group at the convention! Tony Stark (from “Iron Man”), his assistant Pepper, and his security guards.  Tony was dead-on and never broke character. The security guards actually frisked anyone who wanted their picture with Tony.  Pepper was sure to inquire if you had an appointment.  Brilliant!

The most creative costume at the convention in my opinion.  The two-person AT-AT from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”!

With the popularity of the “Blackest Night” comic book this year, there were quite a few different Lantern Corps represented.  Here is a member of the Sinestro Corps…

… and here is a member of the Red Lantern Corps.

A really great Supergirl!

The second most creative costume at the convention in my opinion.  He perfectly captured Peter Parker’s Spider-Sense tingling from the comics.

An astonishing “Doctor Who” look-a-like.  Several people were doing double-takes to ensure it wasn’t really David Tennant.

An impressive Catwoman from the “Batman Returns” film.

Spaceman Spiff from “Calvin & Hobbes”.  Notice the stuffed tiger on his shoulder!

“Watchmen” – Thankfully Doctor Manhattan went for the briefs, rather than what was shown in the movie.

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

An impressive Silver Surfer from “Fantastic Four 2″

A really well done “Barbarella”

If you’ve never seen “Logan’s Run”, then go rent it right now.

A recreation of the famous picture taken in Times Square at the end of World War II

Really clever way to represent the video game “Mario Cart”

The Harry Potter/Hogwarts bad-girl thing continues to be popular.  Understandably.

Remember, the Visitors are our friends.

A really obscure Boba Fett costume from Star Wars.  This particular version of the costume was only used in his first appearance in the animated portion of the 1978 televised “Star Wars Holiday Special”.  Like I said… really obscure, but also really neat that someone took the time to make this particular variation.

An eight-foot Sasquatch from the Alpha Flight comic book!

A fun Stormtrooper variant in the parade – the Indianapolis Colts Trooper!

And finally Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”.  This young lady was having a blast hopping around as Max!  She mentioned that lots of people didn’t know what her costume was supposed to be.  That surprised me, but I guess they’ll all figure it out next year after the movie comes out.

There is a book coming out in October that I’m anxious for … Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip by Nevin Martell.

If you’ve been reading ONCE UPON A GEEK for a while, then you probably know I’m a big fan of Calvin & Hobbes.  This comic strip found me at just the right time in life and I’ve felt a strong connection ever since (yes, it found me rather than the other way around).  Beyond reading the daily strips, I purchased the collections, and even put the unauthorized decals on my vehicles.  No… not Calvin peeing or praying.  These were actual images from the strips featuring Spaceman Spiff and a fierce-looking Hobbes.

This new book studies the life of reclusive writer/artist Bill Watterson.  While it appears that Watterson wasn’t actually interviewed for the book, the amount of research done is impressive.

Here is the description from the publisher, Continuum:

The fascinating life, work, and legacy of the reclusive creator behind the beloved Calvin and Hobbes comic strip

For ten years, between 1985 and 1995, Calvin and Hobbes was one the world’s most beloved comic strips. And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life. There is no merchandising associated with Calvin and Hobbes: no movie franchise; no plush toys; no coffee mugs; no t-shirts (except a handful of illegal ones). There is only the strip itself, and the books in which it has been compiled – including The Complete Calvin and Hobbes: the heaviest book ever to hit the New York Times bestseller list.

In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip, writer Nevin Martell traces the life and career of the extraordinary, influential, and intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. With input from a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Lethem, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson’s closest friends and professional colleagues, this is as close as we’re ever likely to get to one of America’s most ingenious and intriguing figures – and a fascinating detective story, at the same time.

Only 3,160 Calvin & Hobbes strips were ever produced, but Watterson has left behind an impressive legacy. Calvin & Hobbes references litter the pop culture landscape and his fans are as varied as they are numerable. Looking for Calvin and Hobbes is an affectionate and revealing book about uncovering the story behind this most uncommon trio – a man, a boy, and his tiger.

Comics Worth Reading received an advance copy and did a fairly in-depth review.  While they were critical about much, they ended by saying, “… this really is a wonderful, warm, and informative book that manages to capture just the right amount of magic about the creator and his creation.“

I’m looking forward to reading this book and getting a better understanding of Bill Watterson, the creator of such beloved characters.

As a parent, and a geek desperately clinging to his childhood, this image really speaks to me.

I’ve been a huge fan of Calvin & Hobbes since the early days of its publication.  I’ve got my own inner-Calvin, so I really connected with the daily strip.  I was very wrapped up in the series back then and was about crushed when Bill Watterson retired.  Now years later, I’m raising two children and passing on my own childhood interests to them.  On top of the emotional impact of the image, I gotta say the artist did a phenomenal job mimicking Watterson’s style.

Makes me want to shed some parental-man-tears.

Originally found at MotivatedPhotos.com.  My thanks to SGhoul for sending me this image.