5.0

I can't put into words how influential Calivin and Hobbes has been to me as an artist and lover of art and comics, but this book makes me love it all over again.

This is probably the only book I've read where Bill Watterson shares his process, means of thinking, and history. He explains why he was a recluse, why he stopped when he did, and how he got to where he was, all things I had heard hinted at or passed down nineteenth-hand before. This is an artist in his own words. In some things he comes across petulant, some thoughtful, some naive, but very understandable and very relatable.

In sports, it's an anachronism for someone to quit their sport in their prime, and they are the exception to the rule. Watterson gives a reason; he had no more to say. He says that the last three years of the strip were his best, and he honestly, REALLY doesn't understand why people like Calvin and Hobbes so much. That astounds me. He doesn't actually get it.His concern wasn't politics, or making a point, or even really giving you insight as to the world of a six year old. It was doing his best work.

Anyone who enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes needs this book. Point blank, straight up. You've seen the comics included in the exhibition collection, but to see some of his paintings and his pre-Calvin work (Calvin originally had bangs that covered his eyes) was a treat.