Bill Watterson, the cartoonist and creator of the beloved “Calvin and Hobbes,” has lived a reclusive lifestyle after ending his popular comic strip back in 1995. Since sending his popular cartoon duo down a snowy hill to explore the world over 18 years ago, Watterson has shied away from interviews and hasn’t picked up a pen or drawn another published comic strip.
That is, until now.
This week, “Pearls Before Swine” cartoonist Stephan Pastis secretly invited Watterson to guest draw several comic strips under the guise of second-grader Libby.
Pastis contacted Watterson when the “Pearls Before Swine” cartoonist was traveling through Cleveland on a book tour, never expecting to get a reply.
But he did.
“Just getting an email from Bill Watterson is one of the most mind-blowing, surreal experiences I have ever had,” Pastis wrote on his blog. “Bill Watterson really exists? And he sends email? And he’s communicating with me?”
Not only did Watterson write back, he offered a suggestion for a comic idea the two could collaborate on.
“He said he knew that in my strip, I frequently make fun of my own art skills,” Pastis wrote. “And that he thought it would be funny to have me get hit on the head or something and suddenly be able to draw. Then he’d step in and draw my comic strip for a few days.”
Here are the strips (syndicated by Universal uClick), which appeared in newspapers across the country (including the pages of the Inquirer):