The Daily Cartoonist

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Pre-Calvin and Hobbes artwork online

Alan Gardner61 mins

I’m not sure who this guy is who maintains this web site, but he’s probably got the most extensive collection of information on Bill Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes on the internet. He’s documented the few known collectables related to Watterson. Last year, while contemplating bidding on an “authentic” Calvin and Hobbes sketch on eBay, his site was instrumental in helping me understand what was authentic and what stuff is fake. I don’t know when he posted these drawings of Watterson’s cartoons he did while in college, but it’s worth the time to peruse them and see how Watterson’s style evolved (or didn’t) over the years. Enjoy.

6 thoughts on “Pre-Calvin and Hobbes artwork online”

  3. That is very cool! I think it’s interesting, as per Alan’s suggestion, that Bill Watterson’s style of cartooning has been extremely consistent over the years.

    It’s also really interesting to see the artwork he did for his brother’s band!

  4. I’m actually a Kenyon Alum, so I’ve seen much of this before. When I was at school one of my guilty pleasures was thumbing through the back issues of the Kenyon Collegian. Both Watterson and Jim Borgman were editorial cartoonists for the Collegian, and it was amazing to watch these two genius develop before my eyes. Watterson actually drew a strip and the editorial cartoon for the paper.

    I also drew editorial cartoons for the Collegian but nothing nearly as impressive as what these guys churned out on a regular basis.

    For diehard Watterson fans a trip to Gambier Ohio, (the tiny hamlet that is home to Kenyon College), could be well worth the trouble.

  5. Bill is an absolute master of the brush. These are certainly gems. So much talent. I hope he’s using it somehow, somewhere. The comic pages are still sucking air through the vacuum he left.

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