Back in February, Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson was awarded the grand prix de la ville d?Angoulême at this year?s Angoulême International Comics Festival in France. The festival is one of the largest in the world. The prize honors an individual who has influenced the evolution of comics. The winner typically draws the event poster for the following year, but it remained to be seen whether Bill would come out of reclusion to provide such a thing. A LOT has happened since February. Bill is practically in the news every other week (or near daily on this blog). According to a series of tweets by French culture reporter Mathieu Charrier, Bill has agreed to be the president of the festival next year and provide art for the poster. There seems to be some question whether the art will contain Calvin or Hobbes based on a later tweet.
Full story here, but only if you read French.
This makes me very happy. I’ve long said that I don’t think he should bring back C&H; it ended on a high note, anything more could easily ruin it.
But Bill Watterson as a comic artist in general is something I’d like to see more of, and him finally coming out of his shell in these small ways gives me hope that he may have a few more surprises in store.
You do get a sense that he may be happy to explore cartooning again. Perhaps he’ll do a children’s book or a weekly strip of some sort. We can only hope!