William Boyd Watterson II (Parents: James G. Watterson and Kathryn Watterson; Spouse: Melissa Richmond) |
William Boyd Watterson II (born 1958) is an immensely influential American cartoonist, universally celebrated as the creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Running from 1985 to 1995, the strip is considered one of the pinnacle achievements of the newspaper comic medium, blending brilliant draftsmanship, philosophical depth, and sharp social commentary.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Watterson drew heavily from his own childhood environments to create the world of his comic. After graduating from Kenyon College, he worked briefly as an editorial cartoonist and in advertising before Universal Press Syndicate accepted his pitch for a strip about a hyper-imaginative six-year-old boy named Calvin and his sardonic stuffed tiger, Hobbes.
Watterson’s art style evolved dramatically over the strip’s ten-year run. He was a master of dynamic action, expressive character acting, and detailed, atmospheric environments, often executing his Sunday strips in beautiful watercolors. Frustrated by the shrinking size of newspaper comics, Watterson famously fought his syndicate for a mandatory half-page format for his Sunday strips, which allowed him to break free of rigid, uniform panels and design innovative, poster-like layouts.
A fierce advocate for comics as a legitimate art form, Watterson believed that commercial licensing would dilute the integrity of his characters. He firmly refused to allow Calvin and Hobbes to be merchandised into toys, mugs, or animated adaptations, costing him millions of dollars in potential revenue but securing the pure, untarnished legacy of his work.
At the height of the strip’s popularity in 1995, Watterson abruptly retired, stating he had achieved all he could in the medium. He withdrew from the public eye to focus on private fine art painting, particularly landscapes. Decades later, he made a rare return to publishing in 2023 with The Mysteries, a dark, philosophical graphic novel for adults created in collaboration with caricaturist John Kascht.
Active in others filds : Fine Art Painting (Landscapes), Graphic Novels.
