Bill Watterson is a unassuming, private man. Before the advent of the Internet, it was virtually impossible to find much information about the creative genius behind "Calvin and Hobbes." After you read this page, be sure to check out these interviews with Watterson: Honk Magazine (1987) At Ohio State University (1989) At Kenyon College (1990)

	Personal Facts about Bill Watterson

	Bill Watterson's full name is William B. Watterson II. He was born in 1958 and has spent the last several years of his life working as a professional cartoonist. Watterson grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio from 1976 to 1980 where he received a B.A. in Political Science. Watterson and his wife, Melissa, live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

	Background

	Bill Watterson has drawn comics, in one form or another, for most of his life. As a teenager, he drew comics for his high school newspaper and a weekly hometown magazine called "The Chagrin Herald." While studying at Kenyon College in the late 1970's, Watterson frequently drew for the Kenyon Collegian, where his topics were not little boys and stuffed tigers, but "beer-swilling, library-allergic, carbohydrate-addicted" college students. After graduating in 1980, Watterson began to work for the Cincinnati Post as a political cartoonist, a job which he held for only six months. Watterson described his experience at the Post: "The experience was horrible, but getting fired forced me to re-examine how committed I was to political cartooning." After Watterson left the Post, he failed several times at syndication, but finally succeeded in 1985 with "Calvin and Hobbes." In addition to drawing "Calvin and Hobbes," Bill Watterson also spends time doing astronomical and paleontological research. (No doubt because of Calvin's exploits as "Spaceman Spiff" and as a rampaging dinosaur.)

	A High Standard

	Kenyon College's Alumni Bulletin describes Bill Watterson as America's hottest comic strip artist. Syndicated in more than 2000 newspapers worldwide, this is an accurate description. For the last decade, "Calvin and Hobbes" has consistently been the best-drawn, most imaginative, and least commercialized comic strip in America. This is, no doubt, due to Bill Watterson's perfectionist nature and preference for "quality over a quick buck." To Watterson, the comic strip is an art form which has a life of its own. It's the duty of the artist to protect his creation. Bill Watterson's perfectionism and creativity has often caused friction with his syndicate, Universal Press, and many newspapers which print "Calvin and Hobbes." Critics exist outside and within the cartoonist community. It's interesting that Bill Watterson's critics in the cartoonist community have come from people like Mort Walker and Greg Evans. When was the last time "Beetle Bailey" or "Luann" really made you think, or laugh, for that matter?

	The Comic Strip

	As a cartoonist, Bill Watterson describes three comic strips which were tremendous inspirations to him: "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz: "The most important thing I learned from Peanuts is that a comic can have an emotional edge to it and that it can talk about the big issues of life in a sensitive and perceptive way." "Pogo" by Walt Kelly: "Pogo was a lushly drawn strip... [Pogo] is a wonderful lesson in what a lively, rich world the comic can present." "Krazy Kat" by George Harriman: "In its singular, uncompromised vision, its subtle whimsy and its odd beauty, Krazy Kat stands alone." "Calvin and Hobbes" is a comic strip which shares the wonderful qualities of these three comic strips, choosing as its fondation, the life of an ordinary six-year old, spiky haired boy, Calvin. Calvin is the nightmare of any parent, babysitter or teacher. Bill Watterson's depiction of Calvin is captured quite well by Louise Mooney: "Calvin is an abnormally precocious child with an over-active imagination, often illustrated by Watterson as prehistoric fantasies, in which Calvin's teacher migh be a triceratops, ready to gobble him up, or his mother a gila monster, forcing him into a primeval river--- when she is actually only trying to coax him into the bathtub. Calvin also fancies himself as 'Spaceman Spiff," who speeds through the universe, encountering new and bizarre life forms. Not so fantastic, but equally amusing, is Calvin's day-to-day life, peopled by such figures as Susie Derkins, the little neighbor and schoolmate whom he endlessly taunts and disgusts; his father, the subject of countless Calvin-generated (and negative) "popularity polls"; and Moe, Calvin's thick headed bully nemesis and 'the only third grader who shaves.' Calvin also spends special times with his tiger buddy Hobbes, often meandering dangerously in a wagon or sled, taking philosophical spring or fall walks, plotting against a sadistic babysitter, or holding special tree-house club meetings, where the only two members wear newspaper hats." Calvin is, in short, a sensitive character, who remains a kid at heart.