Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson officially retired from cartooning in the mid-'90s, but nearly 25 years after stepping away from the industry, the comic legend secretly returned to draw an entirely different comic. In 2014, Watterson briefly jumped back into the world of comic strips he once ruled, as he drew three new cartoons for Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis - with profits from the collaboration going to a good cause.
Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip ran in syndication for ten years, quickly becoming one of the most beloved newspaper comics of all time. The story, featuring the six-year-old Calvin and his stuffed animal Hobbes, connected with readers like few comics have, as the adventures of a boy and his anthropomorphic doll that only he could talk to resonated with many. Despite its success, Watterson long avoided commercializing his comic. Famously, Watterson turned down more than $100 million for merchandising Calvin and Hobbes, as he didn't want to mess with the integrity of the strip. When Watterson stepped away from the comic strip in 1995, he appeared done with the medium. However, in 2014, the cartoonist made a surprise, secret return that few readers saw coming.
In 2014, it was revealed that Bill Watterson was returning to the comic strip medium, but not for Calvin and Hobbes. Instead, he agreed to guest-draw three comics for Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis. Watterson told the Washington Post that after seeing Pastis' comic starring anthropomorphic animals, he thought it "might be funny" to ghost draw the comic at some point. Years later, Pastis reached out to Watterson, who unretired to draw the comic strip to raise money for Parkinson's research in honor of cartoonist Richard Thompson.
Bill Watterson Wanted To Make Sure His Involvement Was A Secret
Pastis would recount how Watterson agreed to pen the three Pearls Before Swine comics if he kept the news of his return secret until they were published. Pastis wrote working alongside the Calvin and Hobbes creator as getting a glimpse of Big Foot given his reclusive nature, and itted that keeping the secret of his return was "the hardest secret I've ever had to keep." In the end, Watterson drew three comics, including one featuring a martian robot attack which was said to have been drawn by a "second-grader."
Ultimately, the collaboration would be a massive success as it lead to more than $70,000 being raised for Parkinson's research after the original art was donated and auctioned off. While Bill Watterson's return in 2014 might have had some readers believing he was planning a return to comics and the world of Calvin and Hobbes, ultimately, his secret comeback was only a one-time deal (although there's debate about Watterson returning for Bloom County strips, which he's never confirmed it publicly) as he went back into retirement and hasn't drawn much or been largely heard from since.
