IInk, pencil and white out on Bristol board. Signed WATTERSON in panel three and dated 5-9 in panel four and in the lower right corner (May 9, 1986). Published by United Press Syndicate in 1986. Bears dedication in the upper right corner “To Jan Lindell, a man of taste, with best wishes, BILL WATTERSON”. I. 10.7 x 30.7 cm, S. 13.5 x 35.5 cm.
Also included is a book with Calvin and Hobbes which on the title page bears a dedication from Bill Watterson to Jan Lindell. The strip in this auction can be found on page 92 of the book.
PROVENANCE
Jan Lindell, former CEO at Semic Press who published the comic book Calvin and Hobbes. Jan Lindell had a close contact with many of the cartoonists and built up a friendly relationship with many of them. Many visits were made to the creators of the comics on location in the United States, and at one of these occasions he received this original art for a comic strip as a gift from Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes.
In this comic strip, we follow Calvin and Hobbes in four panels as they empty the mailbox that turns out to contain three pieces of magazines. The day before, it has contained five magazines. Hobbes wonders how it is that Calvin receives so many newspapers and Calvin explains that he has been to the library and filled out all the subscription cards that say “bill me later”.
The now cult daily strip Calvin and Hobbes, sometimes referred to as the last big newspaper comic, was published between 1985 and 1995 and was created by Bill Watterson. When the first strip was published in November 1985, it was printed in 35 different newspapers but quickly became very popular. Within just a few years it was found in hundreds of different newspapers and when it was at its peak it was published in an incredible 2,400 daily newspapers worldwide. However, creator Bill Watterson was torn between the wishes of the publisher to commercialize Calvin and Hobbes which led to him taking several sabbaticals from the creation of the series and in 1995 he chose to quit altogether. The last Calvin and Hobbes series was published on December 31, 1995, and Bill Watterson has since more or less disappeared from the public eye. Today, over 3000 of his works are in The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University. Original works such as these are therefore exceedingly rare on the market.
