I cannot overemphasize how important Calvin and Hobbes was to my development. It gave me an introspective and curious nature, and it was the first strip that I ever drew. I used to copy strips to practice drawing in the cartoon style rather than the comic book style that I had always worked in. It was the first strip that I was ever really excited to read, and I read it over and over again. Peanuts and C&H were the two genre changing strips that will always hold the highest places in my comic pantheon. If you had similar revelations you might be interested in checking out this page of rare Bill Watterson art. It’s always nice to get a glimpse into another part of an artist’s work, because it explains a little more about the artist. It’s lame to have to piece together what someone is like from just their work, but I don’t foresee Bill inviting me over for a BBQ anytime soon. Watterson also wrote the foreword to the new Charles Schulz biography (top of my purchase list) so pick that up if you like reading things that make your life complete.

Rare Bill Watterson art

Seabread.com has a name that is equally as strange as it’s creator, R. Kikuo Johnson. Johnson makes comics that are also strange. And how.

R. Kikuo Johnson

I knew from the image on his splash page (seen here) that I’d drool all over the work of Mike Bertino. And if I weren’t in a committed relationship I might have done more than drool on it. Damn man, that is some sweet illustratin’. Gives me art-wood.

Mike Bertino

For those of you that live in the Athens area, and there are a fair few of you if my sitemeter is telling me the truth, this Saturday is the annual Fluke Comic and Zine Extravaganza. If you like homemade literature, illustrated or otherwise, you should check it out. I’ve gotten some good, cheap art there, too. Might as well do something outside since all that’s on TV is Nascar and Golf.

Fluke

I came across Dan Zettwoch because of the illustrations he did on cardboard with just a marker and some white out. The pictures are illustrations of his trip to France, but they are very indicative of his style, which looks like a cross between R. Crumb and a rube-goldberg device. Eventhough most of his comics aren’t writing heavy, all the notes and details and arrows add up to some very interesting pieces regardless. I spent at least an hour just going through his work and trying to read every little message. You should do the same.

Dan Zettwoch
His Blog

The Life Of Mann is a global collaboration in creative storytelling. The story revolves around the main character, Mann, yet every 5 pages will be created by a different artist/writer to continue the story. This is an exciting project where the creativity and ideas of different artists from across the globe come together. No one knows how the story will end. Each must continue from where the other has left off.

The Life of Mann
Museum of Modern Fiction