Bill Watterson

William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist who authored the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.

Bill Watterson was born on July 5, 1958, in Washington, D.C., to Kathryn Watterson (1933–2022) and James Godfrey Watterson (1932–2016).

His father worked as a patent attorney.

In 1965, six-year-old Watterson and his family moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Watterson has a younger brother, Thomas Watterson.

Watterson drew his first cartoon at age eight, and spent much time in childhood alone, drawing and cartooning.

This continued through his school years, during which time he discovered comic strips such as Walt Kelly's Pogo, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, and Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts which subsequently inspired and influenced his desire to become a professional cartoonist.

On one occasion when he was in fourth grade, he wrote a letter to Schulz, who responded, much to Watterson's surprise.

This made a big impression on him at the time.

His parents encouraged him in his artistic pursuits.

Later, they recalled him as a "conservative child" — imaginative, but "not in a fantasy way", and certainly nothing like the character of Calvin that he later created.

Watterson found avenues for his cartooning talents throughout primary and secondary school, creating high school-themed super hero comics with his friends and contributing cartoons and art to the school newspaper and yearbook.

After high school, Watterson attended Kenyon College, where he majored in political science.

He had already decided on a career in cartooning, but he felt studying political science would help him move into editorial cartooning.

He continued to develop his art skills, and during his sophomore year he painted Michelangelo's Creation of Adam on the ceiling of his dormitory room.

He also contributed cartoons to the college newspaper, some of which included the original "Spaceman Spiff" cartoons.

Watterson was inspired by the work of The Cincinnati Enquirer political cartoonist Jim Borgman, a 1976 graduate of Kenyon College, and decided to try to follow the same career path as Borgman, who in turn offered support and encouragement to the aspiring artist.

Watterson graduated from Kenyon in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Later, when Watterson was creating names for the characters in his comic strip, he decided on Calvin (after the Protestant reformer John Calvin) and Hobbes (after the social philosopher Thomas Hobbes), allegedly as a "tip of the hat" to Kenyon's political science department.

Watterson graduated in 1980 and was hired on a trial basis at the Cincinnati Post, a competing paper of the Enquirer.

Watterson quickly discovered that the job was full of unexpected challenges which prevented him from performing his duties to the standards set for him.

Not the least of these challenges was his unfamiliarity with the Cincinnati political scene, as he had never resided in or near the city, having grown up in the Cleveland area and attending college in central Ohio.

The Post fired Watterson before his contract was up.

He then joined a small advertising agency and worked there for four years as a designer, creating grocery advertisements while also working on his own projects, including development of his own cartoon strip and contributions to Target: The Political Cartoon Quarterly.

As a freelance artist, Watterson has drawn other works for various merchandise, including album art for his brother's band, calendars, clothing graphics, educational books, magazine covers, posters, and post cards.

Watterson has said that he works for personal fulfillment.

The strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995.

Watterson concluded Calvin and Hobbes with a short statement to newspaper editors and his readers that he felt he had achieved all he could in the medium.

Watterson is known for his negative views on comic syndication and licensing, his efforts to expand and elevate the newspaper comic as an art form, and his move back into private life after Calvin and Hobbes ended.

Watterson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

The suburban Midwestern United States setting of Ohio was part of the inspiration for Calvin and Hobbes.

Watterson lives in Cleveland Heights as of January 2024.

Calvin and Hobbes was first published on November 18, 1985.

In Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book, he wrote that his influences included Peanuts, Pogo, and Krazy Kat.

Watterson wrote the introduction to the first volume of The Komplete Kolor Krazy Kat.

Watterson's style also reflects the influence of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland.

Like many artists, Watterson incorporated elements of his life, interests, beliefs, and values into his work—for example, his hobby as a cyclist, memories of his own father's speeches about "building character", and his views on merchandising and corporations.

Watterson's cat Sprite very much inspired the personality and physical features of Hobbes.

As he told the graduating class of 1990 at Kenyon College, "It's surprising how hard we'll work when the work is done just for ourselves."

In The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, Watterson stated that Calvin was named for "a 16th-century theologian who believed in predestination", and Hobbes for "a 17th-century philosopher with a dim view of human nature".