The Mysteries

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If you're looking for more Calvin and Hobbes, you'll likely be disappointed. This isn't an extension of that universe, nor does it claim to be. Watterson has always been a outstanding modern philosophical thinker. And this book doubles down on that title. He provides some old school, Calvin and Hobbes red wagon tangents and questions, but this time there isn't a pithy conclusion. And that's ok. Watterson drew and wrote Calvin and Hobbes from 1985 to 1995. The comic strip follows a mischievous and precocious young boy named Calvin and his stuffed tiger buddy Hobbes. Watterson typically stays away from the public eye, refusing to sign autographs or license his characters. But in 2010, for the 15th anniversary of the last Calvin and Hobbes strip, he spoke to The Plain Dealer about his decision to end the strip, saying, “By the end of ten years, I’d said pretty much everything I had come there to say. It’s always better to leave the party early.” From Bill Watterson, bestselling creator of the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, and John Kascht, one of America’s most renowned caricaturists, comes a mysterious and beautifully illustrated fable about what lies beyond human understanding.

Co-creator of The Mysteries John Kascht is best known for his work as a caricaturist. Kascht’s dynamic illustrations of many of the world’s most famous faces have appeared in countless magazines, newspapers, book covers, billboards, and posters. His works are collected at the National Portrait Gallery. As a master of his art, Kascht has been profiled in multiple documentaries, and he also works as a faculty member of Marywood University’s graduate program in illustration and design. It sounded like fun and maybe something people wouldn’t expect, so I decided to give it a try,” Watterson told The Washington Post. “Dave sent me a rough cut of the film, and I dusted the cobwebs off my ink bottle.” That's what this book is, it's poetry. The words themselves are poetry and so are the images. The words fill in what's missing from the images and vice versa. I can see am argument that this particular story is too vague and up for too much interpretation, but I would disagree. Sure it's not Humpty Dumpty, which has some more easily digested morals to offer, but The Mysteries offers plenty of thought provoking opportunities. Just perhaps not ones where you will have a Eureka moment. Be warned - this takes like five minutes to read. It is absolutely nothing like Calvin & Hobbes and if different names were on the cover no one would suspect Bill Watterson at all. Like others have noted, this book was a fast read, but I've already read it a second time. It's a book with subtle and not-so-subtle themes and questions worth reflecting on, many of which align with past interviews Bill Watterson has given on his views. Here's some that I noticed:However, it clearly makes me remember all about Bill's problems with the Syndicate and how their non-stop greed for licensing ultimately killed Calvin and Hobbes. As a kid around 12, it felt like I lost my best friends. In 2014, Watterson returned to the spotlight when he unveiled his first artwork in 19 years– poster art for a documentary about comics. The documentary, calledStripped, includes the first audio interview with Watterson. Bill Watterson, the mastermind behind the timeless Calvin and Hobbes, was once asked why he hadn’t published anything following the famous strip’s retirement. His reply implied what most already feared; Calvin was too good—too great—to be ever surpassed. And so, rather than trying to top impossible expectations, he chose to exit as an inimitable legend. He “quit while being ahead,” as the old cliché says. Whether a sensible decision or not, his self-imposed exile soon grew into its own kind of mysterious legend. Would he ever return? Would he ever enchant and dazzle and challenge the world again? “The Mysteries,” his first public work in nearly thirty years, holds the awkward answer. Essentially a cautionary tale wrapped in a riddle, the book’s ultimate mystery can’t quite escape the gravity-well that is Watterson himself; is this the appropriate instrument, the ideal song, to trumpet the artisan’s long-awaited return?

So, to get this out of the way: this isn’t Calvin & Hobbes. This isn’t anything like Calvin & Hobbes, except for a few minor quirks that I recognize as Watterson’s style. It’s been decades since Bill Watterson closed shop on his Calvin & Hobbescomic and retired. This year, however, Watterson is coming out of retirement with a new book called The Mysteries, which he created with caricaturist John Kascht. Ultimately, the story boiled down to "man is afraid of the unknown, man explores the unknown, man thinks he knows all there is and loses the primal respect for the unknown, man destroys himself in his own hubris, the universe spins ever onward without noticing". I mean, I am a recovering nihilist who still finds comfort in knowing the universe is vast beyond our joys and pain, our triumphs and follies, but I had hoped for a message with more depth. The book is noted as "a fable for grown-ups", but the message of the book is one I learned to grapple with through Calvin and Hobbes as a child, and I thought it was handled with more depth and nuance in seemingly off-handed remarks in a comic.Lastly, humanity is merely a blip in the span of time and the vastness of our ever-expanding universe. The mysteries were here before we existed, and they'll likely exist long after we're gone. I think a lot of my own sense of humor grew thru Bill's art mastery, but above all, my own abilities honed as a practicioner. In essence, Bill's work has been incredibly influential to my intellectual upbringing in many ways.