Photo: Kenyon College / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Bill Watterson is, to me, the patron saint of knowing when to stop. Calvin and Hobbes gave us a boy and his tiger debating the universe, and for ten years it was the most quietly profound thing on the comics page. Then in 1995, at the height of its fame, Watterson walked away because he felt he had said what he could. He refused merchandising to protect the strip's integrity, and he has stayed largely invisible ever since. The Angouleme Grand Prix and the Eisner Hall of Fame confirm the genius, but it is that discipline, that refusal to dilute, that I keep coming back to.
Overview
William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist who authored the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. The strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson concluded Calvin and Hobbes with a short statement to newspaper readers that he felt he had achieved all he could in the medium.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bill Watterson
- Name (Japanese)
- ビル・ワターソン
- Reading
- びる・わたーそん
- Born
- July 5, 1958 (age 67)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Dog
- Origin
- Washington, D.C., United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- cartoonist / comics artist / comics writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Chagrin Falls High School
- University
- Kenyon College
Awards & achievements
- 2014 Grand prix de la ville d'Angoulême
- 1991 Adamson Awards
- 1990 Max und Moritz award
- 1996 Yellow Kid Award
- 2020 Will Eisner Hall of Fame
- 1986 Reuben Award
- 1988 Reuben Award
- 1989 Special Award for Humor
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Calvin and Hobbes | — |
6. Links
Cartoonist — see all → · Comics artist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.