Bill Watterson returns to the comic pages as secret “Pearls before Swine” artist

Calvin and Hobbes is one of my all time favorite comic strips and when artist and author Bill Watterson drew his last strip at the end of 1995, it was a sad day for all. He has always been reclusive so when I read on the blog of Stephan Pastis, author and artist of comic strip Pearls before Swine that Mr. Watterson had come out of hiding to surprise readers I was overjoyed.

I mean, as Pastis says, Bill Watterson is like Big Foot. Few have spoken to him and even fewer have met him. So to have him draw a cheeky section of the Pearl before Swine comic strip is akin to being blessed.

It all began when Stephan Pastis sent Bill Watterson this comic strip below:

Watterson was Pastis’ hero so when he received a reply asking if he would like to collaborate it was understandably awesome. As he says on his blog:

“Let me tell you. Just getting an email from Bill Watterson is one of the most mind-blowing, surreal experiences I have ever had. Bill Watterson really exists? And he sends email? And he’s communicating with me? But he was. And he had a great sense of humor about the strip I had done, and was very funny, and oh yeah… he had a comic strip idea he wanted to run by me. Now if you had asked me the odds of Bill Watterson ever saying that line to me, I’d say it had about the same likelihood as Jimi Hendrix telling me he had a new guitar riff.”

According to the Washington Post, Watterson had the idea to ghost for Pearls a few years ago after seeing Stephan’s strip that mocked his own drawing ability. He told Washington Post:

“Several years ago, when Stephan did one of his strips that mocked his own drawing ability and mentioned my strip in comparison, I thought it might be funny for me to ghost ‘Pearls’ sometime, just to flip it all on its head,” the goateed Watterson tells me, offering a clear indication that he still follows the funnies. “It was just a silly idea, and I didn’t know Stephan, so I never pursued it, and years went by.”

Of course Pastis had to keep the involvement a secret until after the strips were published. Imagine having to keep that a secret. I would most definitely burst. Anyway, you can check out the strips for yourselves. Here’s to more Bill Watterson!

For $20,000 George R. R. Martin will kill you gruesomely in his next Game of Thrones book

Well, it’s good to see the influential using their powers for good. Just a few weeks ago J. J Abrams was offering you a part in the new Star Wars movie for charity and now George R. R Martin will kill you gruesomely in his next book in the Song of Fire and Ice series for a donation of $20,000. You will be supporting two causes close to the author’s heart – The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and The Food Depot.

Oh to die in the hands of Mr. Martin! Obviously many had the same feeling as I, for not long after the crowdfunding campaign launched, the two $20,000 spots were snapped up! If dying gruesomely is not for you, then perhaps breakfast with the author is more your thing? For $15,000 you can! Or perhaps you can only part with a mere $7,500? Why then you will be the proud owner of Mr. Martin’s worn hat. Yes that one he seems to live in all the time.

Alas, all of the rewards above including the invitation to the premiere of season 5 of Game of Thrones have all been snapped up by zealous (and flush) GoT fans. However, if you make a donation (however big or small) you will be automatically entered to win the grand prize – you and a friend will be flown out (from wherever you are in the world) to meet George R. R. Martin in Santa Fé, where you’ll share a helicopter ride to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and of course have him all to yourself to discuss anything you want. Get to it!