{"id":5163,"date":"2014-06-05T09:46:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T13:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=5163"},"modified":"2014-06-07T11:16:19","modified_gmt":"2014-06-07T15:16:19","slug":"is-bill-watterson-guest-drawing-on-pearls-before-swine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=5163","title":{"rendered":"Is Bill Watterson Guest-drawing on Pearls Before Swine?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At the beginning of this week <em>Pearls Before Swine<\/em> cartoonist Stephan Pastis mentioned that something &#8220;mind-blowing&#8221; was upcoming in this week&#8217;s story-line:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\"><p>This week&#8217;s Pearls strips will contain a mind-blowing surprise. I promise. <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/bzLS9zkBdF\">pic.twitter.com\/bzLS9zkBdF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Stephan Pastis (@stephanpastis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephanpastis\/statuses\/473515788247121920\">June 2, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In Monday&#8217;s strip, Pastis&#8217;s neighbor (Pastis appears as a character in the strip), a little girl named Libby, taunts Pastis about his drawing ability. In the following strip, she shows off her own drawing chops\u00a0in the strip&#8217;s second panel:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140604.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5165\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5165\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140604.gif\" data-orig-size=\"900,286\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"pb140604\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140604-300x95.gif\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140604.gif\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5165\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140604.gif\" alt=\"pb140604\" width=\"600\" height=\"191\" \/><\/a>The panel here didn&#8217;t strike me as being as Watterson-y as it did to some people. Watterson had a very distinctive way of drawing trees and that tree with the spot black leaf area didn&#8217;t jibe. Also, the mixed case lettering here looks a lot like the lettering in Jim Scancarelli&#8217;s <em>Gasoline Alley<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5166\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5166\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"630,277\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"lettering\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering-300x131.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5166\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering.jpg\" alt=\"lettering\" width=\"630\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/lettering-300x131.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This, though, is probably just because it&#8217;s in mixed case, which you don&#8217;t see a whole ton in newspaper comics. Unlike the rest of the characters&#8211;and unlike <em>Calvin and Hobbes<\/em>&#8211;the crocs in Pearls Before Swine speak in mixed case rather than all caps.<\/p>\n<p>Those shoes, though, really do look like Watterson-drawn shoes. \u00a0Here&#8217;re some\u00a0shoes from <em>Pearls<\/em>, \u00a0<em>C&amp;H<\/em>, and Watterson&#8217;s recent illustration for the <em>Stripped<\/em> documentary:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5167\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5167\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"610,228\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"shoes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes-300x112.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5167\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes.jpg\" alt=\"shoes\" width=\"610\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/shoes-300x112.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The following strip (Thursday, July 5th) pulled out all the stops Watterson-wise:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140605.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5168\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5168\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140605.gif\" data-orig-size=\"900,284\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"pb140605\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140605-300x94.gif\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140605.gif\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5168\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140605.gif\" alt=\"pb140605\" width=\"600\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The second panel features some very Watterson-y stuff&#8211;the way the skyline fades into the ground, the spaceships with &#8220;headlights&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5169\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5169\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,1131\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"r1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1-238x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1-814x1024.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5169\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1.jpg\" alt=\"r1\" width=\"450\" height=\"566\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1-238x300.jpg 238w, https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r1-814x1024.jpg 814w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The final panel&#8217;s &#8220;if I had more space&#8221; gag\u00a0could easily be a reference to Watterson&#8217;s well-known <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bill_Watterson#Changing_the_format_of_the_Sunday_strip\" target=\"_blank\">battles with newspapers<\/a> over the <a href=\"http:\/\/ignatz.brinkster.net\/cheapening.html\" target=\"_blank\">ever-shrinking space<\/a> allotted to newspaper comics.<\/p>\n<p>In both strips, the guest lettering is remarkably similar to Watterson&#8217;s, including Watterson&#8217;s tendency to write\u00a0&#8220;A&#8221;s slightly smaller than the other letters.<\/p>\n<p>If this <em>isn&#8217;t<\/em> Watterson&#8217;s work, then it&#8217;s the best Watterson imitation I&#8217;ve ever seen. His style is notoriously hard to mimic and his work is so well-loved that imitations tend to stand out like a sore thumb. (Oy, don&#8217;t get me started on that &#8220;Zen Pencils&#8221; thing&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p>If it <em>is<\/em> Watterson, it wouldn&#8217;t be a total surprise. He hasn&#8217;t done any strip cartooning since he retired <em>Calvin and Hobbes<\/em>, but he has engaged with the comics scene a bit of late, which he&#8217;s not done in a long, long time. He granted <a href=\"http:\/\/library.osu.edu\/blogs\/cartoons\/2014\/03\/20\/new-interview-calvin-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-and-cul-de-sac-creator-richard-thompson-talk-libraries-comics-and-the-creative-process-with-ohio-state\/\" target=\"_blank\">an interview earlier this year<\/a>, wrote the introduction to the forthcoming <em>Complete Cul de Sac<\/em>, and (as referenced above) did an illustration for the comics documentary, <em>Stripped<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned for Friday&#8217;s <em>Pearls Before Swine<\/em>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Friday&#8217;s strip again featured a guest panel from &#8220;Libby&#8221; and folks seemed to find it the least Watterson-y of them all and I&#8217;d agree with them&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140606.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5173\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5173\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140606.gif\" data-orig-size=\"900,285\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"pb140606\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140606-300x95.gif\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140606.gif\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5173\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/pb140606.gif\" alt=\"pb140606\" width=\"600\" height=\"190\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;except for the drafting table and chair. Note that they&#8217;re virtually identical&#8211;down to the way the in progress comic strip is taped down&#8211;to the drafting table and chair in the <em>Stripped<\/em> poster:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5174\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?attachment_id=5174\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"600,216\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"r1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11-300x108.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5174\" src=\"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11.jpg\" alt=\"r1\" width=\"600\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/uploads\/2014\/06\/r11-300x108.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Update the Second<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Yep, it&#8217;s Watterson.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the whole story <a href=\"http:\/\/stephanpastis.wordpress.com\/2014\/06\/07\/ever-wished-that-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-would-return-to-the-comics-page-well-he-just-did\/\" target=\"_blank\">on Stephan Pastis&#8217;s blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/comic-riffs\/wp\/2014\/06\/06\/exclusive-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-returns-to-the-comics-page-to-offer-a-few-pearls-gems\/\" target=\"_blank\"> write-up in the Washington Post<\/a>&#8230; that obliquely mentions this very post!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the beginning of this week Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Stephan Pastis mentioned that something &#8220;mind-blowing&#8221; was upcoming in this week&#8217;s story-line: &nbsp; This week&#8217;s Pearls strips will contain a mind-blowing surprise. I promise. pic.twitter.com\/bzLS9zkBdF \u2014 Stephan Pastis (@stephanpastis) June 2, 2014 In Monday&#8217;s strip, Pastis&#8217;s neighbor (Pastis appears as a character in the strip), &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=5163\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_bluesky_dont_syndicate":"","_bluesky_syndication_accounts":"","_bluesky_syndication_text":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p46veT-1lh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5163"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5175,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5163\/revisions\/5175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}