Do Go On - 84 - Bill Watterson - Calvin and Hobbes
Episode Date: May 31, 2017This week's episode is about the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson. About his life, how he came to make Calvin and Hobbes and also how he's a super cool guy, none of us knew anything about ...him but are dedicated fans now. Plus he's from Ohio! It's a super loose episode, not one for those who don't like dead end tangents and bad riffs! Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: dogoonpod@gmail.comSupport the show and get rewards like bonus episodes:www.patreon.com/DoGoOnPod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you.
And we should also say this is 2026.
Jess, what year is it?
2026.
Thank God you're here.
Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serenji Amarna, 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun.
We'd love to see you there.
Canada, we are visiting you in September this year.
If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto for shows.
That's going to be so much fun.
Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online.
And I'm here too.
This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network.
Visit planetbcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates.
And welcome to another week of DoGo on, episode 84.
Don't mind if I do.
My name is Dave Warnocky and I'm doing it with Matt Stewart and Jess Perkins.
I did not agree to that.
I'm doing it with my friends.
Hi, Dave.
Hi, Matt.
We are friends.
Seconds earlier.
seconds before the mics went on,
we were singing the golden girls theme song to each other
to remind each other, which is...
I don't remember that, do you remember that, back you for being a friend?
What is he talking about?
Did I go into my own mind again?
Dave.
Get out of there.
Get out of it.
It's a dirty place.
Yeah, it's so dirty.
Dirty place and you're a dirty little boy.
There with Betty White.
It's yucky in there.
And some other golden girls.
Name the others.
Why are they golden, Dave?
What have you done to them?
Betty Brown.
Betty Brown.
And Betty Blin.
Jack White
That's her dad
And Jack Black
They come together
He's like
Yeah
They come together
That's what you said
Come together
Make sweet sweet love
Okay
You got a Betty White
Okay
This is taking a weird turn early
Wait what
That's in the extended version
Of the Golden Girls theme song
Which apparently you guys have never heard
Even though we were seeing it to each other
Seconds ago
And I feel this is a personal betrayal
Apart from the personal betrayal
How are you?
I am well.
Thank you.
How are you?
We need a Jess Health update because you have been in the wars.
Yeah.
I'm feeling better.
I'm not 100% yet, but I am feeling better.
Okay, percentage out of 100.
Oh, 70.
Right.
But if you're feeling good, would you say you're 100 or is 100 like when you're on holiday on the beach or something?
I think like 100 in terms of beating this virus that I had.
So, which would restore me back to normal, where I would probably normally feel around 60%.
So I'm negative 70 is what I'm saying.
And I've got to get back up to normal and then beyond.
Wow, Jess doesn't understand maths, does she have?
Is it negative 70?
Yeah, you only just understanding that?
I mean, you did just point out earlier that she thinks there's 100 seconds in a minute.
I don't.
I do not.
I don't say that.
They're going to think I did say that, but that was just a joke that Dave made.
She just told me, I have one minute to get my yogurt in the fridge and come back and hit record on the show.
And I said, well, that's fine.
because Jess thinks there's 100 seconds in a minute.
And oh, how we laughed.
Me, the hardest, because I know the truth.
It's out there.
Yeah, the real truth.
Minutes really are 100 seconds.
You bloody corporate slaves.
What a conspiracy.
It's just a hallmark holiday gone wrong.
Bloody, you don't even know.
You haven't even scratched the surface, mate.
Oh, please tell me it's a conspiracy-style episode
because Jess and I are ready to go, man.
Oh, it is not.
I'm always ready to go.
For a conspiracy or any reason?
Any reason.
Oh.
Yeah, what do you make of that?
Yeah, I'm always ready to go.
Holidays.
Fights.
Where else?
Have you ever been in a fight?
Yeah, I have a brother.
Nice.
What?
Did you ever win those fights?
God, no.
He's seven years older and very strong.
I gave it a bloody good guy.
that maybe you could have ambushed him with a chainsaw or something.
Rie!
Yeah, cop that, you can't kill me when you got no leg, I'm here.
And then he strangles me to death.
Yeah, you're like, fuck, forgot about the arms.
Should have chopped off the arms first.
Do you what we forgot to do?
Got to check in on old MJS over there.
Matthew, how you doing?
Look, I thought you needed the time to finish your report.
Yeah, because you were typing away that you were distracted by your computer there.
Did your idea?
Did you notice that?
Of course we noticed.
And you take every last little second.
We always rock up and we're like, all right, we're meeting 8 o'clock,
and then we do not start till the...
about nine o'clock often because Matt, it's not just because of you, but you do take advantage
of the time.
Yeah, I do.
I love to add a little bit of flavor.
So how are you as a question for five?
Sure.
I mean, I like to, I build my reports like a fine meal.
You suck.
Like a fine meal.
Please tell me how you build your meals.
Well, first, here we go.
First thing you want your carbs, right?
So what are you thinking today?
Pastor?
Sure, me too.
Every night of the week.
Great.
Dr.
Ristley told me I can't do that anymore, but that's okay.
Dr. Ristis.
Dr. Ristey said, I can't get out of him.
Oh, she, look, it doesn't matter.
Oh, is she?
Ladies can be doctors.
Yes, I have a lady, Dr. Jess.
Wow.
And I don't apologize for that.
Nor should you.
Okay.
Okay, so you got your carbs according to Dr. Ristey.
Yeah.
No, that's not her name.
Oh, great.
So usually you change the names because you don't want to name people.
We've changed the name and now you're worried that she's been given the wrong name.
I mean, Dr. Ristie makes it's not an ideal name for a medical professional.
Great name for a medical professional in a porn film, though.
Is Ristie universal term?
No.
No, okay.
I reckon people could figure it out.
Use your imagination.
I'm using mine.
Use your wrists.
Crack that wrist.
Yeah.
Anyway.
So you got the carbs.
Carbs, yeah.
Cubs, right.
Yeah, I'm good.
Thanks, Jess.
Oh, thank God. Okay, great. Now we can start the report.
And then you want to put the flavor.
Oh, yeah.
I'm thinking like it, maybe like a tomato, some sort of a tomato-based sauce.
Oh, yeah.
But what do you want to put in that sauce? So far.
MSG.
I've sprinkled a little MSG.
Great.
A little bit of olives.
Uh-huh.
And I've also put in a little bit of mushroom.
Oh, can I make a suggestion?
Yeah.
A little bit of zucchini?
No.
Fair enough.
I don't.
But rejected.
Look, I like that you're trying to be involved, and that definitely fits in this world, but I just personally don't like zucchini.
I didn't say zucchini.
I said zucchini.
Oh, please, throw a handful in.
Thank you.
Chuck it in, wristy style.
Yep.
So we've got mushrooms and some olives and some zucchini.
Well, we're going to...
Well, you started this.
I don't know this is quite done yet.
Okay.
The listeners are demanding more.
People have got pins and paper at home taking down this recipe.
From there, I normally, I personally, and this is not everyone,
but I like to put in a little bit of kidney beans.
Oh, yum.
My favourite of the beans.
Sure.
The big, they're beautiful, and they're full of all the good stuff.
Beans.
Yep.
Full of beans.
And, yeah, that's kind of it.
I mean, you could sprinkle a little bit of herbs if you've got any in the garden,
or maybe.
Some oregano.
Origano.
Some salt, some pepper.
Pepepe.
Maybe some thyme.
Maybe some Ross.
Some thyme.
Mary.
Ross and Marie.
Ross and Marie.
Ross and Marie.
Ross and Marie.
The neighbours.
Invite them over.
Get him in the pot.
We just put, well, not all of them, Dave.
We just get them to put their fist in the bowl and let them marinate.
And then they just, they lick their hand for dinner.
That's how they like to do it.
And I'm willing to oblige because, you know, less dishes to clean up.
Also, Ross and Maria both bears.
Maybe.
Hey, should we do this show?
Oh, my God.
I, yeah.
Yes.
We are going to do this show.
Is that what you were thinking?
And that I've said multiple times.
Well, I'm, I'm on board.
Great.
Take us away.
Let's just get this one out of the way because it does not feel good in here.
Do you want to start us up with a question?
Yeah, love to.
Thank you so much.
Here's a question.
I think this is a good question.
Because that, in a lot of,
always that's the only kind of question I ask.
Okay, yep, disagree, but that's all right.
Okay.
That's interesting.
I'll note that down here.
Who is the most beloved human and animal duo of the last 35 years?
Human and animal.
Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh.
I was going to say Christopher Winnie the Pooh.
That's not.
That's not it, but it's not that far away.
So of the last 35, is that, is that,
Yeah, I think I'll have kind of them.
I got it. I got it.
Free Willie and the kid from Free Willy.
Oh, fuck, she's not got it.
An hour on this.
No, I'm afraid whales are actually mammals.
Interesting.
Okay, follow up, guess.
Flipper and Elijah Wood.
No.
Okay.
Elijah Wood and someone else in Lord of the Rings.
A killer whales mammals, Dave?
Dave will know this.
I feel like he would.
Or a killer whale's not really whales.
They're not really whales.
They're technically, they're a dolphin.
What?
Fuck, that's sick.
Yeah.
They're actually a toilet duck.
It's one of those things that when you find it out, you're just like, what?
How is that possible?
Like tomatoes being a fruit.
Exactly.
It's very similar to that.
Now you'll go home and you'll say, oh, there's an orca next to my toilet ready to clean those hard-to-reach places.
And those hard to remove stains.
Yeah.
Yeah, like I remember when I found that out.
Blewn my mind.
It changed everything.
Changed everything.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. What was it?
You were closer with the first one, but I...
Oh.
But also, I have a funny feeling that this is more of an American thing than a worldwide thing.
So it's more like a cartoon thing?
I vaguely heard of it, yes.
But I didn't know it super well.
So I'll give you maybe another guess each and then we'll, I might have to break it to you.
You go, because I think I know it.
So animal and human.
Garfield?
Oh, that's a very close.
It's very close. I was going to say Calvin and Hobbes.
John.
Yes.
Is it?
Oh, Jesus, I said that way.
How do you know of that thing?
Calvin and Hobbs?
Yeah.
Because I know of Calvin and Hobbs.
What?
So it is a thing that's been in Australia.
I know what it is, but I don't know anything about it.
Tell me what you know.
One of them is Calvin.
Yes.
There's another one, Hobbs.
Yes.
Together, they have a line of comic strips.
Yeah.
Yes.
But I think they're quite big in America.
The only thing I knew about them was there was a robot,
chicken sketch I saw ages ago and it's kind of like you know guys in a robert chicken yeah yeah
Seth Green's one yeah and it was it was based on that and and um so Calvin gets a a toy tiger
for his birthday which I guess is how the real thing happens as well I'm very worried that if
you're gonna talk about that and you don't know how the hell they got the toy look anyway I'll
post that clip so you'll it'll make more sense if you I think I I still found it funny 10 years ago
whenever it was, but I just did not get the joke.
Sure.
I think I figured it out based on the thing.
Okay.
Anyway, this week's topic is their creator, Bill Watterson.
Watterson.
Watterson.
Watterson.
Is that the word you had to listen to the pronunciation?
Yeah, I did, but I listened to an American guy say it,
so it didn't really get me any close to how it should be.
Is it Warterson?
It's with two T's all.
Watterson.
Watterson.
Watterson.
Let's agree on Watterson.
Watterson.
All right, I'm going to say with a slight accent.
I don't appreciate that at all.
I think that way it'll cover me.
Okay.
I don't think in a court of law they could say you're saying it wrong.
I'll be like, no, I'm not.
I'm doing an accent.
I'm slurring my speech, that's all.
I'm drunk officer.
Sir.
Back off.
I'm drunk in a courtroom.
And Bill Wattison.
Nailed it.
Is also the personal hero of golden hat suggestor of this topic, Trey Maverick.
Trey.
Which can't possibly be a real name.
We've talked about Trey.
before. Trey Maverick?
Maverick is an incredible name.
Trey's good.
Then you follow it up with Maverick.
I just cannot believe that someone's got a name that good.
Are you asking Trey to produce a birth certificate?
I am asking Trey to producer goods.
I think every gold hat member...
I'm going to go on Trump on his ass.
Every golden hat member should give us their birth certificate.
Mm-hmm.
To prove that they have...
What was the whole Obama birth certificate thing called?
Does that have a...
The birtha movement?
Birth of...
I'm in the birth of movement.
How do you know everything?
I'm in the Trey Maverick Bertha movement.
How?
prove it or lose it.
That's right.
You're amazing.
He was born in Hawaii.
We all know that.
Dave.
Didn't they end up having a produce?
He actually did produce a birth certificate, even though it was ridiculous.
Maybe to shut them up.
And then Donald Trump was like one of the number one people.
He's like, well, that's just an extract.
Oh, man.
He didn't.
And then since he's like, no, never really.
Anyway, let's not get old.
Let's just do the goddamn report.
Let's not get bogged down in the leader of the three bloody world.
Yeah, mate.
Let's talk about Watterson.
Bill Waddo Watterson was born...
I don't know if he ever had that nickname,
but let's go on Waddo maybe.
Yeah, Waddo, I like it.
Waddo was born on July 5th, 1958 in Washington, D.C.
You know who else?
Spends some time there occasionally?
Who?
Trump.
Oh.
No relation.
His parents were named James and Catherine.
Oh, we know them what wife's name?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
It's exciting.
Quite good, right?
At the age of six, he moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
Ohio!
That is great.
I'm already happy with this story.
Excellent.
I could die now, I'm happy.
Okay, bye.
I'm going off Shagra Falls, whatever you just said.
Chagrin.
Goodbye.
Much to my chagrin.
Shiagra Falls.
Shia Falls.
I am from Shiagra Falls.
I did get sidetracked when I saw that he lived.
in Ohio and I started sort of dreaming of visiting and stuff and I started looking at
I literally lost an hour and a half just there diving to this Ohio Hall Ohio Hole
So Ohio Hall
Oh what I like oh and um I just started looking at the the maps and it's such a weird little
pocket of the of America there it's so close to all these different places you know how the states are on top of each other basically
and then like Pittsburgh is like right near the border of Ohio and stuff
man when we get there we're going to go to all these sick places
I'm going to see a penguins game okay oh so my mum's like one of her best friends
one of her friends is from oh my god from Ohio and they're both teachers and they
what have they have traveled a lot and stay at each other's houses and she used to be the
mayor of the like a small town in Ohio and my mom was telling him about how you know
We have listeners in Ohio, and they're like, come on over.
We've got a small comedy festival.
What?
I've got to do more research about it.
What?
What?
There's a comedy festival.
In Ohio.
That's a new trap.
It's like they're trapping us.
It's a very small, like, you know, maybe 10,000 people live there or something.
I would perform to 10,000.
I'm fine with that.
Absolutely.
I would.
Yeah.
I'm not a snob.
I'm not a diva yet.
But not a soul less than 10,000.
Oh, God, no.
Nine, nine, nine, nine, nine.
You get the whole town there producing their birth certificates.
If it's not four figures.
I thought Dave would have found that more annoying than he did.
He just smiled.
Like he didn't even care.
He didn't get it.
Oh, he didn't get it.
He's like, yeah, four figures.
I'm a six-figure man.
Oh, my God.
Let's just do the report.
So anyway, I was looking up Sugar and Falls.
It's a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.
And it's been home to a few other notable people,
including Scott Wheeland.
Yeah, because Cleveland does rock.
He was the singer of Stone Temple Pilots while he was alive.
And Mark Foster, singer from Foster the People.
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, you better run, better run.
I'm just going to cut you off there, Jess.
Bill's father, James, was a patent attorney and his mother, Catherine,
at one point was on the chagrinful city council.
Oh.
Only one step away from my mum's friend's friend.
Bill has described his childhood as pretty normal.
I generally stayed out of trouble, he said.
I did fairly well in school.
Nerd.
And despite his famous comic being about a child
and his imaginary tiger friend,
I haven't mentioned that, but that's what it is.
He didn't have an imaginary friend himself growing up.
My brother did.
Did he?
Yeah, it was a tiny little horse.
Apparently he used to get upset
because he's quite a lot older than me,
so I didn't ever witness this,
but apparently he used to get like a little bit of him.
upset if they'd left the house and he'd forgotten the horse.
Like, I remember its name.
Mum remembers.
And she used to just be like, oh, no, here he is.
And, like, pull him out of her handbag.
He was here the whole time.
Yeah.
Tiny little horse.
What a nerd.
That is a real nerdy thing.
And you can really...
I don't remember anyone having an imaginary friend.
Yeah.
I reckon that's...
You say nerd, but I think that's something really fun about it.
I think so.
It's super cute.
That's got to be...
There's got to be some sign that you've got to, like, an oversized part of your brain.
Probably.
I just, um...
I know I keep yelling at you for getting distracted,
but I just binge watched a series on Netflix called Moon Boy.
Chris O'Dowd did.
Have you seen it?
Yeah, yeah.
It's so good.
And it's all about a kid who has an imaginary friend
and Chris O'Dowd plays the imaginary friend.
It's so good.
Really clever.
And they speak in an Irish accent.
Yeah, because it's in the 80s.
It is in the 90s.
Oh, the 90s.
It's the late 80s, early 90s, in Boyle.
It's really funny.
So great.
His family is very funny.
Very good.
Very good.
Dave.
I'll have to check it out.
You must.
It's a feel good romp.
It is a bit of a romp.
And Chris O'Dowd's just bloody great, isn't he?
He's a real charmer.
He got better looking.
Did he?
Since IT crowd.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
But then he went to like sapphies and it's like, oh, yes.
Really?
Oh, my God, yes.
Oh, he's a definitely dream boat.
He's gorgeous and he's tall and his eyes.
He's got those big blues.
You know, I'm a sucker for the big blues.
Oh, yeah.
I've got to wear glasses in here.
He's wearing sunglasses at all times.
Just to stop me from just ripping everything off him.
I felt weird as I said it. I'm so sorry.
Matt, do get on.
It's weird that I'm sitting here naked but with glasses on.
He ripped everything else off.
She finds him hideous and as long as the glasses are on.
Like Cyclops.
It's a real power you hide behind that.
Cartoons like Peanuts and Pogo, which I've never heard of,
helped inspire Bill.
And he developed an early interest in drawing.
At around the age of eight, he drew his first cartoon.
And when he was in...
Like you said, the age of 80,
and I was like, that is not early.
Oh.
Well, it's all relative.
Good point.
He's 200 years old.
Do we mention that he is some sort of giant tortoise?
He could live for a few centuries.
Yeah.
I should have probably brought that up earlier.
Now, under Trey Maverick is so enamored with him.
I can't do it during tortoise.
That's amazing.
That is amazing.
So when he was in fourth grade,
apparently he wrote a letter to Charles Schultz,
the creator of Peanuts.
and get a real buzz when he sent a letter back.
Aw.
Of which I have no details of.
Good.
He canoed.
He canoed.
He canoed. Sometimes.
He had many hobbies.
Yeah, he did.
Canoing like...
He had many Calvert and hobbies.
Don't hate me for that.
We suck sometimes.
Yeah.
People get that there's layers of irony on top of these bad puns, right?
I'm not sure they do.
They're just like, oh, these guys suck sometimes.
He continued.
to draw throughout his schooling,
creating superhero comics with mates
and contributing art to the school newspaper.
Oh.
So it's a real...
He was a go-getter.
All of our schools have newspapers.
Yeah.
I remember that my school did not have one of those.
Definitely didn't have one.
It's one of the memories.
Dave, do you have any non-memories?
Yeah, I also remember avoiding
thinking about a newspaper
because I knew I wouldn't want to remember it.
I remember one...
In ten years time.
Wow.
One time at uni there was a...
a spoof newspaper of the Herald Sun called the feral scum.
Oh, that's good.
Oh, that's very good.
Fight the power.
Yeah.
Take them down.
They really tore them down.
From 1976, Waddo attended Kenyon College in Ohio,
studying for a Bachelor of Arts,
focusing on political science.
So no real drawing stuff there.
He was just sort of keeping that on the side.
At college, he drew political cartoons, though,
for the college's news.
newspaper. And he also painted a copy of Michelangelo's famous creation of Adam painting as a mural on his dorm's ceiling.
Oh, that's really cool. Like the Sistine Chapel?
Yes.
Only the dorm.
The Sistine dorm.
The Sistine dorm. Just a lot of like 19 year old dudes jacking themselves.
Well, looking at God touching Adam.
Jacking themselves.
I don't know.
Oh, yeah, rub your fingertip against his finger.
Dave.
Wait, is it
I don't know.
Is it because of
you thought that was a bit blasphemous?
No, no, no, no.
I just, I didn't like the tone.
I barely listened to what he said.
I just didn't like the rub your and I was tuned out.
Come on, it was an intellectual art joke.
Sorry.
All right, mate.
We've all seen art.
Some of us are creating it right now.
I'm not.
I think, I think, I'm not.
I think our rest of development has already squeezed
out all the humor from that painting,
don't know if you can get any more.
I'm going to try.
It's squeezed dry.
Let it go.
Oh, yes, all right.
On a side note.
Not the only thing squeezed dry after looking at that painting,
am I right?
Those guys on the dorm.
Jack in it.
You regretted it all over again.
Did you learn from last time?
I thought it would have been broken down a barrier.
You know, like in history,
some barriers are broken down,
makes it easier for the people to come after them.
I thought I'd broken down the jack-in-it barrier, but I hadn't.
And it wasn't easy for you to come after then.
It wasn't easy.
Wow.
It was just as difficult on the second coming.
The second coming of Adam.
What going on here?
On a side note, you know how college teams have mascots or whatever, especially in America?
Love them.
Did your unis have one?
One's here?
Yeah.
I can't.
Yeah, my first uni definitely did.
And it was a moose.
I was never involved in any sporting activity at uni.
You were?
Yeah.
Yeah, I played basketball at uni.
Yeah, ACU had a moose.
Deakin, I don't know if they, I don't remember there being one.
Is Griffins a thing?
There's maybe Monash Griffins?
I can't remember.
Yeah, I did not, yeah, did not try hard enough there.
No, I could have done well at uni.
But the one I always think of is a teen wolf with Michael J. Fox.
Sure.
They were the beavers.
And that's one that I was remember.
Because they always felt weird.
They're wearing like, he becomes a wolf and he becomes a real big star, but they're still called the beavers.
Surely you'd change your name to the teen wolves.
Why?
So you're going to change your whole school based around one student?
Who's going to, like, graduate eventually and leave?
And then 10 years down the truck, we're like, why are we the wolves?
Oh, as opposed to the beavers where you've got like a clear ongoing story.
Correct.
Every year there's a new beaver who plays in the team.
Exactly.
Okay, well, yeah, now that you've said it like that, I feel stupid.
Anyway, they're an example.
Apparently, the Kenyan college athletes are referred to as the lords and ladies.
Oh, I love that.
I love that so much.
That's great.
I agree, but it just really caught my attention.
What's the mascot?
Man and a woman.
Just a knight and a lady in a tall hat.
Oh, that was cool.
You know, those like those.
Yeah, they're really tall.
Those, like, conats.
It had, like, something at the top, like a little bit of a veil.
Yeah.
Is that what I'm talking about?
Yeah.
I don't think they're lords.
They're high priestesses.
I always get those two confused.
Medieval Lords.
The KKK.
They're the Great Knights or something of that.
Grand Dragon.
Grand Dragon.
How do you know?
They're all so stupid.
Watched a lot of documentaries.
After graduating in 1980, Bill landed a job as editorial cartoonists at the Cincinnati Post.
Cincinnati is also an Ohio.
I did not know that.
Did not know that.
There's so many city names I know in America.
Isn't that one of the biggest ones?
Yeah, it is.
It's actually the third largest in Ohio.
Let's not forget my wrestling move for Cincinnati Razzle-Dazzle.
Oh, yeah.
Right.
So this is a fun name, Cincinnati.
Yeah, it's fun to say.
It's a fun comedy.
It's also a great written down.
Yeah, it looks great.
God, Cincinnati's a best.
Do you reckon, Dave, I actually wrote this in as a question for you.
So Cincinnati, well, you are proud to say you hate geography.
I don't hate it
I just don't understand it
Right
But which way is up
I'm ignorant
I don't hate it
Feel free to answer
Thank you I shall
So
Cincinnati is the third largest city in Ohio
What are the top two?
Cleveland
Yes
That is number two
What's the number one
I don't even know if I knew this place
They all start with C
Cleveland
Columbus.
Oh, I had heard of that, yeah.
Columbus, Ohio.
Yeah, but it feels like that's one of those ones
that there's probably a Columbus in every state.
Because didn't he go there on a boat or something?
I also found out that Ohio is in the Midwest.
Did you know that?
Yep.
And I've heard do people refer to the Midwest before, right?
And I always pictured it to be in the middle of the West.
Interesting.
What do you think Midwest means?
I would have thought the same.
It blew my mind.
It's actually North Central America.
Why do they call it the Midwest then?
I don't know.
Apparently it was officially known as the North Central region,
but that may have made too much sense,
so they changed it in 1984 to Midwest.
Okay.
There would be a...
I'm sure there's a super logical reason, but...
Hey, it's west of something.
Ah, very good.
And mid of something.
It's all about perspective, man.
This is why it just doesn't understand geography.
What?
Is it not west of something?
Oh, shit.
She got you there.
Well, it's west of something.
You've got to pick a point.
Yeah, and maybe the point is different.
And therefore, now it's Midwest.
Yeah, it's west of, like, New York, say, just, right?
There you go.
Midwest.
Hey, Jess, do you say heller a lot?
Because a little while ago, someone tweeted saying that they,
they'd never heard it outside of California or something.
Heller.
You said something that was hella cool.
Yeah, so it's done like the Mona Lisa episode.
It was like right at the beginning.
I'm sure I've got a good.
good memory. No, it's because of the screenshot they attached in their tweet.
Oh, right. Okay, great. I mean, yes, I remember it very clearly. I've definitely said
Hela a few times. Always ironically. There are a bunch of celebrities also from Cincinnati,
way more actually, because it's a much bigger city than the suburb of Shagrin Falls.
These include Bootsie Collins. Oh, bop, bump, bach. Yeah. A holder of the funk.
There's a mighty boosh there, whatever they say.
That's great.
Jerry Springer and Nicolet, who I think we've talked about before.
Oh, Nick Ler Shea.
New Wed himself.
Yeah.
Have we talked about that before?
I wonder how his new marriage to Jessica Simpson is going.
Me too.
Anyway, here is another report on Nick Lachey.
Yeah, sorry, I'm just a little side report here.
Nick Lachey, where is he now?
Jessica Simpson is obviously by far the superior Matt Perkins.
What just happened?
I don't know.
Are you going to say she's by far the superior Jess?
Yeah, but then I said she's the superior Simpson.
Well, she is.
And then I corrected said Perkins.
What a fucking idiot.
She's the superior Simpson.
Her sister Ashley has done nothing a long time.
Wow.
I suppose, yeah, okay.
What's Jessica done?
I say to myself every morning in the mirror.
Nick Lechay.
What's Jessica done?
Look, I think they all achieve great things, and they should be proud of themselves.
Go Cincinnati.
So, what I got this job at the Cincinnati Post,
but his bosses were not impressed with his work,
apparently because he had lived in the suburbs of Cleveland his whole life.
He didn't know too much about the Cincinnati political landscape.
Or the razzle-dazzle.
Or the razzle-dazzle.
And so he...
Kid, what's your favorite wrestling move?
The Cleveland Double Park.
Oh, you've got a lot to learn, man.
So, yeah, they really weren't impressed by his work
and maybe partially because he didn't really have an understanding of the local politics.
Sure.
And he ended up getting the sack within a year and having to move back on with his parents.
They gave him a free sack.
Yeah, they gave him a sack.
That's nice.
Like a Hessian sack?
It was a Hessian sack.
Did it have potatoes in it?
No. It had those dogs.
It was an empty and they said, use this to clear out your desk.
You fucking five.
Oh.
Oh.
Yeah, it was a real roller coaster.
Yeah.
At first he was like, great.
Yeah.
I need a place to throw stuff into.
Oh, they're giving me some potatoes.
This is so nice.
I'll hold it open.
And you just...
Put the potatoes in.
Chuck of the spuds.
All right.
You chuck of the spuds.
You quickly realize that every bag has a hush and lining.
And he had to get the fuck out of there.
Wow.
That's deep.
That's beautiful.
So he's back living with his parents,
and this is around the point where he kind of bailed on the political cartoons.
Decided that wasn't really his thing.
and he returned to what made him fall in love with drawing in the first place.
Comic strips.
He started working hard, creating comic strips,
trying out a few different characters,
and he'd send him out to newspapers in the hope of getting published.
But he was left disappointed time after time,
as he was rejected by Cindy Lauper amongst other newspapers.
Back then, she also had a newspaper.
The Cindy Lauper.
The Cindy Lauper, yes.
Sure.
Sure.
It was actually, it was called the Cindy Lauper True Colors.
It's very on brand.
And girls want to have fun.
And I'm all out of Cindy Lauper reference.
That's all you need.
Kinky boots.
Damn it.
During this time, to make ends meet, he had to do some soul-destroying work designing ads for car dealers and supermarkets.
He didn't say it was sole destroying.
I've added that in.
You bowed that in.
As someone who would never associate themselves with the advertising world,
in any way, who would never sell themselves out for acting in a commercial say.
Never.
For example.
Personally, it wouldn't do it.
Like standing in a line.
You draw the line there.
I draw the line at lines.
Yeah.
Some sort of confectionery ad.
No, thank you.
Look, I don't know what you're insinuating.
Matt's in an M&M ad.
He is...
That's what I'm insinuating, Matt.
Well, look, if you'd spelled it out in the first place,
we would have saved each other some time.
M and M. Spelled it.
He has since said that this time was very important, though,
as it helped him realize that doing the kind of work that he wanted to do
was more important than money, because he was earning decent money doing these things.
But he wasn't loving it.
Maybe it was soul-destroying.
Referencing this tough period, he has said since,
To endure five years of rejection to get a job requires either a faith in oneself
that borders on delusion or a love of the work.
I was deluded.
No, I loved the work.
Right.
And I guess it was that love and dedication
that kept Waddo in the game
and led him to his big success.
He workshopped a few different characters
but eventually settled on his iconic duo
of Calvin and Hobbs.
Calvin, a rowdy young boy,
and Hobbs, a toy tiger who came to life,
but only went alone with Calvin.
I think that's sort of our work.
Where does he get these ideas?
So basically, Hobbes, right, is a living anthropomorphic tiger.
Nailed it.
To Calvin.
But to the rest of the characters, Hobbs is just an inanimate stuff toy.
Capish.
And they go on adventures.
They go on adventures.
And their rocket can and their et cetera.
Nailed it.
I'm going to look into this more.
I've read a few, and they're nice.
There's some nice ones.
I don't know heaps.
I just have friends who...
They have fun.
I think it might be one of those ones
We're growing up with it
Would make you really into it
Yeah
Is it funny?
It's humorous
It's, I think it would be like a gentle humor maybe
Yeah
I think it's sort of like
Oh here we go
You know, it's, I kind of feel like it's putting up a mirror
Mm-hmm
You know what I mean?
Just you read it
And have a good hard look at yourself Dave
Right and just ask
Where's my fucking tiger?
Yeah
so to speak
I don't think Calvin
put it quite like that
He wouldn't put it like that
He's a child
He doesn't know that word
Is he like six
Six
He's better boy
He's butter boy
He's butter boy
He's butter boy
That's his alter ego
Butter boy
He's so slippery
Okay
Tell me more
He can
Fry him in a pan
I'm liking this
Butter boy
Butter boy
The main character
Slide him down a slide
on a hot day.
He'll melt.
Butter boy.
The main characters were...
Butter boy, you're short separately.
The main characters were named after 16th century French theologian
John Calvin.
Uh-huh.
And 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
Well, that's cute.
Yeah, so they're named after...
They're good names.
I like Hobbs especially.
Yeah, Hobbs cool.
That's very cute.
Hobbs.
So picking out of all the sort of French cool-s-sounding.
philosophers
naming him
after it
John.
Well yeah
I mean he cut that
bit out didn't he?
What's your problem
with John's?
You love the John?
It's all you ever do.
You always go to the John.
I do.
We get in here,
we set up,
we're like,
okay,
we're ready to go
and you're like,
I just got to go
the John.
You love Johns.
If you're talking
about pissing into
their mouths.
Yeah.
This is where I remind you
that my father,
John Perkins,
listens to this podcast.
That's my name
for a 21st century
kind of guy,
but the 16th century Frenches.
Frenches?
There's more to someone than their name.
But if you get to pick anything for your character,
he didn't choose...
He didn't choose John.
He chose Hobbs.
Fair enough.
Great to disagree.
That's easy?
I've made it sound like Waddo went through
like a lifelong struggle before he found success.
But in actual fact, he was just 27
when he started producing Calvin and Hobbs.
For money.
So 27's a magic number, is it?
I don't know if that's what I was saying.
I think it is.
Necessarily.
This is our year, baby.
Coming up.
Coming up.
I have plans to join the 27 club, so I've got to get famous and die all within one year.
Me too.
I made that joke when I was 26, too.
Forty six years ago.
That's just a little something that your kids will go through.
It's nice watching you guys grow up before my eyes.
Doing jokes I made years ago, etc.
It's amazing that you were somehow able to predict the 27 Club
hundreds of years before it even existed.
You're old.
As soon as I saw Janice Joppa and I'm like, yeah.
She's going to die.
She's going to die.
Soon.
That's a cool plot for a film.
The 27 Club is actually just a serial killer.
That's a good plot for a film.
Copyright.
Nobody write that.
It's ours.
Stop it.
Put that pen down, young man.
Stop it.
Watching you.
We're watching you from inside your ear holes.
Ew, imagine if we could.
Can't we?
I just assumed we could and we just hadn't yet.
We just don't.
We would never abuse that power.
Or would we?
I think everyone should know that we would not.
Oh, I get it.
I mean, you're winking at me.
Oh, shit, okay.
In 1985s, selling it to Universal Press Syndicate,
he finally, after all these few years in his mid-20s,
of struggling.
Of struggling, gave his work a national audience.
The strip debuted on November 18th, 1985.
Jess, where were you?
Where was I in 1985?
But a twinkle in my father's eye.
We're going to have to talk to you about some other things as well,
biological and...
What?
Spurn starts in the eye, doesn't it?
Oh, no.
Is it?
Dave?
Tell her.
It's the nose, Jess.
You come from your dad's nostrils.
That's what I'm there.
I was...
I was...
Oh, this is rich.
She's so bad at geography.
She gets her eyes and her nose confused.
Eyes and ears and...
Ow!
This has been poking myself in the eye.
Oh, go.
What? And you would, you were poking yourself in the eye when you were saying ears.
Eyes and ears. You were pointing to the wrong thing.
I don't know who I am anymore.
So it debuted on November 18, 1985 in 35 papers.
And this is when he's only 27.
This is when he's 27.
And by 1987, the number had grown to more than 300 newspapers.
Wow.
Wow.
The fastest growing comic strip of the 1980s.
In all of America, maybe the world.
Probably America.
All of America.
That's big.
Including Ohio.
Yes.
Which is in America.
Which is where Waddo was in.
Thank you.
And it made him like some sort of a celebrity, almost instantly.
At 20s.
Living the celebrity line.
Oh, would we call 27 more late 20s?
Nah, probably still mid, I reckon.
Probably still mid-20s.
It was...
There's a few things I'm having to explain to you today.
When time moves on, so does your age.
So by 987, he'd aged two years.
Okay.
And became 29.
That is definitely right.
Which I think...
The latest the 20s will go.
Jess is just looking at the map saying,
But which way is up?
I don't like this.
I don't like it either.
You're going to have to say some smart things soon.
Good luck.
Otherwise, we're all being...
Bad feminists today.
Wait, but if it was Dave, would you mind?
That's fine.
But I can't be dumb.
Exactly.
There's a lot of pressure on you from the patriarchy.
Don't try to change me.
If I want to be dumb, I'll be dumb.
Exactly, I'm giving you permission to be done.
Thank you.
I'm the feminist here.
Do you go on?
Man.
I'm the feminist here.
That's the best.
I'll be the feminist here.
Back off, tuts.
I'll take this one.
You don't know how to be a feminist.
Shh.
So, yeah, it was a big...
Here's a book I wrote.
Give it a read sometime if you can.
Get your daddy to read it to you.
You got mansplaining bad, David Warnocky.
So, yeah, it was a big hit.
Readers loved it.
And it was, you know, the story kind of follows their mischievous adventures.
With a comic strip, are they readers or are they viewers?
Oh.
Oh, is that a little comic burn?
Are you trying to be intellectual again?
Sorry.
I thought that was.
I think you'll find.
They're actually looking with their eyes.
I've done some research.
Ow on my eye.
Scooby-Doo can do-do, but Jimmy Carter is smarter.
It's the other way around, isn't it?
Fuck.
But what about...
I've lost it.
In 86, Waddo became the youngest cartoonist ever to receive the National Cartoonist Society's Rubin Award,
which is the industry.
It's a sandwich.
They give him a Ruben sub.
Got pickles, got some coleslaw.
Fuck yeah.
That sounds real good.
Sounds great.
That's, what an honor.
The highest sandwich.
The highest sandwich in the land.
The whole industry?
Yeah.
How old is he at this point?
What is this?
This is 86.
So we've gone back of you.
He's back to 28.
Matt's trying to move on and we won't let him.
It's only 28.
That's really frustrating, isn't it?
Yeah, in some ways.
Not too late for you to pick up the old cartoony pen
But you are behind
Yeah you are well behind
No you
Because you are past
I'm gonna find it quite difficult to win a Rubin by 28
Yeah because 28 was a long time ago for you
I can't even remember it
I bet
I was so young and stupid
Much like some people I know
Maybe I'll just grow into smarts
Do you reckon?
Do you reckon I'll grow into some smarts?
No
I'll be the feminist here
He doesn't give him any interviews right
But he does seem to give quite a few to this publication
Called the Plain Dealer
Which is one of the first publications to run the comic
P-L-A-N-E
P-L-A-N-E
P-A-Y-N
The Plain dealer
P-L-A-I-N
And it's an Ohioan publication
O-Han
It's O-Hatian
It's O-Hatian
Public C-Hon
In 1987, what I said he was to the plane dealer,
he said that he was shell-shocked by the attention
that the celebrity aspect of the job had taken him.
It's disrespectful to our veterans?
It had taken him a back.
Which, you know, wow.
It's not the same as shell-shock.
No, no, he's sort of damn-grating it.
Is that taken a back? Is this being taken a back?
Yeah, nailed it.
That's perfect.
Thank you.
Do it again?
Oh, wow, the range.
I felt that.
I connected with that performance.
I like the fuck out of anything.
I thought you could just stand in lines, but you're relaxed.
He can be taken a back.
Dave, you give it a go.
No, so you were, no.
I went forwards.
You went forwards.
I got taken a forwards.
Is that a thing?
Is there a role for that?
So he's taken a back, and I'm going to edit out all that visual stuff we just did.
He was taken a back, and he said, I really can't stand it, right?
He said he really appreciated the fans, but he couldn't understand why they would want to know so much about him and his life.
Like, he didn't like that.
I get that.
He's like, just read the fucking drawings.
What do you need to know about me?
I'm just some guy.
Interesting.
With the comics popularity growing exponentially, universal press syndicate were keen to start selling Calvin and Hobbs merch, which as we know, with the Simpsons and many other cartoons.
That's where the big dollars are made.
But despite Waddo's relative youth, he walked to the beat of his own drum,
and as such he refused to allow the licensing of his creations for merchandise.
But he did hire a man to follow him playing a drum at a weird beat.
And he walked to it.
Or you better fucking believe he walked to it.
Sounds expensive.
Yeah.
He better start selling some merch if you're going to get that money.
Worth it.
Do you get the feeling that he's making a bit of money, though?
Yeah, he's making some money, for sure, because it's becoming very popular.
He's definitely making money.
He's just not, he just is choosing not to make crazy money.
He said that if he did that, it would turn his characters into television hucksters and t-shirt sloganeers
and deprive me of characters that actually expressed my own feelings.
He doesn't sound like any late 20s person I've ever met.
Yeah, it does.
Deprive me.
Of my feelings.
My feelings, my character.
I mean, he's a writer, but he doesn't.
know many, like, writers or...
Intellectuals.
Intellectual types.
Orators.
Maybe I do.
That's true.
We don't know what Dave does outside of this studio.
That's a very good point.
Never seen me outside of this room.
Unfortunately, though, his deal with Universal Press was signed when he was an eager unknown.
So the contract was very one-sided against him.
If Universal really wanted to, they could license his characters against his will.
But he eventually won out.
and I guess he uses his popularity, like, as a bargaining chip,
to renegotiate his contract so that he would receive all rights to his work.
Wow.
So he sounds like he's a pretty good businessman as well as a...
And are these just small comic strips, like four or five cells at a time?
Yeah, they're just the ones you read in the paper sort of thing.
Yeah.
Like a Garfield or those sort of guys.
Or Fred Bassett.
He would be...
Fred Bassett.
Is that...
Do you think that's, is that international?
It's like famously bad.
So bad.
Just nothing really happens.
What's the other one?
What's the Viking?
Hagar.
Hagar.
My dad loves Hagar.
My dad loves Hagar.
There's a couple of Hagar's cut out and stuck on my parents' fruit.
The Wizard of Id?
Wizard of Id.
Snake tails?
Snake tails.
What's the flower?
I say, the other flower sort of stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
And then one of them slaps.
They always slap them.
They're all that slapstick in that comic, which I respect.
Yeah.
You're a big slapper.
That was not
At all
Did you hear that?
Yeah, you piece of work
Marking down on my feminist list
You big slapper
I was thinking how
I'm calling the police
Okay, that's going to sound weird out of context
Hello
My friend just called me a big slapper
Hello?
Are you there?
Officer
They've died of shock
They fainted
Oh, that's good.
Dude, do you think the way he was quite protective of his characters
reminded me a bit of the Mary Poppins author, do you reckon?
PL Travers.
Yeah, only she wanted to avoid turning him into cartoons, I guess.
Slightly different, but similar.
Yeah, it is impressive when people, like, sort of control their creation
and don't want to, they don't want to sell out, I guess.
Yeah.
It's like it's real art.
We wouldn't know what that is.
We are very keen to make any money we can.
from this art that we make.
Yeah, look.
Do you think this is art?
Ah, no.
Nah, good cool.
Dave?
It's, it's, uh, it goes, it goes beyond art.
There it is.
It's new art.
It, uh, it transcends art.
It transcends. We're floating above art.
Mm-hmm.
Looking down at art, spitting.
If we were at the Louvre, or the Louvre.
The Louvre.
The Louvre.
We wouldn't, we wouldn't, that wouldn't, that wouldn't be
to put us on a wall, we'd be, we'd be sort of like wearing, you know, in a hot air balloon above.
Outside, outside the building?
Outside and above.
So we're just in a hot air balloon in Paris, is what you're saying?
Yeah, probably, that's how, that's how, that's how much we transcend.
Probably be being shut out by the French Air Force.
Yeah, because we're dangerous.
We're dangerous, you know.
How many fucks do we give?
What's the opposite of sub?
What?
Opposite of sub
Un sub.
Un sub.
We're unsub artists.
Okay.
We're one bit above.
How many fucks do we give?
15, 20?
Really?
Each.
And that's, you know.
60 fuck's given, bro.
And that's just what I got in my pockets, so.
Okay, yeah, cool.
If you give me some time, I'll collect more.
Sick.
Go collect some fucks.
I'll root around in the couch.
So we're the opposite of Wotto?
Is that a weird episode?
I'm sorry.
So anyway, despite pressure, he has maintained that position of no merchandise, even till today.
I think I admire him for that.
It sounds like you guys sort of do too.
Yeah, absolutely.
I reckon I would definitely, in his position, I reckon I probably would have okayed it and tried to control it from there.
Yeah, just remember like on The Simpsons, Matt Graining still gets the final say on merchandise.
Yeah.
I think he almost always says, yes.
He's like crusty in the Simpsons.
Krusty pregnancy tests.
Is my upper lip always supposed to bleed this much?
I think so.
But because he said no, it hasn't been able to, like anything,
it hasn't been able to stop unofficial merch happening.
And I found out something in the research that I'd seen a Calvin logo a lot.
And it's this widespread unofficial merch.
It's a sticker of Calvin pissing on a brand logo.
Like the logo might change depending on what
Like in Australia the two big race car brands or car brands
Ford and Holden
So Ford lovers
We'll have a Calvin pissing on Holden and vice versa
Take that
Yeah real good stuff
But I'd seen that I'd seen that a lot around
Had no idea that was Calvin
There you go
If Hobbes was there
Maybe I would have had a bloody some sort of an idea
Sure
Just look like a little boy to you
Just a little boy
He was taking a slash.
What I was actually mentioned those stickers saying,
I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo.
He miscalvinated.
Not good.
Brutal.
Someone had to say it.
Jess would have if...
Just the way he looked me dead in the eye.
If the rolls were reversed, Jess definitely would have been the one to say that.
Yeah.
In 1995, and you know you've really opened us both up to any line ball calls from now on is going to be.
really shot down by this.
So thanks a lot, you're fucking idiot.
I'm shaking now.
I'm not going to go for any.
Like, because normally it's a safe place.
You can have a crack at a decalvinating or whatever you said.
Absolutely not now.
And that's fine, but you've fucked that for everyone, Dave.
This is meant to be a safe place.
You're proud of yourself?
Sorry.
In 1995, when the strip was at the height of its popularity...
More like stripper.
I thought Jess was going to shut me down.
High-fived him.
I was going for anything.
Running in...
Any word I was just going to change.
In a lot of ways, I'm at a very important part of the story.
Okay, so you asking us to shut up.
All right, talk about the strippers.
You fucking piece of shit.
So, in 1995, when the strip was at the height of its popularity,
it had been running for more than...
It had been running in more than 2,400 newspapers.
Whoa, that's huge.
It's a huge amount of newspapers.
And reaching an audience in the hundreds of millions,
which is also quite big.
At this point, and they'd been running for 10 years,
Wadderson sent a letter to the thousands of publications
that carried his comic strip.
The letter read,
Dear editor,
I'll be stopping Calvin and Hobbs at the end of this year.
This was not a recent or easy decision,
and I'll leave with some sadness.
My interests have shifted, however,
and I believe I've done what I can do
within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels.
I'm eager to work at a more thoughtful pace with fewer artistic compromises.
I've not yet decided on future projects, but my relationship with Universal Press Syndicate will continue.
That so many newspapers would carry Calvin and Hobbs as an honour I'll long be proud of,
and I've regularly appreciated your support and indulgence over the last decade.
During this comic strip has been a privilege and a pleasure,
and I thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Sincerely signed Bill Watterson.
Wow.
Wow, about it out on top.
Yeah, like right at the peak.
Yeah, wow.
It was still growing, I think.
It was like it was big and super popular.
And so they mean going for about 10 years?
10 years for 3,100 installments.
And that's when he retired the comic.
The final Calvin and Hobbs ran on December 31st, 1995.
Oh, wow.
I had no idea.
No.
Yeah, it's one of those things.
It's still sort of in the zeitgeist somewhere.
That's really cute.
Yeah, it definitely is.
And people who genuinely mourned its passing.
They still do, apparently.
the plane dealer that paper I was talking about before,
published an article written in 2010.
It was 15 years after the last issue.
And the author of the article, John Campanelli,
he sounds like a big Calvin and a Hobbes fan too.
I like this one little mini paragraph in his article he said,
unlike other popular art of the era,
the films of Kevin Costner perhaps,
or the music of Brian Adams.
Sure.
Calvin and Hobbs has not been time stamped and filed away.
It has endured, even thrived.
Cop that, Kossner.
Now, he in the article, he also quotes Lucy Caswell,
who curates a cartoon library and museum at Ohio State University,
go buck eyes,
where the majority of the original Calvin and Hobbs strips are kept.
Nearly all of them are there, the original drawing.
She said,
Still people come up to me and they grieve the loss of Calvin and Hobbs.
It's genuine.
But Caswell urges fans of the strip to focus.
on what Waddo gave them, which is what she calls a gift.
Don't focus on what he took away.
Focus on what he gave you.
What he gave you.
Wow.
I mean, it's the same thing as what he took away.
I appreciate the 10 years you had, though.
This is what she says, which to me, this feels crazy that this has to be said.
But anyway, this is what she said.
I think we have to respect his choices.
It seems to me that any creative person has the right to decide if they are or they are not going to make their art.
That ultimately has to be their choice.
She's not wrong.
She's absolutely not wrong.
You're wasting everyone's time.
Of course, they don't have to.
But she's saying it to people like, honestly, I know it's hard.
But if someone doesn't want to do something, you can't make him.
No, no, chain him up.
Make him write the comic.
So weird.
Threaten his kids' lives.
Make him ride them.
it page by page
whato
his fans
sound like the big fans
possibly Trey Maverick
just real
just dedicated
fans who are just
like it's like their lives
have been ruined
when he took it away
so they sort of like really turned on him a bit
anyway
we're sort of almost wrapping it up here
as
so that's 22 years ago
yeah
and he's never gone back
not never going back
He never resurrected Calvin and Hobbes.
He has lived mainly out of the spotlight since he retired it.
According to Biography.com, he lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Melissa.
Yes!
Where he keeps a low profile and declines most interview requests.
He says he has no regrets about ending the strip when he did.
No regret.
No regret. No regret face for Bill.
This is what he said.
It's always better to leave the party earth.
earlier. That's what he said again with an interview with the plane dealer.
If I had rolled along with the strip's popularity and repeated myself for another five,
10 or 20 years, the people now grieving for Calvin and Hobbs would be wishing me dead
and cursing newspaper for running tedious ancient strips like mine instead of inquiring fresher,
instead of acquiring fresher, livelier talent, and I'd be agreeing with them.
What a cool dude. I think he's spot on.
I love it at the end.
I thought that's really good.
So I think what happened,
you're like,
you quit at the peak
and people miss it,
whereas you just ride something to the ground
and then they're like,
oh,
you've ruined the legacy.
Yeah,
the Simpsons, anyone.
It's not even like it,
it's not even about it being at its absolute peak as well.
Like,
um,
even if it had sort of peaked a little while ago,
I hadn't quite reached its peak.
Like,
if he's done with it.
Yes.
And doesn't enjoy doing it anymore.
Then the quality is going to,
like,
diminish anyway?
He left it with a real nice one too.
I really like it.
It's like,
it's like,
their landscapes covered in snow
and they're talking about it like it's a blank sheet of paper
and they just go look the world's full of opportunities
let's go explore and they walk off into the distance
oh that's nice it's real sweet way to end it
wow i just i wouldn't have i don't think i'd ever have the balls to walk away
and not regret it or think about it all the time
yeah but if it's the right time then you probably wouldn't
i i'm got the kind of personality where i'm not super decisive
so i think i'd find something like that really difficult
I'm pretty sure I'd take too long.
We're going to do this for 100 years, aren't we?
I'm keen to do this for 100 years.
I want to still be doing this when we're, well, when we're in our 50s, so you'd be 83?
I'll be in my 50s.
150s.
Am I right, ladies?
Am I right, ladies?
Yes, anyway, so that is the story.
Obviously, has he done anything since?
He said he was going to continue a cartoon.
Nothing.
He's just sat in the table.
chair for 22 years Dave.
Comic book wise.
He's done little bits and pieces.
He took up painting for a while.
He was painting with his dad for a bit, doing landscapes and stuff like that.
And he's come back.
He did some work to raise some money for Parkinson's, finding a cure for Parkinson's,
for the, I think maybe the Michael J. Fox set up there, Teen Wolf himself.
Yeah, so he's done bits and pieces, but yeah, basically he's really like,
his bibliography and stuff has really slowed up since the mid to late 90s.
That's amazing.
He's just chilling and loving his life with his life.
And he made enough cast to cruise along.
Yeah.
I think he's still, like his books, like he released books compiling all the comics,
and they've sold hundreds of thousands.
Continue to sell.
Like, he'd still be making money out of those things.
It's all still floating about.
Wow.
Yeah.
I just think he's a mad dog.
I love a guy I can just go, I'm not enjoying him.
I'm going to, you know, just go do stuff I like.
I wonder what that is, but you can't find out
because he doesn't bloody do any interviews apart from the bloody plane.
I mean, you probably tried to contact him, right?
I did, of course.
I always do.
I've tried to contact all my topics.
Birkenwills.
They were difficult.
Sounds.
Dear Birkenwills.
Where are you?
Please reply to my previous email.
Love Matt.
Where are you?
Where are you?
Yeah, I just.
I know I just have a stab at email address
at Birkenwills at Birkenwills.com.
Burke and Wurk underscore Wills
I do try a few different ones.
They don't have their own emails.
They don't have their own emails. It's Burke and Wills at Berk and Wills at Borg.
No.
They're old school.
Willis, did you subscribe to a Viagra thing again?
Sorry, Berg.
This is a shared email.
Know your boundaries.
Dave, I did mean to bring that up.
I've gone through our email.
recently.
Oh no.
Wow, I'm honestly impressed with this guy.
I can see why he would be a personal hero,
to our personal hero,
Trey Maverick.
The Maverick himself.
What a name.
The Man, the Myth to Legend,
Trey Maverick.
And I've just got to give you a look at this guy
because I think if you liked him already,
you're going to love this classic photo of him,
which is what comes up the most.
We'll post this.
This is probably the photo with the show.
Great.
I was not expecting that at all.
Oh, wow, he's a cool dude.
He's a cool dude.
Look at that mo.
And those glasses, they are enormous.
How old is he, does that have a date on it?
No, that was yesterday.
That's on his Instagram.
He updates his website meticulously.
Does Bill Watterson have Instagram, Matt?
No, he doesn't.
Disappointing.
Yeah, he's a recluse, but does post regularly on the gram.
Hey guys, here I am, not doing very much.
Again.
Just letting you know, just check it in with a selfie to let you know.
No interviews today.
Thank you.
I will not be making any comments.
much.
You just post screenshots of the interview requests?
But the caption is just no.
Little gifts have him going, no, no, no.
Not today.
Will today be the day?
No.
I hope he listens to podcasts about him.
No doubt.
No doubt.
I would.
He's got a big Google alert going.
I listen to a podcast about myself.
People talk about you for over an hour.
God, they'd have a lot to say, wouldn't they?
Oh, yeah.
Jeez.
Her brother is seven years older.
Thank you and goodbye.
That's the number one fun fact about Jess.
He is seven years older.
He's a little fun fact.
I've probably mentioned it.
His name's Michael.
A very uncommon name.
He named after a 16th century French philosopher.
He is.
Our parents are artists.
Michael Angelo?
Correct.
Now we've got to thank The Man the Magic.
The Myth, the Legend.
Trey Maverick, of course,
for suggesting this topic being one of our Golden Hat patrons.
but you also like to thank him.
Not until.
I'm not going to thank him until I see that certificate.
On my desk.
Where were you born?
Hawaii, I'd fucking doubt it.
Wow.
Sorry, the Golden Hat Bertha movement.
I just choose to believe, personally.
You do?
Yep.
Do you believe in love after love?
You know where I think Trey actually is from?
Austin, Texas.
I think.
We'll have to go there on the American tour.
Why would you guess?
Why would you say that if you think?
could be a huge insult to try if you're wrong.
Austin's not insulting to anyone.
You don't know that.
I'm pretty sure Willie Nelson's from Austin, so grow up, Jess.
Good point.
What I'm trying to lead us to is we need to thank some patrons as well.
People that donate to patreon.com slash do go on pod.
We'd like to give you a shout out.
Now, Matt, who would you like to thank?
If I could, I'd love to...
And you can.
Oh, thank goodness.
From the bottom of my heart, I'd love to thank.
Ciparelli
Daniel
Dan the man
Dan the man
Dan the man
Ciparelli
Have a sip on us
You know what I'm doing
tonight
Daniel Sipper
Ciparelli
Please don't tell us
Yeah
What are you doing
What are you doing today
I was gonna go home
Have a beer
And have a little
Siparelli
In honour of my fav
You were gonna have a beer
Anyway I reckon
Nah
Nah
Nah
Siparelli
Is this your excuse
No
Oh
Right
Okay
Is it
Yeah
What?
What is this an insquisition?
How dare you?
Is that what it is?
Well, put it in whatever terms you like.
But it's not on.
This is a safe place.
We can have a siparelli if we want to have a superrelli.
All right, mate.
I think you've had a few too many siperlis.
It's not only you've had a few siper.
I just love that name.
Are you having pre-show siperlis again?
No.
You've got to stop at the pre-show siperlis.
It'd be great if we're saying it wrong.
this entire time.
I'm confident there's a chance.
I'm confident there's a chance.
I think Sipa's from California as well.
So he won't mind me saying that he is hella cool.
Right, because Hella is okay in California.
I think.
Yeah, I didn't, yeah.
Sure.
Okay.
Thank you, Daniel Siparelli.
I would also like to think, if I may, gentlemen, if I may, please.
I love you too.
Thank you so much.
I would really like to thank a man who I assume is related to my friend Sophie
that I went to school with because they share.
the same surname.
Oh, okay.
Right, okay.
That does.
I thought it's a wild stab.
That gets you a lot closer.
Yeah, and there can't be that many of them.
So I would like to thank Matt.
Big ball bag.
Sophie, big ball bag.
I mean, the odds.
Lovely girl.
We'll always have grade four.
I would like to thank Matt Flanagan.
Oh, that very uncommon name.
I would call him Flano.
If we were mates.
I'd call him 48.
48.
And that sounds like a random number.
Uh-huh.
So that's the first thing that came to mind.
Right.
Where would that nickname come from?
Which probably makes it a bit random.
Yeah.
Came from the depths of my heart.
I assume that it was like some sort of didn't kill the football club reference.
Probably, no.
Like Matt Flanagan.
Matt Flanagan.
48.
48 because he's really great.
Nailed it.
Great.
I think that's why I called 40.
And I agree.
I think Matt Flanagan is fantastic.
He's flan-tastic.
Fuck.
Oh, now I'm going to get, what I'm going to do tonight,
I'm going to have a little sip a rally on a beer,
and I'm going to eat a little fruit flanagan.
Great.
You know what you should have after that?
What's that?
You should have yourself a shepherd's pie,
brought to you by one golden patron himself,
Zach Shepard.
That's who I'd like to thank.
Return of the Zach.
You heard those sheep.
That's what Shepherds do, right?
Oh, yeah.
See?
Smart.
You're smart.
Didn't realize.
I'm pretty smart.
What going on upstairs?
I like that there's two golden hat people on one episode.
Trey Maverick's actually, but you guys should get together.
You could hang out.
Oh, that would be nice.
That'd be cool.
Yeah, that'd be lovely.
Take a dip in the golden hat.
I'd love if everybody could just hang out.
I'd love it if people met through our podcast.
I'd love a friendship to fall to us.
I'd love a marriage.
Oh my God.
That would be the best.
Let me finish the sentence.
To you.
Wait.
You and I are getting married?
Or a listener is marrying me?
That's right.
One.
Wait, hang on.
No, wait.
I meet a man.
We start to chat.
He goes, oh, you have a podcast.
He listens to my podcast.
We happen to get married later.
Does that count?
It's pretty good.
Yes.
Take that.
Take that.
Take that with your happy marriage and your future and your security.
Yeah, dog.
Hey, Zach Shepherds from Queensland.
Go, Marones.
Am I right?
I know all the teams.
Queensland.
Zach, I'm so sorry.
That you're from Queensland.
Oh, no.
No, I love it so much.
Going to be up there soon.
Oh yeah, Maddie's going on a roadshow up there.
Yes.
Be soon, very soon.
Maybe near Zach Shepherd himself.
Yeah, I don't know.
I'd have to look up his address.
Do I have access to that?
That'd be weird, wouldn't it?
Yeah, probably.
Probably won't do that.
Don't turn up at his house.
Okay.
That would be weird, wouldn't be?
That'd be too far.
Hello.
Where was my staying?
Yeah.
No, you're right.
That would be too much.
Wouldn't it?
Wouldn't it?
Wouldn't it?
Matt, don't do it, please.
You know what I'm like when I got an idea in the head?
No, but I really must urge you to ditch this idea.
Or you'll end up in a ditch.
Okay, great.
Yeah.
Hey, we can't trust a Golden Hat patron.
Who can you trust?
You're not wrong.
That's what I'm saying.
You're not wrong at all.
Now we will be back next week with another episode
It is myself reporting
And I don't know if we said this on an episode
But we've changed the rules up here
Matt did the golden hat this week
Because your topics for the last four or five months
Matt people have been able to vote through Patreon
It's been so much fun
But you've handed the reins over to me
On the baton rain
So for the next few months
You'll be able to vote for my topics
Which must feel good
Right
For you to now vote on
what Dave's going to do,
that must feel like real power.
Oh, well, people have started voting
on my topic for next week,
and by the time this comes out,
the vote will have closed.
I'm about to close it.
It's so, so close.
There's only a few votes in it,
all three options.
I did not have a single vote that was close.
Every time, one, one,
with over half the votes.
Oh, I'm talking minuscule percentage.
Bees dick.
Half. Half a bees dick.
Down to, like, two, three.
Three figures?
I told you I'm a six figure plus man.
Anything other six figures is small for him.
It's pocket change.
Okay.
Dave, can I borrow $10,000?
Sure.
Thank you.
I don't even need it back.
Sick.
Matt now.
Strike, strike.
Dave, can I have a million dollars?
Sure, no questions asked.
Hang on.
I don't even need it back.
Dave.
You blew your chance, Jess.
I'm sorry.
You're only getting 10 grand.
Nah, I'd still take it.
What a lose.
I'd be able to that.
And then I'd borrow money for it.
from you too.
Matt?
Yes.
Can I have $200,000?
What do you need it for?
Liven.
Okay.
Thanks, Maddie.
If you're going to die without it, then of course you can have the money.
Thank you.
Well, if you want to vote for my topics or supply Jess's large demands for cash,
head us up on patreon.com slash do go on pod.
My bank details are BSB.
I don't know what they are.
You could also hit us up on social media, of course.
All the links are in the.
description but if you want me to say it out loud it is
at do go on pod on Facebook
Instagram and Twitter we always love to hear from you guys
topic suggestions are always very
welcome the hat is getting huge but hey
the more than merrier yeah at this point
it's a 10 gallon hat oh
big old hat my neck is getting sore
you could take it off hey Dave tell
him to review oh yeah
we don't often say this but it does help
us get out there if you
review and rate the short
we will just dance for you
go on make him do something
Hey, Dave.
iTunes, just review us.
That's what I'm trying to say.
Dave, tell them to also go to my comedy page and Instagram.
Something you should never do is go on Jess Perkins at Jess Perkins.
Fuck, well done.
Just underscore Perkins.
Avoid that forever.
Tell them to avoid mine as well.
Do not avoid Mats.
Now I'm trying, fuck, this reverse psychology is really working on it.
Yeah, we all have, do have individual accounts.
Our Twitter has outgrown us all now.
I know.
That was a tough day.
There's more people.
Yes, and our kids.
Doing better.
than us.
There's more people follow.
So you can always, if you're following us on our Twitter account,
follow individual accounts.
But anyway, we'll be back next week with another episode.
The very close to vote will be revealed.
But until then, I believe I will say goodbye.
Later.
Bye.
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