A thank you to Bill Watterson.

For those of you who don't know.
Bill Watterson was the creator and and artist of the immensely popular Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, that ran from 1985 to December 31st, 1995. When I was young-didn't think I'd say that for a while- okay, 'younger', I was obsessed with Calvin's antics and vivid imagination. Seeing hundreds of artists miserably fail at capturing a kids perspective of the universe was pretty depressing. I desperately wanted something that was funny, and actually possible to relate to. Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, I devoured these comics and more, but they never gave me the satisfaction of both good comedy and the relatability of thinking: that's exactly what I'd do!
Enter Calvin and Hobbes.
Seeing an almost insanely creative and explosively active kid with a tiger as his best friend was pretty much a dream come true. Watching him do everything we kids ever wanted to do was refreshing...

and, for Gods sake: he had a tiger as his best friend. What beats that?
The main part I admired about Calvin, though, is that Bill captured his antics perfectly. Simple and innocent enough theories for a child to believe, smart enough for them to act on, and yet so creative and vivid only a kid could dream it up. One of the best examples I found was the Transmogrifier, a personal favourite strip section that Calvin created.

Another favourite strip was his boyish instincts that allowed him to grab some of the (to the average boy/teen) most awesome things together and combine them, such as these:

Again, a perfect perspective. Every boy always starts their dream scenarios: It either starts with a calm, unsuspecting populace right before they're plunged into roaring danger!... or even better, it starts off with extreme danger and tries to add as much excitement as possible in the short time span allowed.
The last part of Bill I loved him for is Calvin's philosophy. His outlook on life was almost identical to my own at the time, and in the moments when I felt alone, seeing that someone else was there that thought the way I do, regardless of how real they were, was comforting.
This is what I love Bill Watterson for. He seemingly effortlessly captures the life of a six year old's perspective on life and channels it straight into comedy. So thank you Bill, for your creativity. Thank you for your enthusiasm. And finally, thank you for not doing what so many have done before: squeezing the potential for a project so much that what's left isn't even recognisable by the end.

Recently, I found out that I wasn't the only one grateful to Bill. Some fans decided to make a short film, saying that they missed his work. The link is below, and it's good: do any of you remember Calvin's snowmen?

Thanks for reading. And again, thanks to Bill for the boost.