European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Aloof Sun by Ken Tucker the Philadelphia inquirer a t a time when newspaper comic strip shave become hastily drawn repositories Dorbad puns and Cornball jokes it s Someth Ingol a Shock to come across Calvin an Hobbes what Are wit sarcasm and Grace doing on the Lunny pages Calvin is an Ordinary kid part Devil pad heartbreaker. Roughly 6 years old he s the sort of child who confronted by a substitute teacher Al school demands to see her teaching certificate. Hob tacs is Calvin s Little stalled Liger who when there Aren t any adults around turns into a Large dreamily philosophical Teal Liger. Surrounded on the comics pages by trendy yuppies and smart Mouth Kitty cats Calvin and Hobbes is an Oasis of Surprise and subtlety. The 32-month-old strip syndicated in 750 newspapers including the stars and stripes is also the hottest comic in newspapers  first paperback collection of Calvin and Hobbes strips published in 1987. Was on the Best seller lists of the b. Dallon and Walden books retail chains All this leaves the strip s creator 30-year-old Bill Walterson groping Lor an explanation. It s unbelievable said Watterson from his Home in Hudson. Ohio Midway Between Akron and Cleveland where he lives with his Wile Melissa a Painter. Right now. I just keep thinking How Lucky i am. I m doing what i be wanted to do since i was a kid and people apparently like what i be  to Walterson s commercial Success add critical acclaim As Well Calvin and Hobbes is the freshest strip to come along in 10or 15 years said Richard Marschall comic strip historian and editor of the monthly comics Magazine Nemo Olf eting us a kid s world through a kid s eyes is very hard to pull of but Calvin is completely  and doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. The least Likely cartoonist to write a Book Blurb wrote a glowing foreword to the Calvin and Hobbes Book. Ii is Waterson s gift says the lather o three to capture childhood As it actually  for his part Watterson claims not to have the foggiest idea what children Are really  i Don t have kids and i know that Calvin does some things that a 6-year-old probably does t do i often have him writing Long Book reports in school Lor example. Six is just an approximate age. Basically Calvin does what i d like him to do and a Wile of what i remember doing or wishing i could do when i was a kid the soft spoken. Articulate artist has firm ideas about comic strips their creators and the business that surrounds them. I Don t think comic strips Are children s entertainment. You can talk about subjects with sensitivity and intelligence in comics he said. Most strips emphasize the joke the gag. I Hope i m doing More than that. Without wanting to sound pretentious or anything i m trying to make readers laugh and deepen their understanding of the characters a Little bit Mote each  the Road to overnight Success was a Ledious journey or Wallerson. To establish a comic strip you have to Send out drawings and ideas to the various syndicates. I was doing that for about three years while working in the Art department of a Little weekly tabloid shopper he said. One of the comic strip ideas he pitched was a Star wars Pardon called spaceman spill. It was so bad says Watterson now that i make fun of it in  and indeed there is an occasional strip in which the daydreaming boy imagines himself the Brave but bumbling spiff. Watterson landed a Job As the editorial cartoonist for the Cincinnati Post. Since he had majored in political science at Kenyon College in Ohio he figured he could handle the assignment but he did t make it past the six month trial period. The paper wanted a lot of local commentary and i d never lived there before. By the time 1 was getting the hang of the byzantine local political situation i was history " Calvin and Hobbes the names Are switched from protestant reformer John Calvin and philosopher Thomas Hobbes an inside joke Lor poly Sci majors was an idea Watterson had had for a Long time but i never thought any Syndicate would go for the Hobbes As stuffed toy and real Tiger idea. As it turned out the first place i showed it to was wild about it. It just goes to show never underestimate your  the emphasis on Young Calvin s imaginary life gives Watterson a creative Freedom Many of his colleagues Don t possess. The strip has another dimension and opens up All sorts of possibilities. If i want to do a comic strip about an octopus Lor a couple of Days for example i just turn Calvin into an  Watterson recently broke with the usual humorous anarchic tone of his work by spending a week s Worth of strips exploring Calvin s shocked saddened reaction to discovering a dead Raccoon in the Woods near his hours. It was a risk he said. I got quite a few letters from people who had lost relatives recently and said they appreciated the strips. It surprised to that a fictitious cartoon death would move people but it s wonderful cartoonist Charles Schulz addicted to snoopy and co. By Torri Minton san Francisco chronicles Harles Schulz likes his ice Cream with the Vanilla on the Bottom and the chocolate on lop. Not the other Way around. And he rarely risks other flavors. I Don t want to take a Chance on ordering something i m not sure i la like says Schulz. America s most successful cartoonist. I like  at 66, with his renowned comic strip peanuts turning 40 next year and a slew of celebrations planned he still lives a simple and orderly life in Santa Rosa. Calif., 50 Miles North of san Francisco. It is also bittersweet. Every Day at 9 . He goes to his split level studio which resembles a comfortable suburban Don and draws amusing pictures for More than 2,000 newspapers making people laugh in about 25 languages All Over the world. That s a Good drawing Don t you think he says picking up a cardboard strip irom his desk. Lucy and Charlie Brown Are disagreeing about something minuscule on the baseball Field. The pen lines Are Strong and smooth. But underneath the Pencil lines Are unsteady. To produces a wiggly sketch of snoopy on a scrap of paper. I keep shaking he says softly. His hands tremble Schulz first noticed it when he was in his Early 20s. But it did not affect his drawing until the last few years maybe Tho heart surgery in 198 had something to do Page 14 the stars and stripes with it maybe not. He says. It has not been diagnosed. The pen lines come out smooth because i always did have a Good pen  and besides he says the drawings reproduce quite Well. His first real biography which he prefers to define As More of an impression of himself and his work is due out this fall. Good grief the Story of Charles m. Schulz by Rhela Grimsley Johnson includes among other things a chapter about his depression. He says he has not talked publicly about this before. It s so complicated he says. I suppose i be always Felt that Way apprehensive anxious that sort of thing. I have compared it sometimes to the feeling that you have when you get up on the morning of a funeral. It comes and  he says he feels better when he draws his silly pictures. I think my dad had it Schulz says. His father Carl who was a Barber used to work Long hours rather than venture into unfamiliar territory he says. Schulz however insists he does not do that. All i know is that i Don t really like going  he does like to take in an Early movie with his wife Jeannie. 50. He plays tuesday night hockey at his own Redwood Empire ice Arena next door to the studio in Santa Rosa and he plays Golf. But those farther Flung unknowns like strange flavors of ice Cream Are bothersome. I go All sorts of places to says. But if he goes far i feel let Down when i m there after the second or third Day. I m always very enthusiastic when the invitations saturday