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Exclusive: See Bill Watterson’s high school cartoons

When one reads most online bios of Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, most start with a birth date and then quickly jump to his time at Kenyon College where he drew cartoons for the college paper. But before Kenyon College, Bill contributed cartoons to his high school newspaper and yearbook. To my knowledge, these cartoons have not been widely circulated – I can’t find any of them on the web.

Last week I was contacted by a former editor of the high school newspaper in Chagrin Falls, OH where Bill grew up. She was the paper’s editor during the 1973-1974 school year when Bill was a sophomore. She describes 15 year-old Bill as quiet and reserved, “but unlike my other classmates, he always turned his work in by the deadline!”

This editor has rediscovered several copies of three different issues of the high school paper containing Bill’s early work and she’d like to find a home for these issues with one or more collectors. She has 21 copies of the May 13, 1974 which contains two of his comics. She also has seven copies of a Nov. 6, 1973 issue also containing two of cartoons. From her description she has two copies of one other issue that contains one comic.

If you would like to own one or more of these issues, please contact me (editor@dailycartoonist.com) and I’ll put you in contact with the editor. Serious inquiries only, please.

With that said, let’s check out some of Bill’s earliest work:

Cartoon accompanying story of a fund raiser for Prom.

Making fun of the cafeteria food

A cartoon regarding “the annual battle of the classes on the football field”

In the comments, Brian Fies notes the rapid progression some artists experience during those early years. What we’re seeing above is a very non-exceptional high school artist. When we look at a mere three years later (1977, see below), we see a giant leap forward in artistry. Two years beyond that we see Watterson’s style starting to imagine. See examples below. These images below are pulled from the Rare Bill Watterson Art web site, a great resource on in the wild sightings of his work.

Here’s the artwork he did for the cover of a book of editorial cartoons (1977)

Here’s one of his first cartoons at Kenyon College.

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