Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson’s first publicly available cartoon in 19 years is for the movie poster for the new documentary Stripped. The reclusive Watterson broke his silence for an interview for the film, in which he talks about the history of the newspaper comic strip art form. Directed by Dave Kellett and Fred Schroeder, Stripped covers the evolution of the comic strip, as newspapers slowly shuffle off this mortal coil and webcomics increasingly provide more freedom to artists. It also features interviews with Kate Beaton, Scott McCloud, Bill Amend, and many others, but Watterson, who gives his first ever audio interview for the project, was the big get. The film, which was partially funded through Kickstarter, will be available for pre-sale on iTunes at midnight, and it will be released on DVD April 2.
The New York Times, which broke the story, has more on Watterson’s involvement in the project, as well as quotes from Watterson himself and the film’s directors. The poster Watterson cooked up features a cartoonist at his drawing board, leaping out of his clothes to display his cartoon butt, when reading the headline “Bye-Bye Newspapers.” Meanwhile, his dog swipes away at a tablet, undeterred. You’d probably get more out of just looking at the poster, so here it is.