Bill Watterson, the creator of 'Calvin and Hobbes', returns with an illustrated fable after decades of silence

The play is titled

.

But, by the way, his name also serves to summarize everything that surrounds Bill Watterson and his new book as an author after decades of silence.

What is known, for now, is that the mythical creator of

he's back.

Or, rather, it is about to: on October 10, Simon & Schuster will publish this "mysterious and beautifully illustrated adult fable about what lies beyond human comprehension", as the label itself has announced.

Watterson has been in charge of the texts, which is his first published written work since he decided to close his legendary series of strips in 1995.

And he has also made the drawings, together with John Kascht, considered one of the most famous cartoonists in the US. Apparently, both have devoted themselves to this creation for years, another element that triggers the expectation.

Because everything else, for now, are unanswered questions.

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Calvin and Hobbes explore their magical world again

Why has Watterson wanted to return?

What did this story have to trap you for so long and take you out of the shadows?

Will it be a one-time appearance or the beginning of a new artistic stage?

And, as any fan will wonder, hopes are reborn to see new episodes of Calvin and Hobbes?

Faced with this last question, the author has already closed the door tightly in the very few interviews that he was granting.

“After 10 years, he had basically said everything he had come to say,” he once stated.

“It is always better to leave the party early.

I think the main reason why

still finds its audience is because I chose not to burn it, ”he declared on another occasion.

Cover of 'The Mysteries', by Bill Watterson and John Kascht, published by Simon & Schuster.

The truth is that the last

cartoon came out on December 31, 1995. The blond boy, fascinated by a colossal snowfall, released his tiger friend: “It's a magical world, Hobbes, old friend.

Let's explore it!"

And there they left, but they were never seen again.

Nor, practically, to its author, of whom there are almost no photos and that he has barely published a couple of drawings since then.

The Spanish public, yes, has just relived that latest adventure, recently republished by Astiberri in

.

Although the seal that Calvin and Hobbes is recovering in Spain does not offer any more information about Watterson either.

Sources from the publisher say that his surprise is the same as everyone else's and that they have contacted Simon & Schuster to clear up the fog of doubts.

The American company, at least, posted the disturbing cover and the official synopsis of the new book on its website: “An old kingdom is affected by inexplicable calamities.

The king sends his knights to discover the source of these mysterious events, hoping to put an end to the torments.

Years later, only one knight returns defeated.

The text adds that Watterson and Kascht opted for an "unusually close collaboration" and that "both abandoned the ways of working from their past, together inventing images that they could not even have anticipated."

A page from 'The great Calvin and Hobbes', by Bill Watterson, edited by Astiberri.

Namely.

Meanwhile, ecstatic comments are already beginning to appear with the announcement on social networks.

Because Watterson always remained firm in his convictions and his self-exile.

He battled with his editors over respect for comics and cartoons, he took two sabbaticals during the decade he published

, and when he designed the full stop he didn't look back.

He didn't even let others do it: he never authorized movies, dolls, mugs or posters of his characters.

“I became a cartoonist to draw, not to govern an industrial empire”, is another of his phrases.

So his legacy is on paper.

In a brave and curious boy named after the celebrated theologian of the 16th century;

in his sarcastic and inseparable tiger, who shares a name with the well-known English philosopher;

in Calvin's parents, his teacher, his classmate Susie Derkins or in the dreaded babysitter, Rosalyn.

And, more generally, in strips brimming with imagination, he fights against authority and deep reflections, whether tender or devastating, about society.

“Calvin is autobiographical in the sense that he thinks about the same things I do.

But, in this, he reflects my adulthood more than my childhood,” Watterson used to say.

Perhaps his new work offers a similar starting point.

Or maybe he has absolutely nothing to do with it.

It's a mystery.

Another one.