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London’s Jam Bookshop announces plans for #DrawCalvinandHobbes exhibition

By John Freeman on June 7, 2023

London’s Jam Bookshop has announced plans celebrate the release of Bill Watterson‘s new graphic novel, The Mysteries, out in October, with an #DrawCalvinandHobbes exhibition of art, in tribute.

The exhibition follows hot on the heels of the Hackney-based shop’s recent, successful #DrawColumbo exhibition.

To submit an image for consideration in the planned exhibition, utilise the #DrawCalvinandHobbes hashtag on Twitter and Instagram, or contact the shop via their web site at jambookshop.co.uk.

As we previously reported, The Jam Bookshop, which opened last year after a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, is owned and run by acclaimed illustrator and journalist David Ziggy Greene. Along with new books, stock includes graphic novels and independent comics.

David also created the UK and Ireland-wide event Small Press Day, launched in 2016, which takes place on one day a year, in dozens of shops to promote the next wave of small press publishing creators. This year’s event will take place on Saturday 5th August.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht

Debuting in October, The Mysteries is a new adult graphic novel by Bill Watterson, bestselling creator of the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, and John Kascht, one of America’s most renowned caricaturists, comes a mysterious and beautifully illustrated fable about what lies beyond human understanding.

In a fable for grown-ups, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.

For the book’s illustrations, Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht worked together for several years in unusually close collaboration. Both artists abandoned their past ways of working, inventing images together that neither could anticipate – a mysterious process in its own right.

Bill Watterson created the newspaper comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, one of the most iconic and memorable comic strips of our time. His original work is on long-term loan at the Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum.

John Kascht is one of America’s most highly regarded caricature artists. A master of the form, he has caricatured thousands of famous faces for magazines, newspapers and Broadway marquees. His work is collected by the National Portrait Gallery.

• The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht | Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing | 10th October 2023 | 72 pages | ISBN13: 9781524884949

• The Jam Bookshop is at 61A Hackney Road, London E2 7NX | Web: jambookshop.co.uk | Instagram | Twitter

• Follow David Ziggy Greene on Twitter

• Order The Mysteries from The Jam Bookshop

• Order The Mysteries from your favourite bookshop via Bookshop.org (Affiliate Link)

• Order The Mysteries from Amazon.co.uk (Affiliate Link)

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.