The Mysteries
Writer: Bill Watterson
Artist: Bill Watterson and John Kascht
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Like most people, I have an intimate familiarity with and fondness for Calvin and Hobbes. Bill Watterson’s classic comic strip was an irreproachable masterpiece of wit, form and good old kid friendly humor. However, like Peanuts, this was also a strip with a deep philosophical underpinning, a series of comics that problematized and examined the expectations, cynicism and flaws of the world from the perspective of an isolated child. It was a comic for children that took until adulthood to fully appreciate.
Inversely, The Mysteries is a comic for adults that takes the perspective of childhood to fully appreciate.
The book immediately gives you a sense of foreboding with its pitch black, clothbound presentation. You’re high on the news that Bill Watterson is releasing a new major work for the first time in nearly 30 years, and not only that but he’s partnering with John Kascht, the accomplished cartoonist and illustrator whose worked on everything from Mad Magazine to the The New Yorker. The two are attempting to tell a “fable for grown ups,” and suddenly your mind races with all the possibilities of what this could be. Dare I say… all the mysteries.
When the book arrives, the appearance betrays nothing, the shroud of darkness and anticipation still resides within you and no spoiler-y details are ever revealed. Upon reading this, you see the black pages and dark art which serve to maintain this constant sense of anticipation: “what’s going on? What does this mean? Who are the Mysteries?” However, the slow realization is that the childlike awe with which we fawn over the secrets that this book holds is the answer all along.
Watterson and Kascht use their unique collaboration to poke and prod at the paranoia surrounding human society. They build a fable that captures the essence of adulthood’s fear of uncertainty, but structure it in a familiar, childlike storybook. At its core, The Mysteries is an encapsulation of the basic existential fears of all humanity. Individuals and societies at large “live in suspicion and fear,” hiding from the Mysteries of the forest and building walls between them. As time moves on, humanity captures the Mysteries, weaponizes and trivializes them. They live in luxury, seemingly in control of everything, ignorant of that which they do not understand.
The Mysteries is an experience wherein we as readers find ourselves excited, paranoid, even suspicious of what the book will reveal in the same way the villagers, townspeople, and political officials in the book are suspicious of “The Mysteries.” Thus, the ultimate reward is not answers but acceptance of the Mysteries, of relishing the anticipation and the excitement for that which we do not have to understand. As Roland Barthes said during his lectures at the Collège de France, “People who understand quickly frighten me.”
The combined efforts of Watterson and Kascht also result in a beautiful artstyle. In some ways, the fable-storybook quality of the large, static images feels reminiscent of paintings that would accompany collections of Edgar Allan Poe’s prose. The heavy shadows, exaggerated facial features and general disheveled scenery give the book a feeling of gothic romanticism. Some figures, like a prominent Knight, have the recognizable traits of Watterson’s other cartooning. However, the angle of the images coupled with the inherent darkness to each page transforms even the most distinct art into something mysterious on its own terms. Every page takes a second to fully grasp, every knowing figure is rendered partially unknowable, and every line draws attention to the absurdity of mysterious people attempting to conquer mystery itself.
The Mysteries is one of the most rewarding reading experiences of 2023. A well crafted, layered story about the fears of existence and the simplicity and openness with which we ought to approach all our endeavors. Everything from the book design to the structure of the story lends itself to a captivating reading experience.
Final Verdict: Buy
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