We haven't heard much from ultra-beloved Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson since his retirement from the funny pages in 1995, when Watterson disappeared from public view except for the rarest of interviews. In 2008, however, he appeared again to write the forward to a collection of the newspaper strip Cul de Sac, where he lauded creator Richard Thompson as "the equal of any of cartooning's Old Masters."

In 2008, Thompson was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and is currently working on a book called Team Cul de Sac to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is devoted to funding Parkinson's research. Thompson has invited other cartoonists to donate original art for the book, and recently a mysterious painting of a Cul de Sac character appeared on the official blog for the book, where the unnamed artist was described as a "one-of-a-kind guy." His secret identity becomes a little more apparent if you mouse over the image, however, revealing the text "Watterson.culdesac."This jives with everything we've heard about Watterson since his retirement, namely that his artistic efforts are now primarily devoted to painting. If this is, indeed, a Watterson original, then color us intrigued. The book is currently slated for a spring 2012 release, so stay tuned. If any cartoonists would like to contribute, the cut-off date for original art donations is May 15, according the Cul de Sac Team Fox page.

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