Bill Watterson on why he doesn't like "trendy" strips

WEST: Isn't it ironic that in a profession that's become so formulaic you have created the most successful comic strip of the '80s by not trying to fulfill a formula?
WATTERSON: But in a way, I've ended up with the old tried and true. It's a strip about a family - a familiar, universal setting that's easy to identify with. I'm trying to put a unique twist on it, but it's well-covered ground. The trend nowadays in comics seems to be to zero in on a narrow, specific audience, like divorced parents, baby boomers, and so on. I guess the idea is to attract a devoted special interest group to the comic page who will scream if the strip is ever dropped. That way, the strip stands a better chance of survival than a strip that aims wide but doesn't hit deep. Generally, I don't like these trend-of-the-month strips because they're usually the product of some market analysis rather than the product of any honest artistic sensibility on the part of the cartoonist. Still, with any strip, it's not the subject that's important, it's what you do with it. A family strip can be hackneyed drivel just as easily as any other kind of strip.