# Calvin, Hobbes and Watterson **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944 "2017-02-27T13:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/41 "2017-02-28T03:07:45Z")
As far as Watterson on Breathed, there’s [this sketch](http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cimages/cbreathedsketch.jpg)…although I believe either Watterson or Breathed (I can’t remember if I first saw it in a C&H collection or a BC/Outland collection) has said it’s supposed to be good-natured ribbing about their differences on the commercial side of their art. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/42 "2017-02-28T03:15:49Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Whether or not you or I think Breathed’s current work outshines or is a pale shadow of his peak is immaterial. Does Breathed have fun dong what he does? Is he happier working at the job as he does it and making what he makes or would be happier today having avoided the last decade of comics production and doing something else? > > Watterson decided that more millions would not make him happier and that continuing the strip, milking it as a cash cow, when he sensed his creative well running dry, even though those cash udders were assured of squirting for a long time to come, would make him less happy. > > If Breathed is, given the chance to have a choice in the matter, doing what makes him happiest to do, then more power to him, even if you think his quality is off. I disagree. The topic of this thread isn’t whether or not Breathed and/or Watterson is happy. The topic is whether they made the right decisions to quit or not quit. So it’s on topic for me to post that I feel (and I think many people agree) that Breathed’s reputation has suffered because his recent work isn’t on the same level as his early work. Watterson avoided that possibility by retiring when he was still at the top. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/43 "2017-02-28T03:34:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I disagree. The topic of this thread isn’t whether or not Breathed and/or Watterson is happy. The topic is whether they made the right decisions to quit or not quit. > > So it’s on topic for me to post that I feel (and I think many people agree) that Breathed’s reputation has suffered because his recent work isn’t on the same level as his early work. Watterson avoided that possibility by retiring when he was still at the top. MHO is simply that the decision that made each them happier over the rest of their lives was the right decision for each of them to make. You feel that the impact on their lasting reputation or, more precisely, the impact on your opinion of their oeuvre, is what qualifies the decision as more right or wrong. Okay. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/44 "2017-02-28T03:58:48Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > As far as Watterson on Breathed, there’s [this sketch](http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cimages/cbreathedsketch.jpg)…although I believe either Watterson or Breathed (I can’t remember if I first saw it in a C&H collection or a BC/Outland collection) has said it’s supposed to be good-natured ribbing about their differences on the commercial side of their art. Pretty sure that was published in a Bloom County book. Breathed and Watterson were friendly throughout their careers and up to the present day, and a lot of their exchanges were in cartoon form. [Here’s a column](http://www.cbr.com/sdcc-the-last-panel-berkeley-breathed-sets-the-record-straight/) about a Comic-Con panel that Breathed did on their correspondence. No examples given in the article, though, which is shame: I really want to see that Bill the Cat/Blondie mash-up. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/45 "2017-02-28T05:10:17Z")
I admire him a lot. A talented artist and a man of principle. Anybody who loves C&H should see this documentary: [Dear Mr. Watterson (2013) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2222206/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_1) And read this book, which includes a lengthy interview with Watterson: [https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Calvin-Hobbes-Exhibition-Catalogue/dp/1449460364/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488258485&sr=1-1&keywords=calvin+hobbes+catalog](https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Calvin-Hobbes-Exhibition-Catalogue/dp/1449460364/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488258485&sr=1-1&keywords=calvin+hobbes+catalog) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/46 "2017-02-28T12:04:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Watterson went out at the top of his game. I would have loved many more years of the strip, even if the quality would have inevitably declined, but I admire the hell out of him for going through with it. Many creative geniuses (and make no mistake that Watterson is a genius) are seemingly incapable of turning off the spigot. > > Same goes for Gary Larson. Although he retired due to illness, I’d add Richard Thompson (creator of the brilliant, phenomenal _Cul de Sac_) as another who retired at the top of his game rather than allow his creation to suffer. For those who don’t know, Mr. Thompson had Parkinson’s disease. Anyone interested might find some interesting reading by looking into the relationship between Mr. Thompson and Mr. Watterson (and Stephen Pastis, creator of _Pearls Before Swine_). And we may be able to add Darby Conley (_Get Fuzzy_) to this list, as Mr. Conley has not drawn any new daily strips since sometime in 2014 (although there are occasional new Sunday strips). ETA: And yeah, I admire these guys for their work and for their desire to remain in control of their creations, even tho it means I don’t get to see any more new stuff. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/47 "2017-02-28T12:22:21Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Although he retired due to illness, I’d add Richard Thompson (creator of the brilliant, phenomenal _Cul de Sac_) as another who retired at the top of his game rather than allow his creation to suffer. For those who don’t know, Mr. Thompson had Parkinson’s disease. Anyone interested might find some interesting reading by looking into the relationship between Mr. Thompson and Mr. Watterson (and Stephen Pastis, creator of _Pearls Before Swine_). Note he passed away a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/48 "2017-02-28T14:18:00Z")
Calvin and Hobbes is one of the great comics. If you have spent 20 years doing high quality work and said everything you wanted to say, wanted to free up more time, and achieved your goals – a personal decision to stop may make sense. Merchandising? Though many would do it without a second thought, and it would probably make the comic more popular… there is something to the argument of selling out, diluting artistic integrity, a pernicious aspect to advertising to children in general. Having a stuffed Hobbes or Calvin sno-cone machine is harmless enough. Having a Calvin movie would change how people view the work (even by assigning a voice to Calvin and Hobbes). Respect his decision? It is his decision to make. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/49 "2017-03-01T00:05:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Although he retired due to illness, I’d add Richard Thompson (creator of the brilliant, phenomenal _Cul de Sac_) as another who retired at the top of his game rather than allow his creation to suffer. For those who don’t know, Mr. Thompson had Parkinson’s disease. **Had**? Oh, man, I didn’t see the news that he died. ☹ That guy did the illustrations in Joel Achenbach’s “Why Things Are” books, and I always thought his drawings went very well with the columns (much like Slug’s illustrations work well with Cecil’s columns, heh). Then when I started reading **Cul de Sac** I thought “Man, this strip is awesome … and it looks familiar.” Now I’m sad. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/50 "2017-03-01T06:04:03Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Note he passed away a few months ago. > [@chorpler](#): > > **Had**? Oh, man, I didn’t see the news that he died. ☹ That guy did the illustrations in Joel Achenbach’s “Why Things Are” books, and I always thought his drawings went very well with the columns (much like Slug’s illustrations work well with Cecil’s columns, heh). Then when I started reading **Cul de Sac** I thought “Man, this strip is awesome … and it looks familiar.” Now I’m sad. Aye; the “had” was deliberate. He passed away last July at just 59 years old. It was a very sad day for me. I remain quite enamored of his work. I’m pretty sure I own a copy of nearly everything he ever did with exception of some cartoons that only appeared in magazines, although I have quite a few of those too. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/51 "2017-03-01T06:47:52Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > If an alternate reality in which Watterson licensed official C&H merchandise means that the public wouldn’t have taken it on themselves to create peeing Calvin decals, it would be worth it. This is what I came in to say. How I loathe those fucking Calvin pissing decals. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/52 "2017-03-01T14:55:47Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > If an alternate reality in which Watterson licensed official C&H merchandise means that the public wouldn’t have taken it on themselves to create peeing Calvin decals, it would be worth it. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > This is what I came in to say. How I loathe those fucking Calvin pissing decals. I’d practically forgotten about them - used to see them a lot ~20 years ago, and wouldn’t have minded if Watterson had sued the hell out of whoever made them. But I haven’t seen one in years. > [@DSeid](#): > > The question of course hinges on whether or not the way they each did it ended up making them any happier than they otherwise would have been. From published accounts Schulz was a pretty depressed and dysphoric person. Was he less so for having made a few million more? Is Watterson enjoying his life allegedly riding his bike and painting for fun living with his wife in small town Ohio more than he would have with more money trying to come up with fresh ideas dealing with the corporate side that he disliked? If each was true to what gave them most satisfaction when given the choice then more power to them each! There is one other factor, or at least _was_, in the pre-Internet era where Schulz, Watterson, Berke Breathed, Jim Davis, etc. made their decisions to keep doing their comic strips or not. And that was: each newspaper had a pretty limited amount of real estate that it was willing to turn over to the comics. So if _Peanuts_ or _Garfield_ kept on going, it meant that much less opportunity for new artists to break into the daily comics. Same with the prior generations of strips - _Blondie_ and _Beetle Bailey_ and the ‘uncomic’ strips like _Rex Morgan, M.D._ and _Apartment 3-G_. Nowadays, of course, the Web has space for an all but infinite number of comic strips, but back then, it really was pretty much a zero sum game: maybe the artists were making the right choice for _themselves_ in continuing their strips, but it choked off the entry of new talent, which was bad for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/53 "2017-03-01T15:20:38Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > This is what I came in to say. How I loathe those fucking Calvin pissing decals. Seventeen years ago (!), The Onion noted the importance of these decals in U.S. society. 😃 > **['Peeing Calvin' Decals Now Recognized As Vital Channel Of National Discourse](https://www.theonion.com/peeing-calvin-decals-now-recognized-as-vital-channel-of-1819565534)** > > Throughout its 224-year history, America has had many channels of discourse, its citizens expressing themselves by means ranging from pamphlets to protests, newspaper editorials to televised debates. In recent years, however, a significant new avenue... ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/54 "2017-03-01T15:52:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’d practically forgotten about them - used to see them a lot ~20 years ago, and wouldn’t have minded if Watterson had sued the hell out of whoever made them. But I haven’t seen one in years. I think the problem is that it wasn’t one big company that made them all and sold them, it was multiple smaller shops making them for a while, then going out of business while another took over. IIRC he spend a while suing companies who made them, but it would just put the particular companies he hit out of business, it wouldn’t stop the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/55 "2017-03-01T17:00:38Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I didn’t see anything in those google results explaining how they calculated that. Not that it really matters, but that seems rather shockingly high to me. Is that mostly just from royalties on book sales? (Admittedly, I know nothing about publishing royalties.) > > The same top Google result show’s J.K. Rowling’s new worth as a billion dollars, and her work was not just a best-selling book series but led to a series of blockbuster movies, plus about a billion toys, plus theme parks and god knows what all else. I would have expected her net worth to be _many_ times more than Watterson’s. Taking this as a Fermi problem, I found an article saying that the Complete Calvin and Hobbes sold [half a million copies from 2005 to 2010](http://www.cleveland.com/living/index.ssf/2010/02/fans_still_pine_for_calvin_and.html). It has a list price of $175, and Google tells me higher end royalty rates are on the order of 15% of list price. That works out to an annual income of $2.6 million. However, that sort of royalty income doesn’t seem like it could add up to half a billion net worth, since I suspect it represents his peak earnings. Maybe the “net worth” includes the price he could get for selling copy and licensing rights? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/56 "2017-03-01T17:43:53Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Nowadays, of course, the Web has space for an all but infinite number of comic strips, but back then, it really was pretty much a zero sum game: maybe the artists were making the right choice for _themselves_ in continuing their strips, but it choked off the entry of new talent, **which was bad for the rest of us**. Maybe. Given that Sturgeon’s Law still applies, think of how much total dreck we were spared. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/57 "2017-03-04T01:08:45Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > The same top Google result show’s J.K. Rowling’s new worth as a billion dollars, and her work was not just a best-selling book series but led to a series of blockbuster movies, plus about a billion toys, plus theme parks and god knows what all else. I would have expected her net worth to be _many_ times more than Watterson’s. No idea how they estimated Watterson’s, but it’s certainly possible that it includes estimates of the value of the movies, toys, and god knows what else he owns the rights to. Like, imagine that J.K. Rowling didn’t license Harry Potter for films, but she still could. Her estimated net worth should include the expected value of doing so. A perfect estimation of her net worth might be exactly the same whether or not the movies had been made. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/58 "2017-03-09T19:38:52Z")
I remember reading something about Gary Larson deciding to cease _The Far Side_ because he didn’t want “[his] characters shilling for Met Life” in ten years. (Of course, what Met Life could do with Larson’s ubiquitous cow and duck characters is beyond me. YMMV.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/59 "2017-03-09T21:24:09Z")
I don’t have problems with him quitting. But, with the merchandising, I can’t help but think of what additional value would be created. It’s not like he’d have to use the money selfishly for himself. Merchandise it but give all profits to charity and such. That would be the more admirable action. As it is, I neither admire him nor don’t for this particular decision. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944/60 "2017-03-09T22:34:56Z")
if I remember reading correctly didn’t schultz give away most of the licensing money to charities he had set up ? supposedly it was one reason he kept going for so long [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-hobbes-and-watterson/780944.md?page=4)