Does anyone know the origin of “peeing Calvin” window stickers? I know Bill Watterson never allowed merchandising of his comic, so he certainly didn’t create them. Where did they get started, and what is Watterson’s take on them?
While we’re on the subject of obnoxious automotive decals…
What’s up with the “Bad Boys Club”?
I assumed that was just a put-on, intended to intimidate other drivers.
Once, while paging through a C&H collection, I found the actual strip that’s from. In the strip, Calvin isn’t peeing; rather, he’s filling up a water balloon while contemplating exactly how he’s going to clobber Suzie. Someone took the effort to remove the balloon and add in the stream of pee.
Good link! Had this gem:
AMEN.
I have thought recently of starting a Pit thread about Christians who use the urloined Calvin image to show off their beliefs. I say this as a Christian myself.
Of course, the reality is that most of them have no idea that it’s a stolen idea. Most people are ignorant of most things, and they probably don’t even think about whether it could be copyright infringement, or even think that Watterson is a Christian who has authorized it.
Don’t look now, Cardinal, but someone stole your pee!
In a similar, ahem, vein, I notice that I can’t find the classic Onion article with the (poorly remembered) headline “‘Calvin Peeing’ Bumper Stickers Now Considered An Important Medium of Public Debate.”
As an inept cartoonist, I myself indirectly felt Mr. Watterson’s wrath back in about 1990, when one of the very first comic strips I drew for my college newspaper was sent back as unprintable because I, um, decapitated Calvin, and more importantly took his name and image in vain, something which struck fear into the hearts of even the editors of The Collegiate Times. Apparently it was already known by then that his work was strictly off-limits even to parody, if my sophomoric work can even counted as that.
I had to undertake a desperate night of fancy fingerwork in order to meet the deadline–perhaps the only deadline I ever met in that business. Furthermore, I was told in no uncertain terms that in the future I must contact and get approval from any other artist whose work I stole–I mean parodied. It really ticked me off at the time, but having since found myself on the other side of the problem in other matters, I don’t much blame Watterson these days.
OK, I’m familiar with the “Calvin peeing” stickers, of course, but I’m not familiar with the Christian ones people are mentioning. All the link says is that Christians are using the image. How are they doing so? (Yes, I’m a Catholic myself…)
Uh, is he peeing on Satan or something? 
Whatever happened to Watterston? What is he doing now?
No, he’s “praying” in front of a cross.