Bill Watterson casually dropping one of the greatest comic strips of all time, refusing to compromise his art for any amount of money, going out on his own terms after just ten years, and never being seen again is one of the coolest character arcs I've ever seen

I love how he says "Calvin is too sweet to even throw the water balloon on Hobbes" when really Calvin just doesn't want to get mauled.

even as a kid i was like “thats not really calvin. he wouldnt do that” lmao

When my mother beat breast cancer after years of fighting, she had a diagonal scar on her back. She tattooed calvin and hobbes on their sled, sledding down the scar. A way to turn something that hurt into something that healed, and both had an intense impact on her

The fact that Peeing Calvin came out of Florida is the most unsurprising thing I've ever learned. Nothing has ever made more sense.

The rule of the strip was Hobbs only became real when Calvin was alone with him. If anyone else was in a cartoon square with Calvin Hobbs was drawn as a stuffed tiger. In one strip Calvin and Hobbs decide to run away. His parents are horrified and desperately go looking for him. They both keep calling his name. Then his mom calls out Hobbs. She smiles and looks embarrassed. They found him asleep in the backyard. It just shows you the level of genius Watterson has.

Watterson is as legit as an artist can be. He gave his soul and said... whatever, do what you want... I'll have no part in it. In the face of commercialism and profit, he just did what he wanted to express, then moved on. Mad respect and one of the greatest strips that has ever existed. Imagination is the true heart of life.

My grandfather was a fan and collector of all things Calvin and Hobbes. The night after he passed, we stayed at the house with my grandma, and I fell asleep in his room with the C&H comic on my chest. I inherited his entire collection of comics after he died, and read them still to this day. It brings back fond memories I have of my Papa and the sense of humor we shared through reading them together. I never understood the whole thing with Calvin peeing on things in the back of truck windows, as I knew how much Watterson treasured his characters, so I know he would never willingly go along with it, let alone draw that specific pose. I never really associate that image with the real comics though. It's antithetical to the values Bill Watterson had in those strips, so I can see why maybe he thought the fight wasn't worth the exhaustive litigation. Why would Watterson go out of his way to punish someone like he's the Walt Disney Corporation? It doesn't seem to suit him, so I'm glad he never did license the character, and his true fans make a point of not replicating his art work for merchandising purposes in order to avoid corrupting the comics. I usually find it very telling when you see them in a car window or on a rear bumper - the person sitting in that driver's seat isn't really a fan of the comics, and therefore not a adherent of the same curiosity, imagination, values, or morality as Calvin represents. You see that sticker, you can avoid them in the parking lot.

In one of the book collections, Bill Watterson mentions that one of the reasons he didn’t “sell out” is because Hobbes exists in a very mystical space where the reader is unsure whether he is a doll, a living thing, or both. Selling out would give toy manufacturers the power to decide for him, and for the readers. Imagination is a magical thing and it’s clear Bill Watterson treasured it.

It was weird to go back and read Calvin and Hobbes as an adult. Because you notice his parents more and realize they're pretty unique themselves and where Calvin gets it from. His dad is very crunchy granola-y, always against "the man" and wanting to ride his bike instead of drive, and he makes up stories like Calvin does. His mom is very smart and sensitive, knows a bunch about counter-culture and most things Calvin asks about. She's a bit of a happy loner, and she unintentionally messes stuff up like Calvin does, like her cooking.

It's difficult to convey just how popular Calvin & Hobbes was, during my freshman year at college (1989). Imagine the mass appeal of Mickey Mouse or Garfield, but without the skewing too young / corniness factor. Quite simply: everyone loved the comic, and no one didn't. At the very worst, you were neutral about Calvin & Hobbes. It's the only comic strip I've read all the way through, along with The Far Side, Peanuts, and admittedly Garfield (hey, I was in 5th grade, sue me).

My parents were really strict on me growing up, so I was shocked when my dad bought me that 'holy grail' of calvin comics for Christmas. I was really struggling with understanding why school was school, getting in trouble for being loud (especially as a girl), and overall being a crazy child. Well, my dad said those comics were his young adulthood, so he wanted me to read them in my childhood. I loved those comics and would read them over and over again, and they actually helped me do better in school. I learned it was okay to just be a kid, both the positives and the negatives. Sure, I had to accept the consequences of my actions, but it was okay I did those actions at all. I still love reading them as an adult now, and I keep them pristine either for if I have a kid, or if I find a kid who needs to be told its okay to be a kid. Thats why I love Calvin and Hobbes, and its why I have such huge respect for Bill Watterson. I have mixed feelings still about the Decal, but learning Watterson's response and integrity just makes me respect him as an artist even more. This was a great video essay, I'm glad I watched it.

I have always really respected Waterson for his refusal to license. Even as a kid in the 90s, I was only vaguely aware that Garfield was a comic; I mostly knew Garfield from TV series and toys. Jim Davis was a talented enough cartoonist, but he was an absolutely *brilliant* brand manager first. When I discovered the Calvin and Hobbes comics as a teenager, i was sort of taken aback at how it was, you know, a comic. It didn’t feel like it was trying to sell me anything, it’s just sort of the philosophical musings of a boy and his tiger. I think he didn’t want to be part of the indirect marketing that newspaper comics had become.

I named my son Calvin (he's six months now) because of Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson's ethics coincidentally seemed to line with my own as a person. I never studied in school, but I'll be damned if I pass off another's work as my own, and vice versa. If I did a great essay and a friend asked me to write theirs, I'd tell them to go to hell. At the same time I've spent most of my 23 years alive trying to write, to cartoon, to do anything artistically fulfilling, and despite being occasionally alright, it's never been worth anything. But still, I don't care to be worth more. I'm just proud of the few smiles I've been able to give, and I would hope for nothing less for anyone else.

I was not expecting to get so emotional over an eleven minute KZfaq video about peeing Calvin. Brilliant work Phil, thank you.

There was a 4 year period in my young life where Calvin and Hobbes were my only friends. My parents divorced and my world fell apart. I stayed up late at night reading them. I just wish I could tell Bill Watterson thank you.

I had never thought about it, but you're right on how Calvin isn't quite as bad as Bart. With how all the comic's adults react to Calvin, you'd think he was worse, but he does have a stronger moral compass for sure. Nowadays though, modern Bart has tamed down a bit from his 90s attitude, so they are arguably closer to each other nowadays.

There’s nothing I respect more than people who stick by their principles in the face of massive temptation. Money poisons people and for everything good it brings, it brings as much bad. Calvin & Hobbes is a beloved part of my childhood and now I realize just how much that was kept pure on purpose, and as a humble consumer I am very thankful for Waterson’s work and lasting impact.

Bill Watterson deserves more credit than I think he gets for choosing to draw a comic that let him not only draw a kid having a philosophical discussion with essentially himself, but also extremely detailed dinosaurs and alien landscapes.

That final panel "let's go exploring!" is the best ending because I love to imagine Calvin still out there with his old pal Hobbes having all kinds of adventures. Calvin to me is the embodiment of the adventure-seeking inner child that lives on in us all.

I love Calvin & Hobbes. My dad (who passed away in 2008) used to buy me the books and we'd sit in the living room reading them together. Those books have a special place in my home and I think of my dad whenever I see them. I loved the comic so much I got two cats. I named the tabby Hobbes and the other one I named Calvin. I guess I'm one of those next level fans. 😊

Being a massive fan of the funnies, I find this absolutely impressive how he didn’t license his art and honestly I’m inspired by that.

My older brother had a ton of these comics hidden in his room. I constantly snuck in to read these, and it was always worth him getting angry at me for it. 20 years later and he just named his first son Calvin. These comics were an introduction to so much humor, curiosity, wit, and deep thought for me

Fun fact about Bill Watterson- when he was a student at Kenyon College, he painted a complete replica of the Sistine Chapel ceiling on his dorm ceiling…and then repainted it white at the end of the spring semester.

My mom met Bill Waterson at the Ohio State University at a large event held there to honor cartoonists. He drew a lovely picture of Calvin and Hobbes in a wheelbarrow rolling down a hill, on a linen napkin for her, which she kept and adored. Bill was a private person, and was quite clear in not wishing his creation to become a highly monetized, commercialized product.

This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And it's about a peeing cartoon character. This is amazing work.

I didn't know about Calvin and Hobbes until after high school. No one told me about it but I discovered them one day by reading the newspaper comics, and I knew it was special. Besides the humor, I get it and Calvin and Hobbes have always held a special place in my heart. I remember hearing rumors about how Watterson was going to retire and reading the last strip and it actually messed with the feels and put a smile to my face. Good times...

Calvin and Hobbes were like religious texts to me. Looking back, I now see that growing up as an only child in a semi-rural area… I WAS Calvin. I had to have an overactive imagination because of being somewhat isolated by a lack of siblings and friends living kind of far away. It’s no wonder those comics spoke to me. Even the back woods where Calvin rides off on his sled looked like mine. I recently visited home and smiled when I walked back there…

I'm not surprised that the man who was able to express so much pure humanity in a comic strip about a boy and a stuffed tiger is also a man of great personal integrity.

This was so great. Loving this comic as a kid and growing up to find a deeper meaning behind it. And the way the story was told so good.

I love these kind of videos about small things you’ve noticed all your life. Everything has a history and it just takes one person interested enough to find out about it and tell the story. Nicely done!

It's not that Calvin was too sweet to throw the water balloon... it's the fact that Hobbes made him realize the consequences of throwing it were too dire (despite the fact that Hobbes was also a figment of his imagination).

“I don’t need to compromise my principles, because they don’t have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway.” is a perfect encapsulation of Watterson’s perspective. Great conclusion to this video!

Wasn’t expecting a video about peeing Calvin to end on such an inspirational note. This was a pleasant breach of expectation!

I have always loved Calvin and Hobbes. I would always get sucked in, read for hours, and loose all sight of our world. I wished I was Calvin, having a pet tiger, tree house, and infinite time to explore. Looking back, I kinda was in a way. I skipped preschool. My parents brought me to playgrounds and museums instead. This even continued into kindergarten, where we would go exploring on the weekends or after school. I was also an oddball, like Calvin. I saw things other people would never dream of, and I was always weird. Hell, my favorite tv show at that age was Futurama. Calvin helped me realize these things, and has helped with so much more. He was my childhood, and a cartoon idol I could and still can relate to on a personal level.

I have no idea how you managed to turn a video about Calvin taking a piss into a motivational message but you have easily earned my subscription

I think the best thing about Calvin & Hobbes by far was the complexity of Calvin's mind. He could be evil, or thoughtful. Chaos incarnate or incredibly methodical. His worldview ranged from simplistic to complex (like with all of the philosophical discussions he had with Hobbes, paying homage to the minds after which the two characters were named). He was about as real a child as you could get from a pen and paper, and that's what made him relatable. That's why we all loved the strip so much. Because he reminded us of our childhoods.

Calvin and Hobbes was one of those things that got me through grade school and high school after that. Funny, insightful, and thought-provoking in a way that few other media dared to explore. BTW, when I saw your pic, I honestly at first thought you were Gary Oldman. Amazing resemblance! 😎👍

3:20 I always thought he didn't throw the water balloon at Hobbes because of Hobbes' implied threat, not because he was too nice to do so...

My dad raised us on Calvin and Hobbes. He bought every collection he could find, and was elated when we got him more. Our bedtime stories were almost always Calvin and Hobbes, and when we reached the end of the collection, we'd start again. There are few panels I haven't seen dozens of times, so the first time we saw a decal of Calvin peeing on something, we knew it was a knock-off.

One of the things I like about nerd culture is that we can wear t-shirts to identify each other’s interests to start a conversation. But if someone is bearing a Calvin and Hobbes item, you know it is unlicensed and therefore against the wishes their creator and the spirit of the comic. So it’s hard to identify the fans (although it’s easy to identify non-fans from the peeing sticker.) Because of this, Calvin and Hobbes remains an introverted experience that happens to us individually when we read the comic - at least for me. In that way, it keeps a bit of special magic because so many other intellectual properties are not consumed this way and are widely picked apart and discussed ad nauseam.

As someone that grew up on Calvin and Hobbes it's sweet to see so many other people interested in it and actively interacting

This video was so passionate and well researched, however what stood out the most in the end was the meaningful message... It truly made me cry.. I really need that reminder tonight, that my box doesn't have to be limited to what's expected, I can be an Explorer too, there's always another way.. often we forget to look beyond our predetermined box.. Thank you for presenting Walter's story, using your own passionate creativity as an outlet.

“I didn’t like the idea of using this hard-won precious job to peddle a bunch of trinkets” Really succinct Watterson quote from the complete collection that could not sum it up any better.

And in making this video, Phil cemented his transmogrifier setting to the "peeing Calvin historian" forever But you'll always be the KZfaq explorer of random stuff I was unaware of, of the mundane, of the overlooked little things in life You go Phil!

Calvin and Hobbes was one of my favorite comics as a young adult. So funny. Broke my heart when they quit printing it. ❤😅😅

Peeing Calvin has bothered me for decades. I always related to Calvin, and always felt that he wouldn't behave in that was. Calvin was never a mean kid, he wasn't a troublemaker. He was scatterbrained and aloof, but nothing mean. I've always hated that the character has been associated with it. Thanks for making this video.

As soon as you started taping the box together I started sobbing. Calvin and Hobbes raised me and as a kid I had a box too!

Some International trivia: In Mexico, peeing Calvin just pees, it doesn't have the peeing on something component. Usually you can see it on public transportation or older cars, indicating that the driver doesn't really care about their driving or the speed limit. Great video!

I remember when I was 8 sick with pneumonia, my dad gave me one of his old Calvin and Hobbes books to read and I was instantly absorbed for the week I was sick. Somehow Watterson's work was able to transport you to another world so effortlessly and is partly the reason I do art today. I always knew that the calvin stickers weren't Bill's, but I'm glad he never caved, even when syndicators visited his house. Great video as always Phil!

such a great video!! you managed to make an otherwise simple topic really interesting and entertaining

Thank you for this cozy video. I was able to watch this during a frustrating time and caught myself being thankful for the distraction

growing up in the early 00s I felt like Calvin. i had a huge stuffed sheep i would take everywhere and my only requirements was to be home before dark so i spent so many hours just exploring nature with my sheep. I related to so much of it and it is so amazing that there is no licensed merchandise. it would feel less true, less relatable. I miss those days of just sitting in the middle of nowhere close enough to home to get back just creating worlds with my sheep, no cares about anything

Thank you for this. I knew, from the first time I saw these in 1996 (on pickup trucks, with other brands as the targets), that they couldn't possibly be legit and licensed. They've always made me sad, in part because they were such a betrayal of everything that Calvin was and stood for.

Growing up, my teacher had every book and loved to share them. I read almost all of them. What a great run down memory lane...

Holy fuck this video was incredible. I'm from spain and used to read Calvin and Hobbes in the newspaper when I was a kid, but haven't really checked it out more because it was replaced by garfield (sigh). I have the complete works of Quino (the author behind Mafalda) and also have some comic collections from other great comic artists. It always feels so incredible to be able to read someone's life as comic strips, and specially to read that last strip. It always makes me want to cry because of how beautiful they tend to be and what they represent. I can see that I've really missed out on Calvin and Hobbs and can't wait to get my hands on that complete works collection.

I have nothing but respect for Watterson. Calvin and Hobbes always makes me smile and remember, for a brief period of time, as a child, when I had stuffed animals that I played with. Some of the things Calvin did, I remember doing too. Calvin and Hobbes brings out the kids in all of us. A deep bow to you Mr. Watterson, thank you for not going for the truckloads of money.

I've known Bill hated those decals since I was a kid reading the comic collections in the 90's. Any real C&H fan knows peeing "Calvin" is not the real Calvin, and whoever has those stickers likely never read the strip.

I just watched a few of your videos, and appreciate your nuanced and entertaining approach. This specific video is wonderful--and I just want to mention that Bill Watterson is an incredible artist, who helped redefine the medium, harkening back to what had been the norm on the comics page for a time: large panels with superb artwork and sweeping storylines. He was the gold standard in illustration technique, along with being a stand up fellow. Thank you for this. Subscribed.

Late to this, but the ending brought a tear to this aging man’s eye. I won’t go into details, but I have been estranged from family and friends because of having principles…so, well done!

It also inspired a lot of other artists to make the C&H merchandise they wanted to see without the fear of litigation. I can't tell you how many patterns for Hobbes plushies I've seen from sewing to crochet to knitting, most of them free for others to try for themselves. And in them, some discover a new 'hobbey' or even a livelihood.

I’m 44 and recently became the proud owner of all the Calvin and Hobbes collection books that had come out when I was a child after a very productive trip to a local garage sale. During a particular rainy weekend I sat down with my new treasures, a cup of coffee, a finely spun joint, and got to reading. It made me so happy to not only remember a bunch of the stories but also discover a heap of tales I had never known prior! It was such a fun read as I was having such an amazing time I found myself sad when it was over but had two big take away from the experience. The first being that during the stories I could remember I felt as if I was transported back in time in a time machine because it brought back so many feelings, emotions, and memories from when I was a kid and experiencing these strips for the first time, I felt as if I was right there on my tummy lying in bed with my knees bent so as to not dirty my blanket with my sneakers reading the Sunday Times comic strips, in color, and having a blast!!! The second was that not only was the writing so good and amazing but the artwork was another level of out of this world as I felt as though most of the stories could have been told with minimal speech balloons cluttering up the scenery! I mean the guy was so good at his craft he would draw these, i don’t know what to call them, but they would be a few lines and a squiggle to represent a certain sound effect and they looked so expressive you didn’t need to have an onomatopoeia present to know what he was going for! The guy is that good. All in all my biggest “get” from reading these again would probably still be the same as it was all those years ago and that would be, I still wish I could have a friendship as strong as the one shared by these two, Calvin and Hobbes, they laughed together, cried together, plot together, loved one another and even sometime be mad with each other but at the end of the day when all is said and done they still had each other. I know ones a cartoon character and the others an imaginary tiger, but if I can still believe after all these years that that friendship is real then I guess there’s hope still!!! If ya made it this far so do you! ❤😜😜😜

The end was really impactful. Idk why it just gave me a nice sense of proudness. Thank you

I was obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes during grade-school, when the strip was still active, and it had such a huge impact on my development as a person. As I got older, I discovered punk rock, and the whole underground/independent music scene. The whole “artistic integrity” thing really stuck with me, and I always thought Bill Watterson had similar principles when it came to his art. Still a big fan of both the Punk ethos, and Calvin and Hobbes to this day….25+ years later. This was a sweet video 😊 *8:40 bought that book when it came out, and it’s still on my bookshelf. Great read. The author did his homework.

Calvin & Hobbes made me laugh and love adventure as a child. Reading it again as an adult (and parent) gave me a different view of their world and our own, and it was no less amazing. ❤

You got me in tears, thank you. I adore Calvin and Hobbs. I remember fighting with my brother weekly to be the first to the pull out comic section from the Sunday paper. I can't bear to get rid of my tattered books because the comics have been lovingly read by my siblings and kids. I never thought the peeing Calvin was ever associated with his creator; to know that Bill Watterson did see this "homage" and knew it would cheapen the entire brand to take on that fight- I adore him even more!!

Read your article forever ago so I’m glad the algorithm found this video’s way to me! Really amazingly done. I got a little lost at the very end though.

This was a nostalgic treat, thank you. Subscribed

Especially when contrasted against Garfield’s creator, his decision to hold his integrity against such pressure is inspiring and adds another layer of respect. Fun fact, I learned to read via my dad reading Calvin & Hobbes to me.

As a kid with ADHD there was very few things I have been able to pay attention to long enough to read. In fact I've probably only read 3 books in my 40 years on this planet. 2 of those books being Calvin and Hobbes collections. It was the only thing that could hold my attention long enough. I read those books over and over again as a kid and was heartbroken when the strip ended. I still have the collections to this day.

I found this video is passing and I've always wondered little things like this. I don't know where I stand generationally but do know I grew up in a weird bubble so I never knew of these things first hand. Thank you sincerely for a video like this where it's itched a curiosity that no one has seemed to been able to answer to me before

Began reading Calvin and Hobbes when I was in 2nd grade. Our teacher had a class library with one of the compilation books. It was probably the most fundamental books of my childhood. It made me realize how fast my childhood was going by at the time and how I should just enjoy the small moments. It changed the way I saw the world. Even with peeing Calvin, my love and perception of the comics never changed.

I never expected to be in tears by the end of a video about Peeing Calvin, but here I am.

Never knew that you wrote the article on Calvin peeing on things. I'm still calling you the Pentagon man because that's how I discovered the channel. But it's rather interesting to see how when I really think about it I've never seen Calvin do such a crass thing despite it being a "Calvin" thing to do. He always occupied that space of being rude, yet so thoughtful in tact and his actions. Watterson truly is a great cartoonist.

I am so glad I saw this. Not only does this video explain a lot but it also helps me understand myself and the route I took with my own art.

As a 2000s kid in Brazil, textbook writers and teachers LOVED using these comics on exercises in school. They were called ''Calvin e Haroldo''. I remember reading some on the paper as well. Mafalda, even though she was Argentinian, was more ubiquitous, but she was way more serious and also more like an omen of the oncoming pains of adulthood. Calvin and Haroldo felt smart but right at home in childhood. I even remember when I started noticing the absurdity it was to have Hobbs/Haroldo, a tiger on two feet, around, even though it felt completely right. I even remember seeing the peeing Calvin in the 2000s (now, not anymore) but I never associated it with the true Calvin. I guess because they have nothing to do with each other indeed. This video gave me an even bigger appreciation of this tiny joy from back then, knowing a bit more about its creator.

I consider myself blessed to be in middle school, high school, and in my first real job at a newspaper after flunking out of college, during the run of Calvin and Hobbes. I didn't see every strip the day it came out, but I saw about 80% of them and it changed my outlook on the world. I got to cherish it, and be there for the end, and see the next day how our paper chose to leave his spot blank to honor it. Sure, Watterson could have made a deal and every kid in America would have had or wanted a Hobbes plushie, perfect in every detail. But he didn't, and that meant the entire run of the strip somehow remained fresh and new like untracked snow, yet to be turned into mutant snowmen or used in snowball fights against *gasp* girls. It didn't just stand out from Peanuts and Garfield and every other strip on the page in terms of art or humor, it felt more real. But the fact that not every kid got a Hobbes maintained the real lesson I think he wanted them to learn- kids could find their own friend and imagine them and name them and go off on their own adventures, instead of just copying Calvin's. Everyone got their own patch of new snow.

I've seen this decal a lot on people's cars before, but never actually peeing on something in particular, just that it was a character peeing… I always thought it was dumb, and I also never knew that it was Calvin from the Calvin and Hobbes comic, oddly it didn't strike me as looking anything similar to it. This was very interesting and informative, thanks for making this video 🙂👍

This video ended up so inspirational I shed a few tears, I've always been curious of the comic strips. But this vid completely won me over on Calvin and Hobbs.

What Bill brought to Calvin & Hobbies through his actions is a level of reputation/integrity/mystique that more than a few prominent cartoonists, or their estates, would kill for. ❤

I shouldn't have been surprised that a video about a crude, pirated bumper sticker became a meditation on integrity and purity of art.

Amazing video production quality!

as someone who grew up reading Calvin and Hobbs and playing in cardboard boxes, I found this video very thought provoking and touching

When I was a child, I really loved these books. Also I remember seeing the Transmog-rifier so that brought back great memories. You gotta love Bill Watterson not commercializing his art. Its so rare to see that. It reminds me the opposite of that. The widow of the "gone in 60 seconds" movie creator would sue anyone and anything that named anything "Eleanor". One automotive youtuber lost his car and all the videos associated with it because he put Eleanor in the video title. Recently Caroll Shelby's trust sued her and won so that people can name a car Eleanor and not worry of a lawsuit.

I'm one of those die hard fans that you're talking about. I have that MASSIVELY heavy complete collection and no matter how much it weighs, I have moved it with me year after year and it has survived many belonging purges because it brings me so much joy. And I still have every single one that I bought as a kid at the Scholastic Book Fairs, though they definitely look their age haha. Thank you for this, from the bottom of my tiger-loving heart 💜

Fantastic video; this channel is so underrated!

My dad grew up with Calvin and Hobbes and got me into it. I had like a whole Calvin and Hobbes phase when I was younger. I’m 13 now and have the collectors books and many of the newspapers that had the comic strips.

I forgot as a kid, I owned the giant paperback omnibus of all the strips.... I used to think "peeing Calvin" was funny. Gave me a giggle seeing it. After watching this though I remembered, as the creator said, that's not how Calvin would have acted. Mid-way between Charlie Brown and Bart Simpson was a perfect description. An imaginary kid with a heart of gold, that got up to a little mischief.... "Peeing Calvin" kinda pisses me off now (pun intended)

I can’t believe a video with the words “peeing Calvin” in the title got me so emotional at the end Any video that can do that is undoubtedly a work of art

Thank you so much for leaving the last 20 seconds or so if the video blank. A lot of very impactful and profound messages always have a call-to-action or advertisement at the end. Although I I'm sure you could have gained subscribers and attention by having one... I'm really glad you didn't put a call to action after that great and thoughtful wrap up

Phill! What an amazing video. I remember the stickers. I never read the comic. I didn’t pay much attention to either. This video made me care about a story I could careless about. Great story telling, love the ending. Well done!

What I kinda like is how Watterson avoided the trap of controlling what other artists do. History has too many artists who not just "sell out" by making a ton of money but actively working towards crushing expression that made them well off in the first place by doing things like lobbying for stricter copyright or destroying free fan works. "Buying in" totally means, at least in my opinion, way more than just making some cash off your work. Of course, the whole peeing Calvin thing is really weird and tasteless.

This is one of the most amazing, heartfelt videos I’ve ever watched. My young life and early 20’s were absolutely shaped by Schulz and Watterson. Those characters helped to define me. From reading second hand Peanuts paperbacks by dim closet light in 1971 to the Essential Calvin and Hobbes of the early 90’s, their Pureness of message and sheer comic joy have made a rapidly aging man very happy through the years.

I was half expecting Phil to come out of that cardboard box in a tiger suit...Interesting bit of C&H trivia: to the best of my knowledge that transmogrifier story arc was the ONLY time the strip's continuity continued from the daily strips onto the Sunday page, which were usually self-contained stories unrelated to the daily continuity.

I am imagining Mr. Watterson hugging you with tears in his eyes. Mr. Edwards, you have done his legacy proud.

Thank you for solving a 35+ year mystery! My college roommate and I were big C&H fans back in the late 80s-I wanted to get her a birthday gift with Hobbes on it, and I went to several shops looking for him (no internet!) No luck, and now I know why! (I think I got her a Far Side mug instead.) Also, of course, thank you for confirming my long-held suspicion that those decals weren’t legit…Calvin could be naughty sometimes, but he was never nasty!

I remember an article someone wrote where they interviewed Bill Watterson. They asked him why he quit when C&H was arguably in its prime. I forgot the exact words but he responded with something like "It's better to leave early while still liked than stay around long enough to be hated." The man is right. That peeing Calvin is around makes me wonder if he may've stayed a smidge too long. Frankly, I loved this work, and I still read C&H comics when life brings me down. Such a pure-hearted kid. Mr. Watterson is the one hero I'd love to meet in real life some day and just tell him thanks for the comics and the perspectives. As a kid who never had any real friends growing up and every day was a different kind of bad day, having C&H around really made my childhood easier to cope with.

I loved this and it reminds me a bit of Dr. Seuss. I heard years ago that while Dr. Seuss was alive, he refused to license any of his characters because he didn't want any children to end up having classmates who had Cat in the Hat, while they couldn't afford one, etc. Very classy of the man.

Thanks Phil! Used to have a bunch of Calvin and Hobbes comic collections when I was in middle school. They still hold a space in my heart. Growing up I always wondered why there wasn't a Calvin and Hobbes Tv show, but this explained a lot.

Calvin and Hobbes touched my heart when I was a young and dumb teen. That heart was a tough place to get to at the time.