Today is the tenth anniversary of the last Calvin and Hobbes strip published (Dec 31, 1995) - bringing to a close one of the greatest cartoon strips of the modern era. Its creator, Bill Watterson fought a long and hard battle against marketing gimmicks that he felt would 'cheapen' the strip. He successfully won a battle to prevent Calvin and Hobbes images from getting pasted on commercially-sold coffee mugs, stickers and t-shirts, that he thought devalued the characters and their personalities. He has also refused to allow the strip to become an animated series. Its popularity continues to grow however, and the strip collections published since have been tremendous successes, and calvin and hobbes continues to be as popular as it was exactly ten years ago ... Watterson certainly did know a thing or two about going out on top ...
Since the Calvin and Hobbes strip concluded, Bill Watterson has been living in relative seclusion in Chagrin Falls, OH with his wife Melissa, Watterson refuses to sign autographs or give interviews, emerging only occasionally into the public eye. On December 21, 1999, a short piece called "Drawn Into a Dark But Gentle World," written by Watterson to mark the forthcoming end of the comic strip Peanuts, was published in the Los Angeles Times. They have been seen sometimes roller skating at the rink in Chagrin Falls. [info from wikipedia].
