I’d like to associate myself with this excellent post at Dane 101, about Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson’s artistic genius, and shame on Pipefitters of State Street.

It’s been almost twelve years since a new Calvin and Hobbes strip has appeared, and there’s still nothing in the daily comics that can replace it, or even come close (the once-great Fox Trot has declined recently). I’ll still get out the old anthology books and read through them every now and then: there’s fun to be had even after multiple readings. I can’t think of a single other comic strip for which that’s true.

But Calvin peeing on a automobile trademark or a sports logo is both stupid and unfunny, and it reduces Calvin to a low-quality version of Bart Simpson (*). And while I can imagine merchandise that is less crude and more interesting, I can’t imagine merchandising that improves my enjoyment of the comic strip. The enterprise, by its very nature, captures the essence and humanity of neither Calvin nor Hobbes. At best, it can remind you of what you liked so much about the comics. At worst, it actively cheapens the original creation, and reduces the original experience (**).

I don’t think I agree with Bill Watterson’s decision to not sell out, but I definitely understand it. Rip-off merchandising for Calvin and Hobbes is ubiquitous and awful, and the people doing it should stop.

(*) The producers of The Simpsons were smart enough to quickly shift the show’s focus from Bart’s rabble-rousing (amusing, but without much potential) to the riot of life that makes up Springfield.

(**) For example, it’s hard for me to read Tolkien without Peter Jackson’s ludicrous conception of Sauron’s giant eyeball creeping into my thoughts.

Posted by Ben Brothers at 6:07 pm, 18 October 2007 and filed under Madison News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.