Calvin & Hobbes’ Controversial Decal Was Actually Lifted From The Comic

Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson once gave his opinion on the bootleg vehicle decals featuring Calvin that became an infamous symbol.

While Calvin and Hobbes’ comic strip rarely found itself in any controversy or pushed any boundaries when it came to publishing appropriate stories, Bill Watterson’s work was actually lifted to create one of the crudest, infamous vehicle decals ever. Yes, the “peeing Calvin” decal, which, to this day, still is used, came from a Calvin and Hobbes panel – but it originally appeared much different than the sticker portrays.

In a 1988 Calvin and Hobbes comic strip from Bill Watterson, the comic featured Calvin filling a water balloon while hiding behind a tree and a barrel before launching his attack. The comic was relatively harmless, but the very first panel of the strip where Calvin is reaching down to fill the balloon has become recognizable as it was turned into a decal featuring the titular character urinating. An image featuring the “peeing Calvin” has roots back to a motor home in 1995, which featured a sticker from a University of Florida football fan showing him urinating on an FSU logo. The unauthorized sticker, which would eventually be seen on the back of trucks across North America, grew in popularity in the South.

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Bill Watterson Did Not Approve The Controversial Drawing

While the Calvin and Hobbes decal became increasingly used over the years, the comic strip’s creator Bill Watterson never approved of the controversial sticker. Watterson was notoriously protective of his creations, turning down hundreds of millions of dollars over his career. As a result, there was very little merch or non-comic content created from Calvin and Hobbes. Moreover, given his staunch position on refusing to license the characters, he did not sign off on the decal.

Bill Watterson would have a good sense of humor about the controversial decals featuring his Calvin and Hobbes creation, as he would tell his publisher that he “clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo.” Still, Watterson seeing his drawing being lifted into such a bizarre, offensive, and popular image had to be a bit jarring – as the decals bastardized his work while being used as a gross symbol.

So, while the “peeing Calvin” decal was lifted from one of Watterson’s comic strips, the image was greatly edited to feature the character urinating, as opposed to the original panel, where he filled up a water balloon. Somehow, the controversial bootleg sticker has become a popular decal on vehicles, as Calvin can be seen peeing on numerous things – mostly sports teams – to this day. However, those who have the stickers pasted on their vehicles who claim to be fans of the comic strip completely missed the point of Calvin and Hobbes, as Bill Watterson would certainly not approve of them.

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