Editing Calvin and Hobbes (section)

=== Creative control (1991–1995) ===
Having achieved his objective of creative control, Watterson's desire for privacy subsequently reasserted itself and he ceased all media interviews, relocated to [[New Mexico]], and largely disappeared from public engagements, refusing to attend the ceremonies of any of the cartooning awards he won.<ref name=":1" /> The pressures of the battle over merchandising led to Watterson taking an extended break from May 5, 1991, to February 1, 1992, a move that was virtually unprecedented in the world of syndicated cartoonists.
{{multiple image
| align = right
| header = Comparison of ''Calvin and Hobbes''{{'}}s following layout changes
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| image1 = Calvin and Hobbes 6 Sep 1987.jpg
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| image2 = Calvin and Hobbes 26 Sep 1993.jpg
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| footer = The comic strip on the left from 1987 illustrates the layout constraints that Bill Watterson was required to work within for the first 6 years of the comic's syndication. The comic strip on the right from 1993 demonstrates one of the more creative layouts that Watterson had the freedom to employ after 1991.
}}

During Watterson's first [[sabbatical]] from the strip, Universal Press Syndicate continued to charge newspapers full price to re-run old ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strips. Few editors approved of the move, but the strip was so popular that they had no choice but to continue to run it for fear that competing newspapers might pick it up and draw its fans away.<ref name="astor1991">{{cite journal |last=Astor |first=David |title=Nine-month Vacation for Bill Watterson |page=34 |journal=[[Editor & Publisher]] |publisher=Duncan McIntosh |location=Irvine, California |date=1991-03-30}}</ref> Watterson returned to the strip in 1992 with plans to produce his Sunday strip as an unbreakable half of a newspaper or [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] page. This made him only the second cartoonist since [[Garry Trudeau]] to have sufficient popularity to demand more space and control over the presentation of his work.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

Watterson took a second sabbatical from April 3 through December 31, 1994. His return came with an announcement that ''Calvin and Hobbes'' would be concluding at the end of 1995. Stating his belief that he had achieved everything that he wanted to within the medium, he announced his intention to work on future projects at a slower pace with fewer artistic compromises.<ref name=":4" />

The final strip ran on Sunday, December 31, 1995, depicting Calvin and Hobbes sledding down a snowy hill after a fresh snowfall with Calvin exclaiming "Let's go exploring!"<ref name="CC+H_final_strip">[[#CITEREFWatterson2005|Watterson (2005)]]. vol. 3, p. 481. Comic originally published December 31, 1995.</ref><ref name=25yearsago>{{cite news |date=December 31, 2020 |title='Calvin and Hobbes' said goodbye 25 years ago. Here's why Bill Watterson's masterwork enchants us still. |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/12/31/calvin-hobbes-bill-watterson/ |access-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref><ref name="pr_calvin">{{cite web |url=http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/pr_calvin.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026183516/http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/calvinandhobbes/pr_calvin.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-10-26 |access-date=2009-05-02 |title=The Complete Calvin and Hobbes |publisher=[[Andrews & McMeel]]}}</ref>

Speaking to NPR in 2005, animation critic Charles Solomon opined that the final strip "left behind a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill."<ref>{{cite episode |title=The Complete Calvin and Hobbes |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/4968065|series=Day to Day |series-link=Day to Day |credits=Charles Solomon |network=[[National Public Radio|NPR]] |air-date=October 21, 2005 |minutes=3:28.50 |quote=In the final strip, Calvin and Hobbes put aside their conflicts and rode their sled into a snowy forest. They left behind a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill. |archive-date=November 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113232016/https://www.npr.org/transcripts/4968065 |url-status=live}}</ref>