Editing Bill Watterson (section)

===Fight against merchandising his characters===
For years, Watterson battled against pressure from publishers to merchandise his work, something that he felt would cheapen his comic through compromising the act of creation or reading.<ref name="cheapcomic">{{cite web| url=http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/comics.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210115506/http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/comics.html | archive-date=February 10, 2006| title=The Cheapening of the Comics| last=Watterson |first= Bill | publisher= Ohio State University| date=October 27, 1989| access-date=March 17, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cavna |first=Michael |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=December 19, 2022 |archive-date=January 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128005105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/12/31/calvin-hobbes-bill-watterson/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

He refused to merchandise his creations on the grounds that displaying ''Calvin and Hobbes'' images on commercially sold mugs, stickers, and T-shirts would devalue the characters and their personalities. Watterson said that Universal kept putting pressure on him and that he had signed his contract without fully perusing it because, as a new artist, he was happy just to find a syndicate willing to give him a chance (two other syndicates had previously turned him down). He added that the contract was so one-sided that, if Universal really wanted to, they could license his characters against his will, and could even fire him and continue ''Calvin and Hobbes'' with a new artist. Watterson's position eventually won out, and he was able to renegotiate his contract so that he would receive all rights to his work. Later he said that the licensing fight exhausted him and contributed to the need for a nine-month sabbatical in 1991.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Watterson| first = Bill| title = Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book| publisher = Andrews and McMeel| year = 1995| page = 10| isbn = 0-8362-0438-7| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xtiMQXCLdJEC&pg=PA10| access-date = January 3, 2020| archive-date = January 15, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230115125230/https://books.google.com/books?id=xtiMQXCLdJEC&pg=PA10| url-status = live}}</ref>

Despite Watterson's efforts, many unofficial knockoffs have been found, including items that depict Calvin and Hobbes consuming alcohol or Calvin urinating on a logo. Watterson has said, "Only thieves and vandals have made money on ''Calvin and Hobbes'' merchandise."<ref>{{Cite book| last = Watterson| first = Bill| title = Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book| publisher = Andrews and McMeel| year = 1995| page = 12| isbn = 0-8362-0438-7| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xtiMQXCLdJEC&pg=PA12| access-date = January 3, 2020| archive-date = January 15, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230115125230/https://books.google.com/books?id=xtiMQXCLdJEC&pg=PA12| url-status = live}}</ref>