‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Bootlegs Became a Lightning Rod for Freedom of Speech Debates

A lot of us who grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes were confused why the beloved comic strip didn’t spawn any tie-in merch, like most other hugely popular intellectual properties. Where were the plush toys? The breakfast cereals? The fast food collector’s cup slathered in toxic paint? 

Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, however, wanted no part of that, famously refusing to license his characters for a quick buck. But while Watterson was able to keep corporate merchandising schemes at bay, he was less successful with bootleggers. Hence why some people in the ‘90s had shirts in which the underage Calvin and the imaginary Hobbes were seen partying at Mardi Gras. 

But by far the most widespread Calvin and Hobbes bootleg was the decal featuring an image of Calvin defiantly taking a whiz. The image originated from a strip in which Calvin fills a water balloon, and, according to Trivia Happy’s Phil Edwards, it was first reworked in its more urinary context for a 25-foot motorhome’s sign denigrating Florida State University.

“Peeing Calvin” soon took on a life of its own, mostly in the form of truck decals, but he also showed up on T-shirts, and eventually some kind of crypto nonsense. 

Weirdly, the image of Calvin flouting public urination laws to illustrate displeasure for corporate logos and/or public figures actually led to real-life arrests, and sparked a serious debate about free speech.

A Minnesota woman was jailed for wearing a Calvin T-shirt to court, while police in South Carolina and Alabama ticketed drivers bearing the offending decal — not because they were secretly on Watterson’s payroll, but because it violated “bumper sticker laws” that banned indecent car decals. In this case, the Calvin image was considered offensive because it depicted “excretory functions” and lacked “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

When the drivers complained, the American Civil Liberties Union became involved, seeking to challenge the “unconstitutional” decal laws by arguing that “the statute in no way anticipates making illegal the kind of speech involved in these bumper stickers.”

At least one ticketed driver was let off-the-hook after the ACLU procured an attorney for him. During the trial, the lawyer argued that Calvin had “artistic value” and asked a testifying state trooper whether or not he would pull over a driver for displaying an image of Michelangelo's David. He said that he would, since “David is depicted naked.”

The judge concluded that the sticker “did not fit the definition of obscene speech” and “threw out the case.”

That being said, not all Calvin decals were totally harmless, for example, some were used to convey racist messages. But then again, the Calvin peeing meme can literally be used to make any argument, even an argument against the prevalence of Calvin peeing memes. 

Watterson isn’t that bothered about the decals either, calling them his “ticket to immortality.” 

Even in the event of a Mad Max-esque apocalypse, we’ll no doubt get some cannibalistic marauders driving vehicles with Calvin stickers. 

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