Who created the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes?

Bill Watterson created the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, which ran from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995.

The strip follows Calvin, an imaginative six-year-old, and Hobbes, his stuffed tiger that appears alive from Calvin’s perspective. Their adventures combine childhood fantasy with observations about family life, school, consumer culture, nature, and philosophy.

Watterson was known for resisting merchandising and for defending the comic strip as an art form. He also fought against excessive licensing, so there are no authorized Calvin dolls or official breakfast cereals. This stance helped preserve the strip’s focus on its newspaper panels.

The title refers to John Calvin, the sixteenth-century theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, the seventeenth-century philosopher. Watterson retired the strip with a final Sunday installment rather than continuing it with another artist.