Calvin and Hobbes and the Price of Integrity

How Bill Watterson Stuck to His Guns — and Vanished

Commissions Calvin and Hobbes and the Price of Integrity How Bill Watterson Stuck to His Guns — and Vanished The Republic of Letters and Matthew Morgan Jun 11, 2026 2,178 204 355 Share Dear Republic, Maybe you liked Calvin and Hobbes as a kid but you probably have no idea of the scrupulous moral integrity that went into it, as Matthew Morgan demonstrates in this deeply-researched piece. -ROL CALVIN AND HOBBES AND THE PRICE OF INTEGRITY I. 1978, Kenyon College, sophomore year. Bill Watterson is lying on his dorm room bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hasn’t yet invented six-year-old Calvin and

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