Why the Last “Calvin and Hobbes” Strip Was the Perfect Goodbye

On Dec. 31, 1995, Calvin and Hobbes took one last sled ride together. The final panel showed the boy and his tiger at the top of a snow-covered hill, an untouched blanket of white stretching before them.

“It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy...let’s go exploring!”

And that was it. After 3,160 strips spanning a decade, global syndication, and 17 book collections, “Calvin and Hobbes” was over.

When did “Calvin and Hobbes” end? 

Bill Watterson announced his retirement via a resignation letter on Nov. 9, 1995, giving newspaper editors about seven weeks’ notice before the final strip would run. The announcement shocked the industry—the strip was at peak popularity, and Watterson was only 37 years old.

Why did Bill Watterson end “Calvin and Hobbes”?

“By the end of 10 years, I'd said pretty much everything I had come there to say,” Watterson explained in a rare interview with Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer in 2010. “It's always better to leave the party early. If I had rolled along with the strip’s popularity and repeated myself for another five, 10, or 20 years, the people now ‘grieving’ for ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ would be wishing me dead and cursing newspapers for running tedious, ancient strips like mine instead of acquiring fresher, livelier talent.”

In The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, he expanded: “As the strip approached 10 years in print, I felt I had done everything I had set out to do, and my interests were shifting. I did not want ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ to coast into halfhearted repetition, as so many long-running strips do. I was ready to pursue different artistic challenges, work at a less frantic pace, with fewer business conflicts, and not incidentally, start restoring some balance into my life.”

The daily grind was relentless. But there was also something else driving his decision:

“It seemed a gesture of respect and gratitude toward my characters to leave them at top form. I like to think that, now that I’m not recording everything they do, Calvin and Hobbes are out there having an even better time,” he wrote in The Complete.

Will “Calvin and Hobbes” ever come back? 

No. In the nearly 30 years since the strip ended, Watterson has created no new “Calvin and Hobbes” content. He's moved on to painting, music, and working at his own pace. In 2023, Watterson and co-author John Kascht published The Mysteries, a stark departure from his comic strip work. And he’s remained adamant about not licensing the characters for merchandise, despite the potential for enormous profits.

Watterson’s editor, the late Lee Salem, knew the end was permanent, as he told the Houston Chronicle in 2005: “If [a return to cartooning] happens, we’d be delighted. I’d be surprised if it does happen.”

What does the last “Calvin and Hobbes” strip mean? 

The final strip is simple: Calvin and Hobbes sit atop their sled, looking out at an untouched expanse of fresh snow, which as Calvin says, is “full of possibilities!” After 10 years of documented adventures, Watterson was giving his characters the ultimate gift: freedom from observation, the ability to continue beyond the confines of the panels. Instead of a somber goodbye, Watterson left us with optimism and wonder.

The final panel is also a perfect mirror of the strip’s opening. In the very first “Calvin and Hobbes,” Calvin catches Hobbes in a trap, beginning their adventures. In the last strip, they’re together, free, and heading into the unknown.

Many fans see the final strip as Watterson’s philosophy on life: embrace curiosity, cherish friendship, find wonder in the world, and never stop exploring.

Watterson could have ended with something bittersweet or profound. Instead, he chose joy. And maybe he was right—somewhere beyond the panels, “Calvin and Hobbes” really are out there having an even better time.