Enjoying Hockey Guy's current avatar
Calvin and Hobbes was a great cartoon strip.
Despite huge success, Bill Watterson never allowed any merchandising of the characters, although many unauthorised items did (and still do appear).
Someone circulated what was described as the last C&H strip, just called "Calvin", which shows Calvin growing up and more interested in homework than playing with his stuffed tiger. In fact it was a fake but it is actually quite poignant.