Original “Calvin & Hobbes” Comic Sells for Hundreds of Thousands

Comic art is no laughing matter for collectors. It can bring top dollar in auction sales. More than 25 years after it was last published, Calvin and Hobbes is still popular in reruns. Original art of a Calvin and Hobbes Sunday strip sold for $480,000 on November 17 at Heritage Auctions, setting a new auction record for its creator, Bill Watterson. The daily newspaper comic strip was published by Universal Syndicate in more than 2,400 newspapers from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It follows 6-year-old Calvin and his stuffed tiger named Hobbes who, from Calvin’s perspective, is a live tiger. The strip that sold was published May 24, 1987. It comes from the collection of Watterson’s late editor Lee Salem. It was presented by Watterson personally and is signed and personalized “To Lee” in the first panel.

Photo: Heritage Auctions, HA.com