Calvin praying window sticker

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I’ve often wondered the same thing, but I would imagine that given the popularity of these stickers, they probably got permission from the owners to use the likeness.
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
I’ve often wondered the same thing, but I would imagine that given the popularity of these stickers, they probably got permission from the owners to use the likeness.
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Heh, that would be the logical conclusion, but no. Anything you see with the likeness of Calvin or Hobbes, with the exception of the books, two calendars, two text books, and one t-shirt, is a copyright violation.
Bill Watterson in 2005:
Actually, I wasn’t against all merchandising when I started the strip, but each product I considered seemed to violate the spirit of the strip, contradict its message, and take me away from the work I loved.
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logic_oriented said:
You’ve probably seen them out there: stickers of Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes praying, kneeling by a cross, etc. I find them infuriating. Are these people merely uneducated, or do they believe that stealing to promote a religion which prohibits the practice is alright?
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I agree that the boy depicted in the illustration may be expected to evoke Calvin of of the strip Calvin and Hobbes, but honestly the drawing is so crude that it really doesn’t copy Calvin. The only way I would have made a connection to the comic strip is via the increasingly debased series of stickers often seen in pickup trucks, of a boy urinating on the competitor’s brand. Originally, those stickers resembled Calvin, but as the years went by they looked stranger and stranger.

The illustration you linked to barely resembles Calvin at all. But I agree that is is probably the source material.
 
Dale_M said:
The illustration you linked to barely resembles Calvin at all. But I agree that is is probably the source material.
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Yeah, the sneakers, striped shirt, and hair are pretty iconic. Also, the product page I linked to calls it a Calvin sticker, and elsewhere on the site says:

“Calvin Sticker
The Calvin sticker is one of the all time favorite car window decals. There is whole line of Calvin and Hobbes stickers, most of them at the protest of artist Bill Watterson, who retired several years ago. He would never approve of the kind of mischief his character has been doing. Some people would say that Calvin is as popular as the Smiley face. The Calvin praying at the cross decal is very popular.”
 
I think it’s terrible that Calvin, who was a staunt atheist, is being used to promote Christianity. It’s completely out of character and an offense against Calvin & Hobbes.
 
Eucharisted said:
I think it’s terrible that Calvin, who was a staunt atheist, is being used to promote Christianity. It’s completely out of character and an offense against Calvin & Hobbes.
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Maybe he read a Chick tract and was converted… :eek:
 
I was curious because I had never seen this sticker. All the ones I’ve seen are the urination ones. So I clicked on the link.

IMHO, that doesn’t look like Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes at all. If they call it Calvin on the webpage (which I didn’t see, but didn’t go looking for either), maybe it’s suppose to be a young John Calvin?

🤷
 
Dandelion_Wine said:
I was curious because I had never seen this sticker. All the ones I’ve seen are the urination ones. So I clicked on the link.

IMHO, that doesn’t look like Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes at all. If they call it Calvin on the webpage (which I didn’t see, but didn’t go looking for either), maybe it’s suppose to be a young John Calvin?

🤷
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I’ve never seen the one provided at the link. The ones I’ve seen do actually look like Calvin. Like this:

renostickershop.com/product.sc?productId=6
 
Eucharisted said:
I think it’s terrible that Calvin, who was a staunt atheist, is being used to promote Christianity. It’s completely out of character and an offense against Calvin & Hobbes.
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Calvin was an atheist? I don’t remember that. It’s been a while though.
 
rayne89 said:
My husband has nearly every Calvin comic collection book published, no where does it say Calvin was an atheist.
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In general I think it would have been out of keeping with the strip for him to have been explicitly an atheist - he is first and foremost a six year old boy, and part of what was so great about the strip is the accuracy with which he captured the spirit of a highly imaginitive and thoughtful six year old. Now I have never met a six year old , regardless of intelligence or imagination, who is really a staunch atheist at heart (regardless of what some parents might foist upon their children). That, I think, is a designation reserved for people who have lived long enough to grow jaded and cynical, who think they have seen it all and know it all. I.e. you have to be at least a teenager. And it helps if you can close yourself off to your imagination.
 
Whenever I see contrary graphics on vehicle back windows, it tells me to what they prescribe. I have a Calvin kneeling beneath the Cross on my Ford Ranger. I am in Roman Catholic Youth Ministry.

What we present is to what we aspire. If “Calvin” is portrayed in a defiant act, it relates to the owner’s contempt of a product he/she did not purchase in a vehicle, or says something about their view of the dignity of humankind. To them, it’s marketing in an infantile way. My Calvin sticker that show’s what a young child should be doing, is a counter to show what my youth ministry should be.

When I asked an sales attendant at a religious book and gift store if she had such a sticker, she was offended because of her attention to what she has seen on truck rear windows. We should discount crudeness on vehicles and rather portray what is important to what we cherish, especially as it relates to our tradition in Faith, reliant on Christ’s suffering and salvation the Holy Cross represents.

My Calvin kneeling beneath the Cross is portrayed next to my Knights of Columbus sticker and my “Im Proud of My 2 Eagle Scouts” on my rear bumper. Just my thoughts!
 
Tee hee–when I saw the title of this thread, I checked it out expecting to see a picture of John Calvin praying! 😃

It’s not Calvin on the bumper sticker. Amazingly, the cartoonist refused to allow any “Calvin and Hobbes” merchandise to be made and sold.

My husband and I also have all the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, and the little boy was definitely not an atheist, and neither was the tiger. The cartoonist was brilliant, and I regret that he ended his strips after such a short time. But it’s probably best that he went out on top instead of dragging it out.

As for the little boy bumper sticker–well, from what my husband tells me, little boys get into peeing on stuff and laughing their heads off over it! He talks about how they used to pee in the snow and make pictures and write their names. My sisters-in-law tell me that our little nephews (all under age 8) do this kind of thing all the time. So IMO, the bumper stickers are rather true-to-life and kind of cute.
 
I agree that it is wrong and can be properly called hypocritical but does it honestly “infuriate” you?
 
rayne89 said:
My husband has nearly every Calvin comic collection book published, no where does it say Calvin was an atheist.
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No, he never was. Just because he was a bad kid doesn’t mean he was an atheist. Besides, weren’t the majority of you folks mischievous to some degree in your childhoods?😃 The closest he ever came to being atheist was for comedy reasons when he doubted both the existence of both Santa and God because he wasn’t getting enough loot at Christmastime.
 
FYI, this thread was started over a year and a half ago. So perhaps the OP has calmed down by now. 😛
 
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