For what little it's worth, I have seen a couple of internet communities that police their members for posting Far Side cartoons, because of Larson's request. I doubt Larson is that naive about or indifferent to the web, although it's nice to think he might be. I wish I was...

Every time I see a peeing (or praying!) Calvin on someone's car, I feel bad for Watterson, who is one of my heroes. At least no one ever made a shitty 3D CG cartoon movie out of his characters...

So what Gary Larson is saying is that his children are prostitutes.

What WILL they do for a double cheeseburger?

"probably thinks he loses money ..."
It's completely unfair of you to imply that money is an underlying motivation for Larson in writing this, or that Larson is so blinded by greed that he can't see when a thing is "simply not true." He doesn't mention money at all. He is just asking for creative control over his own work.

The Calvin ripoffs are particularly heartbreaking because what they're being used for, and now become known for, is so far from the original.
That link from the other day to the Calvin snowman strips was so refreshing that it got me to take out my 50 pound box set and revisit that work.

uh, who posts "Far Side" comix on their site?

I haven't seen one in years.

sounds like someone is looking for some publicity.

When the unemployed have jobs, the poor and indigent are well cared-for, and cancer is a tragic relic of ancient history I'll spend two seconds feeling bad for Larson's plight.

Hello and welcome to the year 2000, when Mr Larson originally wrote that letter. This is not news.

http://tinyurl.com/3ag2r6f

1995? Close. it's dated back to1996.

To be fair, in 1996, AOL was instituting it's scorched earth cd-policy, and no one knew what was going to happen next on the Information Superhighway.

1996? Wow.

Next up, Paul reveals Bart Simpson is voiced by a lady.

This isn't about money.

It's about him being upset because when his cartoons are published in books and in newspapers there's some level of control that is had over their context, but when any Joe publishes a copy of one of his cartoons on their blog or website, it can appear next to a porn ad.

dude

I can't believe they canceled Fantastic Four.

HAW HAW!

I don't care how old this letter is; I just wanted to say I will love Gary Larson for ever and ever.

spg, just bought a friend the complete hardcover treasury of calvin and hobbes and yeah, they're still great, aren't they?

I went to school with his actual kids, who looked better than average, as I recall, so I was more intrigued by the headline than I would otherwise have been.