I'll bet this has Tolkien spinning in his grave. If I ever produce something[0] really cool, I am going to stipulate in my will that it never be altered, licenced, merchandised or changed in any way from how I left it. Bill Watterson[1] stopped doing his strip after years of being pressured to exploit his creation, and I hope he is able to make that policy permanent, even if it means that his works get hard to find. I can understand the desire to make money off of something you have already done, but I have a lot more respect for people who don't take that path and a lot lees respect for people who sell out their dead relatives[2] without any consideration for what those relatives would have chosen to do.
[0] i.e. a book or comic strip or other entertaining yet substantial intellectual property
[1] author/artist of Calvin and Hobbes
[2] Chris Tolkien's additional LOTR work excepted; he was actually a large part of the original works. I would except Brian Herbert in this as well for similar reasons.
