Calvin and Hobbesby Bill Watterson is a fun,adventurous comic strip that perfectly depicts life through the eyes of a child. Calvin is a six-year-old boy who primarily goes on adventures with his imaginary friend/stuffed animal tiger, Hobbes (thoughthe nature of Hobbes’ existence is technically undetermined). And sometimes, these two - along with otherCalvin and Hobbescharacters- go on adventures outside the realm of their own dimension.
Calvin and Hobbesregularly sends its characters hurtling through timeand exploring alternate realities, all of which are brought to life through Calvin’s imagination. None of it is strictly literal (unless one comic strip in particular is taken literally), meaning every imaginative realm Calvin thinks-up is another universe or time period just waiting to be explored, and readers are given a front-row seat to those exciting explorations. Here are the10 bestCalvin and Hobbescomics where they explore time travel and alternate realitiesthrough the wonders of Calvin’s imagination!
10Calvin Peers Into a Reality Where He is a Universe-Creating God
Calvin and Hobbes- August 07, 2025
While playing with tinkertoys, Calvin imagines himself as an old god, wrathful and merciless, who wieldsthe power to create entire universes with a mere thought.The artwork is so unlike an average Calvin and Hobbes comic that it transports readers to another realm, an alternate dimension where Calvin is a god responsible for creation in an epic and convincing way. While readers know this isn’t literal, that it’s just Calvin’s imagination running wild, it becomes more interesting when considering one possibility: what if it was real?
15 Funniest Calvin and Hobbes Comics That Just Turned 30 (In August 2024)
Calvin and Hobbes is one of the funniest comic strips, and arguably the funniest month was August in 1994. Here are the 15 best that just turned 30!
Instead of this being a product of Calvin’s creativity, perhapsthis comic was telling readers that Calvin really is the god of another universe, and that he has the ability to peer into this realm and witness the might of his variant’s power. Suddenly, that makes every other ‘alternate reality’ Calvin visits much more fascinating.
9Calvin is a Cruel ‘God’ to the Most Unfortunate Man in the World: Farmer Brown
Calvin and Hobbes- July 16, 2025
Calvin is telling Hobbes about a man named Farmer Brown, who is about to have a very bad day. A plane is about to crash right into Farmer Brown’s house right as a derailed train is about to do the same. The tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust have begun to shift, opening up where Farmer Brown’s house is. There’s a gas leak in Farmer Brown’s house that he’s unaware of while he’s about to ignite his stove.
And the way Calvin describes the scene makes it feel as though he’s controlling it, something he’d be able to do as an all-powerful god.
For some reason, Calvin really wants Farmer Brown dead with zero chance of survival. Andthe way Calvin describes the scene makes it feel as though he’s controlling it, something he’d be able to do as an all-powerful god. Assuming the previous comic strip depicting Calvin as a literal god of another reality is true, then this trip to another world through Calvin’s ‘imagination’ becomes infinitely more cruel.
8Calvin and Hobbes’ First Trip in the Time Machine is Soiled by Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes- July 12, 2025
The Time Machine isn’t just a figment of Calvin’s imagination (like those other trips through time and space), but is a physical device designed by Calvin himself. Well,it’s a cardboard box, but it is still a vehicle in which Calvin and Hobbes can traverse the timelineas they please. After Calvin excitedly tells Hobbes that he ‘invented’ a time machine, they decide to go to the future, which requires them to travel at light speed through hyperspace.
At which point, Hobbes decides that he needs to go to the bathroom. Given that they were breaking through barriers of space and time in a cardboard box with no other protection than goggles, it’s safe to say that Hobbes soiled the trip both figuratively and literally, all because he had to go to the bathroom mid-time travel.
7Calvin and Hobbes Takes Readers to a World where Deer Hunt People
Calvin and Hobbes- August 10, 2025
What starts off as a fairly mild comic quickly turns to brutal tragedy, as a man working a mundane job in an office is suddenly shot dead while walking in between the cubicles, with all his coworkers shocked and horrified by what they’ve just witnessed. Then,a group of anthropomorphic deer holding hunting rifleswalk into the office to claim their ‘trophy’, as this is a world where deer hunt humans, not the other way around.
Calvin brings readers into this alternate universe througha story he wrote for school, giving fans a look into this twisted universe where anthropomorphic deer are free to hunt humans seemingly at any time and in any place, and that’s just something humanity has to deal with.
6Calvin Shatters the Fabric of the Main Calvin and Hobbes Universe
Calvin and Hobbes- June 03, 2025
WhileCalvin and Hobbesusually deals with alternate reality stories by giving fans a glimpse into Calvin’s imagination,this strip decides to throw another dimension right on top of the mainCalvin and Hobbesuniverse. When Calvin admits that, after an argument with his dad, he starts seeing things from his dad’s perspective, Calvin begins to see everything from every perspective all at once.
His entire world becomes neo-cubist, as his whole dimension folds into an entirely new one, fracturing due to Calvin’s newfound open-mindedness. This is easilyone of Bill Watterson’s most creativeCalvin and Hobbescomics, as it’s not only a fun idea that Calvin’s reality starts breaking down into something new just because he agreed with his dad, but because it expertly incorporates an art form that’s totally different from the classic cartoonist style of Calvin and Hobbes.
5Calvin and Hobbes Come Up with a Hilarious Way to Get Rich Using Their Time Machine
Calvin and Hobbes- June 04, 2025
In true Calvin and Hobbes fashion, they decide that the best use of having a functional time machine is to use it to make a bunch of money. While that’s admittedly what most people would do, the method they decide on is utterly absurd - and absolutely hilarious.Calvin and Hobbes decide to go back in time to the Jurassic period, take photos of dinosaurs, and then sell those photos back in the future.
Not only are Calvin and Hobbes risking their lives for what probably won’t even be that much money (considering they have no way to authenticate these photos), but there has to be an easier way to make money with the invention of time travel - such as selling the time travel technology itself. If money is the endgame, then they’ve already hit the jackpot without having to fend off hungry dinosaurs.
4Calvin and Hobbes Barely Escape a T-Rex in Their Time Machine
Calvin and Hobbes- August 06, 2025
In a prime example of why it was a bad idea for Calvin and Hobbes to travel back to the age of dinosaurs in this temporal ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme, the two are almost immediately attacked by a T-Rex. Like a scene from Jurassic Park,Calvin and Hobbes barely escape the jaws of the hungry dinosauras they fly away in their time machine, cutting it way too close for comfort.
To be fair, however, the two do get the photos they were after, meaning they didn’t almost get eaten by a T-Rex for no reason. However, as previously mentioned, there is no way to authenticate the photos, as Calvin’s dad just assumes they are pictures of his toy dinosaurs rather than the real thing (even though that’s probably exactly what they are).
3A Universe Crafted by Calvin & Susie is Utterly Hilarious
Calvin and Hobbes- August 15, 2025
It seemsCalvin isn’t the only one with the power to craft entire realities, as Susie also flexes that ability - at least, whenever she’s playing with Calvin. Every once in a while, Calvin would begrudgingly agree to play one of Susie’s games with her, which are often games like ‘house’ or ‘doctor’, and the way their pretend play is brought to life is utterly hilarious.
The artwork carries a serious tone, as if it’s a drama series. However, the dialogue is that of little kids. When these lines are said through the mouths of grown adults, it’s enough to make readers laugh out loud. The way these comics are presented gives the impression that they aren’t just Calvin and Susie playing pretend, but are actually windows intoan alternate reality where these adults actually exist - one that was created by Calvin and Susie.
2Calvin and Hobbes Creates a World Where Dinosaurs Never Went Extinct (& Pilot Fighter Jets)
Calvin and Hobbes- June 24, 2025
Dinosaurs aren’t just unique toCalvin and Hobbes' time travel stories, but ‘alternate reality’ ones as well. In this case, Calvin and Hobbes are playing with Calvin’s toy dinosaurs and fighter jets, and in the process, they create a world in which dinosaurs clearly never went extinct, and instead developed human technology - that being fighter jets.
10 Best Calvin and Hobbes Science Fiction Storylines, Ranked
From time travel shenanigans to cloning experiments run amok, here are some of the best science fiction stories that Calvin and Hobbes ever produced.
There are few things cooler than a T-Rex flying a fighter jet, and while the image itself is undeniably awesome, it’s also intriguing to consider the complexities of this world, as it forces one to wonder how the dinosaurs were able to achieve such advancements while sidestepping evolution. But, for now, fans will just have to be content with the sweet depiction of a T-Rex flying a fighter jet.
1Calvin has Crafted an Elaborate Space-Opera in the Universe of Spaceman Spiff
Calvin and Hobbes- July 05, 2025
This ‘alternate universe’ is one that Calvin himself actively participates in, because it’s where he’s not just ‘Calvin’, he’s the amazing space-hero Spaceman Spiff. This alter-ego travels the cosmos, exploring new worlds, and battling evil aliens wherever he finds them. The saga of Spaceman Spiff is an epic space-operaakin toFlash Gordonor the originalStar Wars, and the reason it should be considered its own separate reality is due to how well-crafted the Spaceman Spiff universe is.
Like other examples on this list, Spaceman Spiff could be its own spin-off comic completely unrelated toCalvin and Hobbes, and could do extremely well on its own merit.
Like other examples on this list, Spaceman Spiff could be its own spin-off comic completely unrelated toCalvin and Hobbes, and could do extremely well on its own merit. It’s a product of Calvin’s imagination (as is practically everything in this comic strip, including Hobbes), butthe world of Spaceman Spiff is very real to fans as they’re reading it, making it a completely different universe. That’s why this is one of the 10 bestCalvin and Hobbescomics that explore time travel and alternate realities!
Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes was a satirical comic strip series that ran from 1985-1995, written, drawn, and colored by Bill Watterson. The series follows six-year-old Hobbes and his stuffed Tiger, Calvin, that examines their lives through a whimsical lens that tackles everyday comedic issues and real-world issues that people deal with.
