10 Times Calvin and Hobbes Explored Time Travel and Alternate Realities (Surprisingly Well)

Calvin and Hobbes by 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 (though the nature of Hobbes’ existence is technically undetermined). And sometimes, these two – along with other Calvin and Hobbes characters – go on adventures outside the realm of their own dimension.

Calvin and Hobbes regularly sends its characters hurtling through time and 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 the 10 best Calvin and Hobbes comics where they explore time travel and alternate realities through the wonders of Calvin’s imagination!

10 Calvin Peers Into a Reality Where He is a Universe-Creating God

Calvin and Hobbes – December 6, 1987

While playing with tinkertoys, Calvin imagines himself as an old god, wrathful and merciless, who wields the 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?

Instead of this being a product of Calvin’s creativity, perhaps this 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.

9 Calvin is a Cruel ‘God’ to the Most Unfortunate Man in the World: Farmer Brown

Calvin and Hobbes – April 11, 1993

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.

For some reason, Calvin really wants Farmer Brown dead with zero chance of survival. 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. 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.

8 Calvin and Hobbes’ First Trip in the Time Machine is Soiled by Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes – September 3, 1987

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 timeline as 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.

7 Calvin and Hobbes Takes Readers to a World where Deer Hunt People

Calvin and Hobbes – February 26, 1995

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 rifles walk 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 through a 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.

6 Calvin Shatters the Fabric of the Main Calvin and Hobbes Universe

Calvin and Hobbes – June 17, 1990

While Calvin and Hobbes usually 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 main Calvin and Hobbes universe. 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 easily one of Bill Watterson’s most creative Calvin and Hobbes comics, 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.

5 Calvin and Hobbes Come Up with a Hilarious Way to Get Rich Using Their Time Machine

Calvin and Hobbes – June 29, 1990

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.

4 Calvin and Hobbes Barely Escape a T-Rex in Their Time Machine

Calvin and Hobbes – July 3, 1990

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 dinosaur as 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).

3 A Universe Crafted by Calvin & Susie is Utterly Hilarious

Calvin and Hobbes – November 18, 1990

It seems Calvin 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 into an alternate reality where these adults actually exist – one that was created by Calvin and Susie.

2 Calvin and Hobbes Creates a World Where Dinosaurs Never Went Extinct (& Pilot Fighter Jets)

Calvin and Hobbes – January 1, 1995

Dinosaurs aren’t just unique to Calvin 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.

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.

1 Calvin has Crafted an Elaborate Space-Opera in the Universe of Spaceman Spiff

Calvin and Hobbes – March 27, 1988

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-opera akin to Flash Gordon or the original Star 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 to Calvin 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), but the 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 best Calvin and Hobbes comics 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.

Writer

Bill Watterson

Publisher

Andrews McMeel Publishing