While Calvin and Hobbes was known for exploring childhood innocence, it wasn't afraid to also get brutal as well. Calvin and Hobbes is an iconic newspaper comic that continues to delight and enlighten readers to this day. The series ran from 1985 to 1995 and follows a boy named Calvin and a tiger named Hobbes as they navigate the world around them. It was a series that took its simple premise and pushed it to its limits by tackling topics of existentialism. However, the way that creator Bill Watterson explores these themes has made for some brutal imagery.
One of the most notable things about Calvin and Hobbes is its use of Calvin's imagination. The comics aren't afraid to get fantastical with certain issues in a way that lets the reader see the world the way Calvin sees it. Because of this though, this also opened the comic up to some incredibly graphic and upsetting imagery. Without further ado, here are the ten comics that were undoubtedly the strip's most brutal of all time.
10 Calvin the God
Kicking things off is a comic that shows the unlimited potential of Calvin's mind. While his parents may see him just playing with Tinker Toys and smiling at how it could shape his future, Calvin sees himself as the creator of all things. He sees himself as a vengeful God as he sets his sights on Earth for the ultimate sacrifice. As he destroys the planet, readers see the horrified expressions of some humans as they're destroyed and he "ignores their pleas for mercy." It's a sight that shows just how brutal Calvin can be when he puts his mind to it.
9 Calvin Turns Into Water
This horrifying body horror moment may not be particularly violent, but it doesn't stop it from being one of Calvin and Hobbes' most brutal comics. After Calvin accidentally drinks too much water, his body goes through a terrifying metamorphosis. The way that he slowly melts and becomes a liquid because "he is now 90% water" is absolutely disturbing. Plus, the added detail of a face in the puddle that was once Calvin makes it particularly upsetting. Of course, this is all in his imagination as it's revealed he's just trying to hold it in until his parents can get him to a restroom, but it continues to show how Calvin's fantastical imagination can perfectly exaggerate things.
8 Calvin and Susie Play House
Susie is a pretty funny recurring character throughout Calvin and Hobbes. The way that she genuinely wants to be friends with Calvin but constantly finds herself needing to defend herself from his "No Girls Allowed" mentality makes for some genuinely funny comeuppance moments. However, occasionally he does agree to play games with her...much to her detriment. The most brutal example of this is when the two play "House" together. The way that Watterson draws this game realistically makes it that much more upsetting when the two essentially get into a domestic fight with each other. The barrier of a humorous comic is gone as the two go at each other. Of course, the seriousness of the strip is what makes it so funny, but the way the two depict their ideal of married life makes it one of the most brutal strips in the comic's history.
7 Calvin Tries a Cigarette
While Calvin may not use his imagination in this strip, the consequences of his actions make this comic more brutal than fans may expect. After developing a curiosity of cigarettes, so Calvin asks his nameless mother if he can have one. Surprisingly, she abides and tells him to smoke outside. However, it's a lesson in disguise as Calvin takes one puff and immediately begin coughing and wheezing. The way that Watterson draws Calvin struggling to breathe is relentless and makes for a decent PSA on why people shouldn't smoke.
6 The Calvinsaurus' Meal
One of the most recurring fantasies in Calvin's imagination is the prehistoric world. Calvin has a huge love for dinosaurs and constantly finds himself reenacting the lawless land of the Cretaceous period when T. rexes ruled the Earth. Because of his love for the carnage though, he also wasn't afraid to get graphic. In this comic, he actually sees himself as the mighty Tyrannosaurus and describes himself viciously killing and devouring a Triceratops. While no blood is shown, it's a pretty graphic sight to see him maul a dinosaur and eat it...until his mother chimes in on how he's eating in the real world, making him resort to finishing the rest with utensils.
5 Calvin's Snowmen
One of the best known recurring jokes in Calvin and Hobbes' 10-year history is Calvin's snowmen. Whenever snow hits his hometown, Calvin's creativity hits overdrive as he makes countless snowmen in horrific positions. Some have included snowmen murdering each other, snow monsters, a snow chicken getting revenge and even snow brain surgery. It's undoubtedly Calvin at his most brutal, and at the same time, it makes for some of the comic's most genius moments as they showcase how something so innocent as a snowman can be warped by Calvin's imagination.
4 Calvin's Fire Dream
This batch of comics actually marked the start of an ongoing story for a few weeks of Watterson's strip involving Calvin procrastinating his math homework after realizing it's due the next day. He ends up having a dream realizing he forgot to do his math homework when it catches on fire. However, when his teacher Ms. Wormwood walks up, she turns into an alien and burns Calvin alive with gasoline adding to the fire. It's a horrifically brutal moment that sees the beloved character burning alive as he falls into oblivion before waking up. Even though it is all a dream, it is still incredibly effective.
3 Calvin Blows Up His School
This comic was so brutal that even Bill Watterson himself claimed it to be his most controversial Calvin and Hobbes strip. Picking up with Calvin in a fighter jet, he's shown flying it and locking onto a mysterious target. Once he fires, it becomes immediately clear that he has blown up his school. This is all a fantasy he has in his head because he's sick of going every day. Still, it doesn't stop it from being pretty violent, with the thought of all the people Calvin possibly killed on his bombing run. While it's not uncommon for kids to imagine ways to get out of school, this thought from Calvin makes for one of the most brutal moments in the comic's run.
2 Calvin's Deer Story
In a shockingly brutal Sunday strip, Calvin actually tells his class a story he wrote involving revenge. It opens up on an office where a worker goes to get some coffee. Suddenly, he gets shot and dies. It's revealed that a group of deer have declared open season on humans in an effort to prevent overpopulation similar to what humans do to them. While Calvin does seem to understand the dangers of too many creatures in an ecosystem, his imagination still finds a brutal way of explaining it.
1 A Nauseous Nocturne
Without a doubt, the most brutal moment in Calvin and Hobbes is Watterson's short poem A Nauseous Nocturne. Originally published in a collection of his comics called The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, the story depicts Calvin facing a horrifying creature with vicious claws in his room. The story showcases his fears as his bones are left behind with his parents questioning what has happened. This was Watterson's attempt at creating a true horror story, and he succeeded with flying colors because the way that his artwork blends with the poetry makes the reader fear for Calvin's life, even if it's all in his head. There was never another entry in the Calvin and Hobbes library like A Nauseous Nocturne because it showed just how brutal the strip could be.