Very few comics can capture the wonder and the imagination of childhood quite like Calvin and Hobbes. Throughout the comic, Calvin has imagined himself as many different characters and alter egos, including a superhero identity that he has dubbed "Stupendous Man."
Stupendous Man has battled numerous foes, though many of these victories are only moral ones at Calvin's admittance. Despite this, it doesn't stop anyone else from laughing at Calvin's various attempts to use Stupendous Man to battle several "injustices," mostly involving trying to get out of doing homework or schoolwork. Here are 10 of the funniest Stupendous Man comics.
First Appearance (Pre Costume)
While many fans of Calvin and Hobbes would easily recognize Stupendous Man due to the iconic costume, the character appeared before Calvin's mom gave her son the outfit.
In this iteration, Stupendous Man's only power seems to be super hearing, as he is unwilling to jump off the tall building to find the person in trouble (in reality, Calvin was at the top of a slide with Suzie trying to get him to go). The strip itself might have been completely forgettable if not for it being the start of Calvin's journey into becoming Stupendous Man. It's also quite funny to see Calvin hesitate to go down the slide, something he has probably done numerous times before.
First Appearance (Post Costume)
While Calvin's parents are sometimes really stern about their methods of parenting, they have been nice to Calvin at times, like when Mom gave Calvin the superhero costume that would lead Calvin to become Stupendous Man.
The costume doesn't seem like much - it's only a mask and cape, after all. But in Calvin's imagination, when he becomes Stupendous Man, he gets a full outfit complete with a superhero suit. He fully gets into the character, ready to fight crime without anyone realizing his true identity. Unfortunately, the hilarious part of this is that everyone knows that it's Calvin under the mask, as Hobbes can easily see in this strip.
Stupendous Man Vs "The Crab Teacher"
One of the funniest running gags in Calvin and Hobbes is Calvin coming up with villainous names for his enemies while fighting them, including as Stupendous Man. His name for his teacher, Miss Wormwood, is "The Crab Teacher."
In this hilarious arc, Calvin takes his costume to school to take a test as Stupendous Man. Unfortunately, he gets stuck in his locker and gets into a battle with Miss Wormwood when she goes looking for him. Though Stupendous Man can escape and complete the test, Miss Wormwood catches Calvin and his mom punishes him by taking away his costume. Seeing Calvin in costume during school and getting a chance to see him escape Miss Wormwood's pursuit is probably the funniest part of the strip.
Stupendous Man vs "Mom Lady"
One of Stupendous Man's most constant enemies is Calvin's mom, otherwise known as "Mom Lady." In one of the early Stupendous Man strips, Calvin tries to escape bedtime by confronting Mom as Stupendous Man.
Unfortunately, Stupendous Man is no match for her and is easily vanquished and returned to bed. The buildup to this, where readers see Calvin, in his Stupendous Man fantasy, navigate a city to confront "Mom Lady," absolutely collapses into a funny ending to the strip. It's only a taste for readers of what to expect for later strips involving the Champion of Liberty.
Stupendous Man vs "Annoying Girl"
Calvin and Suzie's rivalry is one of the most constant aspects of the strip. Naturally, Calvin turns this rivalry into a chance to use her as an enemy of Stupendous Man, this one known as "Annoying Girl."
In this arc, Calvin, as Stupendous Man, targets Suzie with a typical snowball attack - only this attack comes from above and with a giant snowball. The attack is successful, leaving Suzie sprawled out on the ground. While the battle seems successful for Stupendous Man, the possibility that Suzie could've gotten seriously hurt during the incident cheapens the victory, while readers everywhere still laugh at Stupendous Man's failures of absolutely victory once again.
Stupendous Man vs "Baby Sitter Girl"
Some of the funniest strips in Calvin and Hobbes comes from Calvin's constant battles with his babysitter, Rosalyn. And, of course, one of these battles did involve Stupendous Man.
In this arc, Calvin, as Stupendous Man, battles against his enemy, "Baby Sitter Girl," leading her on a merry chase around and out of the house. It's unclear what exactly Calvin's ultimate goal here was, but it doesn't make it any less funny. The best part about all this is Calvin's insistence that she didn't recognize him as Stupendous Man, something that he constantly believes - which often leads to him getting into trouble all the same.
Turning Back Time
A big way to help sum up Calvin as a character is his dislike of homework and anything involving school. As such, he has often come up with ways to get himself out of schoolwork using Stupendous Man.
Here, Calvin decides to use Stupendous Man to turn back the rotation of the Earth using his super strength to turn back time so the day becomes Saturday instead of Sunday. It's a funny strip showing off more of Stupendous Man's powers and Calvin's confidence that his fantasies can become reality. This is evident when he struts outside in full costume after turning back time right in front of Mom, who no doubt sent him right back up to his room to finish his homework.
Destroying The School
Many young kids back in the day often imagined school being wiped off the map one way or another, especially Calvin. Because of this, he imagines various ways that the school is destroyed.
In this attempt, as Stupendous Man, Calvin tries to use a telescope lens to incinerate the school. In his fantasy, he is successful. Unfortunately, because this is his fantasy, the school remains standing in real life, and he is forced to go back to the homework that he was so desperately trying to get out of. Once again, however, it's hilarious to see Calvin see his fantasy as reality and see just how powerful Stupendous Man is in the eyes of Calvin himself.
Calling Dad
Not every Stupendous Man comic has a climactic battle with various enemies of Calvin. Sometimes it's just Calvin in his costume, as seen in this strip.
Calvin calls his dad at work as Stupendous Man but forgets that no one is supposed to know his secret identity. So he tries to fix things and asks Dad if he has any crimes to report. Dad, of course, hangs up, leaving Calvin without anything to do. It's hilarious to see that even Calvin sometimes forgets the whole "secret identity" aspect of being a superhero despite having dozens of comics about them sitting in his room.
Suzie Visits
Calvin's weirdness is constantly in action, and often people will walk in on him and his insanity. Especially when it comes to Suzie.
In this comic, Stupendous Man is interrupted in his mission to liberate some cookies by Suzie coming by to see if the family has an egg to borrow. Calvin, of course, pretends to be Stupendous Man despite Suzie knowing it's him. The look on Suzie's face and her decision not to tell her mom about what she saw seels the humor in this strip, as she knows that she is used to Calvin's antics, but no one else is.