The 10 Funniest Calvin and Hobbes Comics Starring Calvin's Imaginary Inventions

Summary

• Calvin and Hobbes
  Unleash a child's imagination with clever inventions like the Transmogrifier and Duplicator that lead to glorious adventures.
• The comic strip explores existential questions through imaginative inventions such as cloning and intelligent enhancement devices like the Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron.
• Calvin's creativity shines in the sport of Calvinball, where the rules change every time, reflecting the endless possibilities of his imagination.

Calvin and Hobbes famous for its ability to capture what life is like through the eyes of a child as it follows six-year-old Calvin and his (allegedly) imaginary friend/anthropomorphic tiger Hobbes. Together, the two of them prevent mischief from disobeying Calvin's parents to making fun of each other. However, most of their play takes place entirely in Calvin's imagination.

Hobbes is not the only product of Calvin's creativity Calvin and Hobbesthis is something that is demonstrated by Calvin's increasingly clever imaginative inventions. Throughout the history of the comics, Calvin has developed a number of awesome gadgets and gizmos that enable some of his more fantastical adventures – like traveling through space and time and shape-shifting into animals. Here it is The 10 funniest Calvin and Hobbes Comic books starring Calvin's imaginative inventions!

10 Hobbes is Impressed by Calvin's Transmogrifier (For the Wrong Reason)

Calvin and Hobbes – March 23, 1987

In the comic debuting Calvin's Transmogrifier, a six-year-old excitedly shows it to Hobbs. He explains that his new invention can turn anyone into anything, from animals and bugs to dinosaurs. However, what impressed Hobbs was not the device itself, but what it was made of. Hobbs takes a good look at the Transmogrifator and says:It's amazing what they're doing with corrugated cardboard these days“.

Given that the Transmogrifier is an imaginary invention, the 'device' is actually just made of cardboard and can only transform a person with the power of imagination. However, Hobbes decides to take the invention literally, believing that Calvin can make such a high-tech machine out of cardboard. – which is as funny as it is funny.

9 Calvin turns himself into Mini Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes – March 28, 1987

After showing Hobbes his new invention, Calvin decides to show him how well it actually works. So Calvin gets inside the box, flips the switch to “tiger” and lets the tech do its thing. The result is this Calvin “transforms” himself into a mini Hobbes – and it's as charming as it is funny. Besides, Hobbes does not think so…

“Words fail me“Hobbes was forced to say after seeing Calvin as a small tiger. It seems that he was worried about this successful test of the Transmogrifier. Interestingly, even though his machine works perfectly, Calvin is also disappointed. It seems that “Hobbes and Mini Hobbes” has incredible marketing potential. Although it sounds like a spin-off series, there is one more anthropomorphic tiger between the two.

8 Calvin and Hobbes experience the current horrors of cloning first hand

Calvin and Hobbes – January 10, 1990

Using a versatile cardboard box, Calvin invented the Duplicator, which, as advertised, had the power to duplicate anyone who set foot in the box. So, as with the Transmogrifier, Calvin decides to test his new invention on himself. Hobbes is skeptical, as he often is, but once inside the box, Calvin forces him to activate the device – and it works! It's worth noting, though, that almost immediately things started going dark.

When Calvin praises himself for being a genius, his duplicate's voice calls him a liar, saying that he created the Duplicator and that the first voice was a clone. This is the same the existential horror that rears its ugly head in almost every “cloning story” and Calvin and Hobbes experiences it for themselves.

7 Calvin Realizes When He Faces His Clone

Calvin and Hobbes – January 11, 1990

After releasing his clone, Calvin reveals the reason he created it in the first place: to clean his room and do his homework so he could go out and play with Hobbes. When Duplicate Calvin hears this, he immediately rejects the purpose of his creation, and instead Calvin runs out without forcing him to do anything. When the duplicate Calvin disappears, Hobbes comments, “He's your duplicate, okayCalvin angrily replies,What do you mean? This man is completely ignorant!”

Calvin is a bit of a brute, that much is clear from almost every comic, and it's ridiculous that he doesn't realize it until he experiences his own behavior. For the truth is that Hobbes is right, Duplicate Calvin's reaction is exactly what Calvin would do. And in Calvin's own words, heit's complete nonsense“. In fact, this very problem leads Calvin to create an add-on for the Duplicator, the Eticator (perhaps something Calvin should have used himself).

6 Calvin and Hobbes' bed-making robot actually works (but not as expected)

Calvin and Hobbes – September 2, 1989

Unlike some of his other inventions, Calvin's Bed-Making Robot is actually real, as it is a physical robot that can literally fulfill its purpose without requiring Calvin's imagination. However, this should not mean that it is functional. In this story arc, Calvin is told to make his bed, so he builds a robot to do it to make his bed himself.

Calvin and Hobbes spent all day building this robot, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get it to work. By the time they threw in the towel, it was Calvin's bedtime. In other words, Having spent all day building a Bed Making Robot, Calvin quit making his bedthat is, the robot technically served its purpose – just not as expected.

5 Calvin's Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron Makes Calvin Look Ridiculous (and Cosmically Intelligent)

Calvin and Hobbes – November 19, 1993

When Calvin needs to get smarter for school, instead of studying, he decides to invent a device that will make him smarter with the push of a button: the Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron. Made from a cardboard box and a pasta strainer tied with string, Calvin's 'Thinking Cap' works a little too well. It not only does as advertised and makes it smarter, too Makes Calvin's head comically large.

Although his head looks funny after using Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron, that's a small price to pay for how insanely smart it makes him. It was later confirmed that Calvin understood all the natural laws of the universe and reduced them to a simple equation. Calvin gains cosmic intelligence (but still looks ridiculous) thanks to this imaginary device.

4 Calvin threatens to blow a hole in space and time to get away from doing his homework

Calvin and Hobbes – May 23, 1992

Calvin has always despised doing homework and will find any excuse to get out of it, including breaking a piece of existence. Calvin decides to build a time machine (surprise, out of a cardboard box) and plans to do so skip ahead a few hours to steal completed homework from your future selfand bring it to the past. As any fan of time-travel-based science fiction knows, this could potentially create a universe-shattering paradox — well, it's imaginary.

What's even funnier in this comic than the idea that Calvin is willing to destroy the universe just to get out of homework is Hobbes' reaction to everything. He knows there's something wrong with Calvin's logic, but decides that the weirdest thing about the situation is that he's sitting in a box, Hobbes is a big cat and should enjoy Calvin's box-based inventions.

3 Calvin and Hobbes Get into a Shapeshifting Battle with the Transmogrifier Gun

Calvin and Hobbes – February 14, 1988

Although the Transmogrifier worked as Calvin designed it, the six-year-old decided to improve the invention by making it more portable. So he creates a Transmogrifier Gun that can turn anyone into anything when hit with it. And, in true Calvin and Hobbes fashion, the two use this advanced technology to mess with each otherthis leads to a hilarious shape-shifting battle.

Hobbes turns Calvin into a small pterodactyl, so Calvin Hobbes turns into a duck. Both are unhappy with what the other is doing, so they toss the Transmogrifier Gun back and forth between them, turning the other into increasingly absurd things like a talking pig and a sentient flower – and it's absolutely hilarious.

2 Calvin creates an amazingly violent imaginary alter ego: the world's most powerful computer

Calvin and Hobbes – July 6, 1993

While most of Calvin's inventions are tools designed for a specific purpose, the World's Most Powerful Computer is actually more of Calvin's alter ego—a surprisingly violent one. When Calvin introduces himself to Calvin as the World's Most Powerful Computer (wearing a cardboard box with robotic features on his head), he claims he can answer any question. so that Hobbes questions why the World's Most Powerful Computer is wearing little red sneakers, when Calvin throws a cardboard box at his head and chases Hobbes away..

It seems that this fanciful invention could answer no question, or perhaps—a question Hobbes posed especially to annoy Calvin—violence was the only answer. In this case, this invention works perfectly.

1 Calvinball is Calvin and Hobbes' greatest (and most chaotic) invention

Calvin and Hobbes – May 5, 1990

Calvin's inventions primarily consist of fancy cardboard boxes that function entirely in Calvin's imagination, such as the Transmogrifier, Duplicator, and time machine. However, this invention may be the greatest of them all, because it's less of an “invention” and more of a new sporting activity: Calvinball. The The rules of Calvinball are simple: the game cannot be played the same way twice. This means that the goal of the game is every time it's played, and even when Calvin and Hobbes are playing it, making it a masterclass in imaginative play.

With each of these inventions, it's clear that Calvin's creativity truly knows no bounds, and watching his imagination flourish in these comics makes for some of the funniest stuff in the entire world. Calvin and Hobbes franchise, these 10 are some of the biggest standouts among comics starring Calvin's imaginative inventions.