Calvin & Hobbes is one of the most beloved comic strips of all time and for good reason. Bill Watterson drew this classic comic over the course of ten years. For that decade, kids of all ages (and many adults) looked forward to the comics in their newspaper every day so they could read the latest adventures of Calvin and his tiger Hobbes.
Calvin & Hobbes had several running jokes that became favorites of its audience throughout the comic strip's run. One of the best running gags was Calvin’s creative use of snow to create different snowmen (or other snow creatures). From tiny snowmen being trampled by a T-Rex to grisly snowman murder plots, Calvin has done it all.
Updated on May 30, 2023 by Thayer Preece Parker: Calvin & Hobbes’ snowman comics are some readers’ favorite comic strips. Whether the weather is cold and frosty and readers are looking for creative inspiration, or it’s scorching hot and readers want to imagine frostier times, it’s always a great time to revisit these iconic comics.
15 Shocking Snow-Violence
In one Calvin & Hobbes' hilarious running gags, Calvin created a “snowman house of horror” by building snowmen that looked mutated or were being killed in creative ways. Calvin’s mom was clearly not happy, and Calvin is surprised by her reaction.
In other strips, Calvin’s parents have complained about his snow-based art and its effect on the neighbors and people passing by. His dad once quipped that at least it slowed drivers down on their street. His parents may sometimes be shocked by his ideas, but at least they can see the lighter side of things.
14 Playing Doctor
Calvin's best human friend was his neighbor Susie, who he had a love/hate relationship with. He had the idea that girls were gross, which was typical for his age at that time. On the other hand, Calvin clearly enjoyed playing with her and sometimes tried to include her in his wild fantasies.
In this comic strip, Calvin created a snowman lying on the ground. He was in the process of using a saw to cut open the snowman’s head and suggested to a disgusted Susie that she could create a donor Snowman and perform a heart transplant. Kids have often played “doctor” over the years, but Calvin put an interesting new spin on it, as he tends to do.
13 The T-Rex Attack
In this wordless Sunday strip, Calvin built a horde of tiny snowmen in one area. He looked proudly over his creations, and the final panel showed Calvin’s imagination, as he terrorized all his tiny snowmen as a ferocious, giant Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Some of the most effective Calvin & Hobbes comics were those with no words. Bill Watterson was a master of his craft, and he could say more without words than other comics could with an essay. Here, the reader was invited into Calvin’s imagination, but also experienced the scene set by the comic first-hand — the lack of words mimicking the quiet stillness of a snow-covered landscape.
12 Critiquing His Mom's Cooking
Calvin made his distaste for his mother’s cooking very obvious. One clever comic strip combined Calvin’s frequent complaints with his habit of building creative snowmen. Calvin’s dad arrived home from work to see a tableau of snowmen in various states of digestive distress. He correctly guessed that eggplant casserole was for dinner.
Little kids can be very picky eaters, especially where vegetables are concerned. Calvin’s mom no doubt had plenty of experience with Calvin’s objections to her dinner choices. Hopefully, his parents could at least take some comfort from the dedication and creativity Calvin displayed while complaining this time.
11 A Desire For Revenge
Small children haven't yet learned where the lines are in terms of what is or isn’t appropriate. This problem is doubled when the kid is dealing with subject matter they maybe shouldn’t know about yet. The result can be some really dark stuff coming from very innocent people.
In one comic, Calvin created many small-to-medium-sized snowmen. Hobbes asked him about the snowmen, and Calvin responded he was building effigies of his enemies in snow, so that when the snow melted, his enemies would die. Hobbes correctly pointed out that Calvin didn't have that many acquaintances, let alone enemies. Calvin had some truly awful experiences with bullying, so he sadly understood a desire for vengeance.
10 Calling Out Hypocrisy
Calvin loves getting creative with his snowmen, and some of the most enjoyable snowman-themed Calvin & Hobbes comics are ones where Bill Watterson has drawn a wide range of snowmen that Calvin has created. Sadly for Calvin, his parents don’t always share the reader’s delight at his creations.
In one strip, Calvin bemoaned the fact that his parents didn't value hard work and creativity as much as they claimed to, as he walked across a field of his creations. One snowman was playing golf with his own head, another had a tennis racket stuck through his. Calvin’s assessment was spot on, but at least readers could appreciate the work he created even if mom and dad don’t.
9 Snow Sculpture Social Commentary
Calvin’s love for animals is legendary, and some of the best Calvin & Hobbes comics addressed this subject, from Calvin finding dead or dying animals to his love for his tiger, Hobbes. In fact, Calvin has sometimes opined that animals are actually better than humans, a feeling that many people can probably relate to.
In this comic, Calvin created a giant snow chicken, who was gleefully chopping off the head of a snowman. Calvin’s mom was not happy about the sculpture. This wasn’t the only time Calvin showed an aversion to eating meat. After learning how fish are “cleaned” while camping, Calvin stuck to grilled cheese. Calvin’s art simply reflects the lessons he's been learning about life.
8 Too Many Murder Mysteries
Many amusing Calvin & Hobbes strips deal with Calvin seeing or hearing things he isn't old enough to understand yet, like the steamy plots of soap operas. Children love the forbidden and the dramatic, so it’s no surprise some of Calvin’s fantasies involve grisly murders straight off the TV screen.
This comic starts off light — Calvin created a snowman who was happily enjoying a snow-cone. The final panel reveals the twist, though — Calvin built a second snowman who was lying face down and had snow-cone scoop-sized holes in his back. Calvin may have seen one too many murder mysteries while home sick from school.
7 Calvin's Inner Art Critic
Calvin has created countless snowmen and other snow creations in a wide variety of forms and scenes. He is therefore quite highly qualified to act as a critic of other peoples’ snow art, whether they’ve asked for it. Calvin & Hobbes features recurring strips where Calvin is critiquing the snowmen others have built.
In this Sunday strip, Calvin began by observing and reviewing the snowmen created by his neighbors, all of which he found terribly pedestrian. The strip concluded with his own offering, which was a UFO disgorging laser-wielding aliens. Watterson no doubt meant the comic as commentary on the art critics evaluating his own work.
6 Calvin's Parents Worry About His Mental Health
Calvin frequently trolls his dad with his snowman creations, and some of the most iconic snowman strips have involved Calvin's dad's car. In one Sunday comic, Calvin spent most of the panels creating a group of snowmen. In the final panel, the reader can see the snowmen posed as accident victims and bystanders around his dad’s car.
Although they often have an antagonistic relationship, Calvin and his dad obviously love each other. This strip isn’t the first where Calvin’s parents have worried that his violent fantasies may warrant professional attention, but their concerns also come from love. Despite their worries, Calvin is a kind person at heart, and just enjoys expressing himself in ways that shock and grab attention.
5 The Spirit Of Compromise
In this Sunday strip, Calvin proposed to Hobbes that they build a pair of snowmen together, entitled “The Spirit of Compromise” where the two different snowmen would shake hands and show that they have overcome their differences. Along the way, however, the pair encountered some difficulties with working collaboratively.
Although Hobbes often displays more maturity than Calvin, in this instance, he is just as stubborn and immature as Calvin. The lovely message they had attempted to convey degenerates into a fight and the destruction of both snowmen. The irony, of course, was that a project highlighting cooperation gets destroyed due to a lack of that very thing.
4 Generic Snowman
Bill Watterson sometimes used his snowman comic strips as a parallel for his own experiences as an artist. Calvin displays enormous creativity and cleverness in his snow sculptures, but he is often heckled by critics, whether they be his parents or random passers-by. His work also tends to be more creative than his peers'.
The parallel between Watterson’s and Calvin’s work is on full display in this strip. Calvin has decided to create a generic snowman because they’re popular and easy to make. The quote, “what good is originality if you can’t crank it out?” is clearly a dig at critics who have lamented that more creative and unusual work isn’t as commercially profitable.
3 Anatomically Correct Snowman
Calvin’s neighbor Susie is proudly feminist, and often stuck up for women’s rights in an era before it was very common, particularly in comic strips read by children. Calvin isn't very well-educated on topics of social equality, and therefore often finds himself confused by some of Susie’s female-forward play scenarios.
In this comic strip, Susie created a “snow woman,” which had a pronounced bust. This is one of Calvin & Hobbes' funniest comics due to Calvin’s misunderstanding of social norms, and his subsequent attempt to make an anatomically correct male snowman, much to his mother’s dismay.
2 More Snowman Horrors
One of Calvin’s favorite things to do with his snowmen is torture them in creative ways. From his snowman “house of horrors” to tiny snowmen being terrorized by monsters or Calvin himself, Calvin’s snowmen often meet a grisly fate. Children often find macabre subjects intriguing, and Calvin is expressing himself in ways that don’t hurt anyone else.
Calvin’s parents can sometimes be the target of his snowman tableaus, but at other times, they simply observe his work like any other person. While they might worry sometimes, they often look on the bright side of things. In one example, Calvin’s Dad comments that his son's snowman art has at least slowed down traffic on their street.
1 The Torment Of Existence
As an expert in the craft of making snowmen, Calvin often critiques the work of his peers. Here, he expresses his disappointment with the banal work of other kids who make ordinary, generic snowmen. His creation, on the other hand, is a dark, philosophical piece, “the torment of existence weighed against the horror of nonbeing.”
Readers initially laugh at the seriousness of Calvin’s creation, particularly from someone so young that they probably don’t fully understand its significance. Once Hobbes comments on the marketability of such a dark creation though, Calvin bows to popular opinion and creates a standard snowman, no doubt a reference to Watterson’s own experiences weighing creativity versus profit.