Calvin and Hobbes is one of the most beloved comic books in history and it’s easy to see why. Created by Bill Watterson in 1985, the comic ran until 1995, giving readers 10 years of imaginative adventures that perfectly captured the world through a child’s eyes – both the good and the bad. In fact, one of the Calvin and HobbesThe oldest jokes are about Calvin’s biggest source of frustration – and who is secretly to blame.
All over Calvin and HobbesCalvin has been notoriously bad at math. He cannot pay attention to the lesson in class and has difficulty understanding problems during tests, quizzes and homework. And the reason for this is explained in the series’ oldest joke: it’s all Hobbes’ fault.
Node Calvin and Hobbes comic book published on November 21, 1985 (the first week of publication of the comic), Calvin takes Hobbes to school with him. To everyone around him, Hobbes is just Calvin’s stuffed animal. But to Calvin, Hobbes is the anthropomorphic tiger that fans know and love. As such, Hobbes can help Calvin with his schoolwork – in this case, mathematics. When Calvin is stumped by a specific problem (7+3), he asks Hobbes what the answer is, and the tiger confidently (and incorrectly) answers: 73.
Hobbes is to blame for Calvin being bad at math
Hobbes confidently gives Calvin the WRONG answers in Calvin and Hobbes Strips published on 11/21/85, 1/6/88 and 9/12/94 (just to name a few)
Hobbes giving Calvin the wrong answer to a math question in Calvin and Hobbes the comic strip published on November 21, 1985 was the first of many similar examples. Although Hobbes wasn’t always hiding under Calvin’s desk at school, he remained a notoriously negative influence on him when it came to understanding his math lessons, something that is shown repeatedly throughout the book. Calvin and Hobbes‘publication history.
Node Calvin and Hobbes comic strip published on January 6, 1988, Calvin is sitting at home, doing his math homework – and Hobbes is right next to him. Calvin tells Hobbes that he cannot solve the mathematical problem: 9+4. He lets Hobbes take a look at the equation, hoping his best friend can help him figure it out. Instead, Hobbes just makes everything even more confusing.
Hobbes says he needs to use calculus and apply imaginary numbers to solve this problem. Hobbes then goes on to name his own imaginary numbers – as numbers that don’t exist (which is obviously not how it’s done in calculus).
So, in Calvin and Hobbes comic strip published on September 12, 1994, Calvin once again goes to Hobbes for help with his math homework and is once again led astray by the anthropomorphic tiger. This time, Calvin can’t figure out what 6 + 3 is, and when he asks Hobbes, the tiger goes on a nonsensical speech that would only sound mathematical to a six-year-old like Calvin.
First, Hobbes directly tells Calvin that they shouldn’t worry about finding the answer or the math problem in general. And he does this while explaining that the answer (which he represents as “Y”) can be a square number – so, naturally, Hobbes draws a square. Now Hobbes has Calvin doing geometry, just to solve a simple addition problem.
Being bad at math is Calvin’s biggest frustration for a reason: Susie
As longtime readers of the Calvin and Hobbes comic books know, Calvin is actually a very smart boy. He lets his imagination distract him from schoolwork, of course, but he has an inquisitive mind and can understand subjects that most six-year-olds can’t understand. This is why being bad at math frustrates him so much, because he knows he is smart enough to understand, he just has no interest in it, so the classes never last. However, self-criticism has nothing to do with the level of frustration Calvin feels for an entirely different reason: Susie.
Susie and Calvin have had a certain rivalry throughout comic book history. Although they are friends for the most part, the two often can’t stand each other. In fact, every now and then, they bet on which of them is more skilled or intelligent in any given scenario – and that includes math.
Node Calvin and Hobbes comic strip published on September 23, 1994, Calvin and Susie are getting their tests back after being graded, and Susie reminds Calvin about the bet they made before taking them. The bet was that whoever got a lower grade would have to pay the other 25 cents. Since Susie got a perfect score, Calvin would owe her money if he got a single question wrong. Unfortunately for Calvin, he failed the entire test, meaning he didn’t stand a chance.
So not only did Calvin owe Susie money, but she also earned him bragging rights by proving she’s better at math than him. Given the nature of their relationship, this is a huge source of frustration for Calvino. He and Susie compete in everything, even when they are just playing with each other. So for Susie to have evidence of being smarter than Calvin at something like math really sucks for the six-year-old – and it looks like Hobbes is to blame for being so much worse at math than Susie.
Jokes aside, Calvin is only to blame for being bad at math
Calvin failed his math test and lost the bet with Susie because of himself (NOT Hobbes)
Calvin being bad at math is a huge source of frustration, especially because Susie understands it better than he does, and he is determined to be better than Susie at everything. It’s also frustrating for him because he knows he’s smart enough to do better. And, as mentioned earlier, the reason he’s not as good at math as he could be is because of Hobbes – or is it?
Sure, Hobbes giving Calvin the wrong answers or teaching him incorrectly may be the longest-running joke in the series (starting in the comic’s first week of publication and going all the way through the last few months), but it’s just that: a joke. In fact, Calvin is the only one to blame for being bad at math. It was he who daydreamed about his Calvin and Hobbes‘ alter ego Spaceman Spiff during his quiz, which is why he lost the bet to Susie. Furthermore, if Hobbes really is Calvin’s imaginary friend, then the bad advice he receives from him comes only from himself.
Although Hobbes’s part in Calvin being bad at math is just the punchline of the series’ longest-running joke, the frustration Calvin feels about being bad at math is very real, especially when it comes to being worse at math than Susie – and This running gag perfectly (and hilariously) details this frustration Calvin and Hobbes.