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The Complete Calvin and Hobbes #6
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat chronicles the multifarious adventures of this wild child and his faithful, but skeptical, friend. If the best cartoons compel readers to identify themselves within the funny frames, then all who enjoy Calvin and Hobbes are creative, imaginative, and ... bad, bad, bad! Calvin, the irascible little boy with the stuffed tiger who comes to life are a pair bound for trouble. Boring school lessons become occasions for death-defying alien air battles, speeding snow sled descents elicit philosophical discussions on the meaning of life, and Hobbe's natural inclination to pounce on his little friend wreaks havoc on Calvin's sense of security. Calvin's the kid we all wish we"d been. Sassy, imaginative, far more verbal than his parents can manage, Calvin is the quintessential bad boy--and the boy we love to see. He terrorizes little Susie, offers "Candid Opinions" from a neighborhood stand, and questions his parents" authority. "What assurance do I have that your parenting isn't screwing me up?" he demands. Calvin and Hobbes manages to say what needs to be said about childhood and life: "Eww, mud," says Calvin. "Look at this gooshy, dirty, slimy, thick, wet mud... Bleecch... Talk about a kid magnet!"
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
613 people are currently reading
2451 people want to read
About the author
Bill Watterson
398 books4,792 followersBill Watterson (born William Boyd Watterson II) is an American cartoonist, and the author of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes". His career as a syndicated cartoonist ran from 1985 to 1995; he stopped drawing "Calvin and Hobbes" at the end of 1995 with a short statement to newspaper editors and his fans that he felt he had achieved all he could in the comic strip medium. During the early years of his career he produced several drawings and additional contributions for "Target: The Political Cartoon Quarterly". Watterson is known for his views on licensing and comic syndication, as well as for his reclusive nature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 432 reviews
November 27, 2019
The first ten pages involve Hobbes attacking Calvin from the shadows (hence the title and cover art) and sending him ominous coded letters that turn out to be schoolyard insults. If Hobbes is real, why does Calvin tolerate this? If Hobbes is imaginary, what does it say about Calvin that even his imaginary friends antagonize him? We are free to wonder, as Watterson deliberately avoids answering them. Frankly, answers might spoil the fun.
C&H's tendency toward melancholy is pronounced in this installment. Many strips find Calvin lamenting how little time he has left to be a kid, or even to live. It's an odd complaint from a child character, especially in a comic strip. Stuff like this is what gives this comic such unexpected depth.
We see the best of Calvin's mom and her acidic sarcasm (on one occasion, Calvin wants to learn parachuting, and Mom suggests playing chicken on the railroad tracks as "a cheaper way to toy with death, I'm sure"). Dad still offers inane explanations for the universe's mysteries and bemoans the passing of time. We learn that Miss Wormwood copes with her job with "two packs a day, unfiltered" and the mantra "five years until retirement," which is all pretty dark for this medium. Susie has one of my favorite lines in all literature: "Usually, if you're calling any shots at all, you're not eating worms."
Watterson really showcases his art in this volume, with alien and Jurassic vistas spreading across the pages in vivid colors. The later Calvin books always make me a bit sad, because I know I'm nearing the end of the series. But these later books are stellar in quality.
C&H's tendency toward melancholy is pronounced in this installment. Many strips find Calvin lamenting how little time he has left to be a kid, or even to live. It's an odd complaint from a child character, especially in a comic strip. Stuff like this is what gives this comic such unexpected depth.
We see the best of Calvin's mom and her acidic sarcasm (on one occasion, Calvin wants to learn parachuting, and Mom suggests playing chicken on the railroad tracks as "a cheaper way to toy with death, I'm sure"). Dad still offers inane explanations for the universe's mysteries and bemoans the passing of time. We learn that Miss Wormwood copes with her job with "two packs a day, unfiltered" and the mantra "five years until retirement," which is all pretty dark for this medium. Susie has one of my favorite lines in all literature: "Usually, if you're calling any shots at all, you're not eating worms."
Watterson really showcases his art in this volume, with alien and Jurassic vistas spreading across the pages in vivid colors. The later Calvin books always make me a bit sad, because I know I'm nearing the end of the series. But these later books are stellar in quality.
November 19, 2017
ricordo che alla fine degli anni ottanta, quando su linus vidi per la primissima volta una striscia di calvin & hobbes, non la trovai così geniale. nei decenni a seguire mi sono ciclicamente chiesta come sia stato possibile.
stamattina, dopo aver rimesso sullo scaffale questo volume letto ormai enne volte, mi sono imbattuta in una foto di classe del 1987. santiddìo, portavo un taglio di capelli inguardabile. è evidente che deve esserci una correlazione tra le due incresciose circostanze.
stamattina, dopo aver rimesso sullo scaffale questo volume letto ormai enne volte, mi sono imbattuta in una foto di classe del 1987. santiddìo, portavo un taglio di capelli inguardabile. è evidente che deve esserci una correlazione tra le due incresciose circostanze.
May 10, 2021
No Rosalyn for the second book in a row. But her absence is more than made up for by smart and sassy Susie! God, how I love that little girl! <3
September 2, 2015
Witty and intriguing as always as it is ...
Here are some of my favorite ones:
On Evolution:
On Parenting:
On Books:
On Talking:
Disclaimer: I don't claim any right to any of the above images. All belongs to Sir Bill Watterson.
Here are some of my favorite ones:
On Evolution:
On Parenting:
On Books:
On Talking:
Disclaimer: I don't claim any right to any of the above images. All belongs to Sir Bill Watterson.
September 5, 2025
Probably my favorite of the Calvin and Hobbes collections, with some of the most memorable stories.
January 26, 2023
I don't think there is another series of books where I 5 starred them all.
April 12, 2008
Best comic strip ever, period.
October 25, 2015
May not be great literature, but Bill Watterson sees something which most of us don't. My life has been diminished by not having the joy of opening the daily paper to some new insight to ourselves through his eyes.
January 20, 2024
Best book I’ve read all year so far :)
February 23, 2021
A+++ 10/10 Absolutely recommended. <3 There's so much brilliance in these Calvin and Hobbes books that it's almost overwhelming.
October 29, 2022
As always, Calvin And Hobbes make my day 🙃
September 15, 2024
I love how Watterson channelises his wisdom through Calvin and Hobbes, all the while keeping their mischievousness intact. These two will always be adorable to me.
January 7, 2021
Calvin and Hobbes comics are ones that I like to pick up every and now and again on a consistent basis. They give me a nostalgic Saturday morning cartoon sort of feeling. They are also at turns hilarious and extremely insightful. The watercolors on the Sunday pages are gorgeous and Hobbes is always adorable.
August 19, 2022
Fantastic! Hilarious as ever; well drawn and captures so much so well.
June 16, 2023
I discovered Calvin & Hobbes very early in its run in 1986 or 1987, while working on the high school newspaper. But I re-read this collection while battling with my 13-year-old son the other day. He erroneously believes Garfield is superior to Calvin & Hobbes, which, obviously, is ridiculous.
We took turns reading strips at each other from this and Garfield's third treasury, and even trading panels off to make our own crazy comic strips. It worked better than you'd think: Jon's sad angst and Garfield's hatred of Mondays combined with Hobbes' philosophy and Calvin's nihilism. LOL.
This collection is great, it includes Calvin's GROSS club, created to antagonize Suzi, his love/derision interest. Those are fun strips as Calvin grapples with the eternal struggle of girls and boys, and his disgust that a girl is petty much the only person he's not related to who will talk to him. (Don't think about it too much, sigh.)
There's also lots of Spaceman Spiff (a favorite) and dinosaurs in the epic, colorful Sunday strips that Watterson was so good at, and that he used to push the boundaries of what a comic strip could be beyond anything published in that era, except maybe some Bloom County/Opus strips. (Sure, you can go back to Terry & the Pirates or Little Nemo and such, but that's WAY back.)
I also really loved how Watterson, in this collection at least, shows the passing of time and seasons in the strips. The book starts out in winter, with lots of snow, snow goons, school, and holidays, then slowly shifts to bright outdoor adventures (the GROSS saga) as the seasons change, school ends, and Calvin enters the unbeatable magnificence of an adolescent summer.
He's free to do whatever he wants, which is often nothing, or, at any rate nothing that makes sense to adults (or other children for that matter).
If you haven't read any Calvin & Hobbes, you really should. It's better than Garfield.
We took turns reading strips at each other from this and Garfield's third treasury, and even trading panels off to make our own crazy comic strips. It worked better than you'd think: Jon's sad angst and Garfield's hatred of Mondays combined with Hobbes' philosophy and Calvin's nihilism. LOL.
This collection is great, it includes Calvin's GROSS club, created to antagonize Suzi, his love/derision interest. Those are fun strips as Calvin grapples with the eternal struggle of girls and boys, and his disgust that a girl is petty much the only person he's not related to who will talk to him. (Don't think about it too much, sigh.)
There's also lots of Spaceman Spiff (a favorite) and dinosaurs in the epic, colorful Sunday strips that Watterson was so good at, and that he used to push the boundaries of what a comic strip could be beyond anything published in that era, except maybe some Bloom County/Opus strips. (Sure, you can go back to Terry & the Pirates or Little Nemo and such, but that's WAY back.)
I also really loved how Watterson, in this collection at least, shows the passing of time and seasons in the strips. The book starts out in winter, with lots of snow, snow goons, school, and holidays, then slowly shifts to bright outdoor adventures (the GROSS saga) as the seasons change, school ends, and Calvin enters the unbeatable magnificence of an adolescent summer.
He's free to do whatever he wants, which is often nothing, or, at any rate nothing that makes sense to adults (or other children for that matter).
If you haven't read any Calvin & Hobbes, you really should. It's better than Garfield.
October 18, 2019
I loved this book because it is hilarious, and basically the same as other Calivn and Hobbes books. I didn't read it all in one go, instead I read 2-3 pages a day and then red my other books. It is about Calvin and Hobbes' adventures and Calvin's overactive imagination.
July 5, 2018
I'm just now marking this as read, but with no read date, because I just realized that I own it, and the chances that I own a Calvin & Hobbes book that I have not read are incredibly small.
August 7, 2023
Tykkään Lassi ja Leevi -sarjiksista, mutta tämä oli turhankin tuhti annos yhtenäiseksi luettavaksi - suosittelisin näitä strippejä pienempinä erinä kerrallaan luettaviksi. Pienen pojan sielunelämä on kyllä juurikin jotain tällaista!
January 8, 2020
Finally ,a Calvin and Hobbes book I can read in bed!
March 5, 2020
The cosmic horror and existentialism always gets me.
I call this "The Torment of Existence Weighed Against the Horror of Nonbeing."
and
I'm significant!
Screamed the dust speck.
I call this "The Torment of Existence Weighed Against the Horror of Nonbeing."
and
I'm significant!
Screamed the dust speck.
March 31, 2011
I love Calvin and Hobbes...
Watterson has a great sense of ironic humor. Calvin is the most contradicting 6-year-old that ever lived. On one hand he's this:
or this:
and then he's extremely intelligent on the other hand, and sometimes I don't even understand him.
point taken???
Calvin doesn't care much for interaction with other students at his school and instead conversates with his best friend, a stuffed tiger named Hobbes. Their always making smart remarks and doing creatively stupid things. The best part, though, is that they rarely take away the correct lesson when their schemes backfire. Calvin and Hobbes rock!
[image error]
Watterson has a great sense of ironic humor. Calvin is the most contradicting 6-year-old that ever lived. On one hand he's this:
or this:
and then he's extremely intelligent on the other hand, and sometimes I don't even understand him.
point taken???
Calvin doesn't care much for interaction with other students at his school and instead conversates with his best friend, a stuffed tiger named Hobbes. Their always making smart remarks and doing creatively stupid things. The best part, though, is that they rarely take away the correct lesson when their schemes backfire. Calvin and Hobbes rock!
[image error]
July 11, 2012
Words once again fail me here... Are we even good enough to review a Calvn and Hobbes book? Should mortals attempt to? The stories by Bill Watterson amaze me every single time. I am sure that if it comes down to a verbal duel, I would miserably fail against Calvin. I would simply have to stand back and probably bow in respect to the kid's understanding of the world. For those who have never read a Calvin and Hobbes book ever in their lives, my sympathies are with you! For those who actually have, you know as well as I do, there is no point in reading a review. Instead, better to once again laugh yourself to death by reading or re-reading another series from this legendary comic! Respect!!!
July 31, 2009
Yet another among the books published by Bill Watterson from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that I have enjoyed. My children have literally worn out these collections of C&H comics, and with good reason. C&H is a unique blend of homespun philosophy, side-splitting humor, and insight into the human (child and adult) condition. Watterson's insights into, and sly digs at, various social, familial, and other institutions of modern life are masterful.
March 24, 2015
The land is dark
The world in night
There's a creature
It starts a fight!
Mercy, mercy! the victim cries
Growls and grunts are its replies
Scrapes and scratches nearly bring the victim to his doom
His cries can't be heard all the way from his room
The door opens and the commotion stops
The victim gasps for breath and coughs
He wished that he had had a bat
To fight to Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat!
The world in night
There's a creature
It starts a fight!
Mercy, mercy! the victim cries
Growls and grunts are its replies
Scrapes and scratches nearly bring the victim to his doom
His cries can't be heard all the way from his room
The door opens and the commotion stops
The victim gasps for breath and coughs
He wished that he had had a bat
To fight to Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat!
September 23, 2012
Fall in love all over again ! :)
January 11, 2009
An excellent answer for if ever any one asks you 'what's wrong'?
Yell, Homicidal Jungle Cat! And point wildly over your shoulder.
Yell, Homicidal Jungle Cat! And point wildly over your shoulder.
January 8, 2012
I miss Calvin and Hobbes. One of the all time great comics!
November 19, 2013
If I had to live on a desert island, and I could only take one book, and it could not be religious, then this is probably the book I would take.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 432 reviews