Gary Larson's Larson still wasn't happy with the end result. Indeed, in the case of one comic, Larson only figured out how it should have looked well after publication.
In The Complete Far Side, Larson writes about the commonly asked questions he gets from fans. One such question is how long it takes him to draw a comic on average. Larson is unable to answer the question, saying that with the thinking time involved and the fact he loves his work, it's hard to have an idea how long an individual strip takes on average, saying, "When you enjoy something, time is a disconnect." However, he does recall that one comic featuring the death of Houdini took an unbearably long time to get right, stating, "I all too well my long day in hell with this cartoon."
The strip shows Houdini's skeleton, with the famed escape artist still trapped in a finger trap toy that children can buy in joke shops. The toy works by tightening when pulled and loosening when the person 'trapped' pushes inward, turning it into a counter-intuitive puzzle that's effortless to solve once you know the trick. The joke shows that despite his reputation, Houdini couldn't figure out the gag.
"If it hadn't been for my deadline, I might be sitting there to this very day, doomed to draw Houdini's skull for the rest of my life..."
– Gary Larson
13 Funniest Far Side Comics That Somehow Make Frogs Hilarious
The Far Side loves animals, and these hilarious comics confirm that extends to frogs - including 2 of Gary Larson's funniest wordless comics.
Gary Larson Couldn't Get Houdini's Death Right
Despite Hours of Work, He'd Still Do It Differently
Despite the comic successfully conveying its joke, Larson spent hours trying to get Houdini's 'corpse' right. Larson had to walk a fine line for what was acceptable to publish in newspapers all over the country, but also thought that a corny Halloween skeleton wouldn't achieve the darkness needed to make the joke genuinely funny. The Far Side creator recalls:
Now, if you will, please pretend that you are the Cartoon Coroner and take a closer look at the "deceased." What we have here is a decomposed body, with the main focus on the head. If it's too gruesome, it doesn't work. If it's too corny, it doesn't work. The expression on that face has to simultaneously capture silliness and scariness, horror and hilarity, sadness and stupidity. For me, this meant draw, erase, draw, erase, draw, erase ... for hours. I couldn't get it, although I think in the end I got sort of close. ... If it hadn't been for my deadline, I might be sitting there to this very day, doomed to draw Houdini's skull for the rest of my life until I, too, am discovered one day looking much like this very drawing, only perhaps funnier.
Especially when it was just starting out, The Far Side had strict rules about what it could and couldn't include. In The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson recalls that any joke involving subjects like outhouses and dung beetles wasn't even worth submitting, as editors would instantly turn it down.
It's a mark of how much work Larson puts into his art - and how great his instinct for funny visuals is - that he had to work tirelessly to correct a joke many would see as incredibly simple. Sadly, he only realized after the comic had been published what the image needed to meet his ideal standard, writing that:
I now see that the head should have been tilted forward just a little, dammit.
Interestingly, while 'Houdini's Final Undoing' is the ultimate example of Larson being unsatisfied by his work, it's far from the only one.
The real Houdini's death didn't involve a finger trap, but one theory does have a similar level of dark irony. Houdini sometimes performed a trick where he would withstand blows to his stomach. However, shortly before his death, a fan punched Houdini in his dressing room, before the escape artist had actually prepared to be punched (his ankle was injured at the time, making it harder to get into his intended position quickly.) While other theories have been advanced, it's widely believed that the blows contributed to the abdominal swelling that killed him.
Larson's most hated strip of all time has no factual mistakes - he just hates it.
13 Funniest Far Side Comics That Just Turned 30 (Including Gary Larson's Best Pun)
These Far Side comics include some of Larson's most iconic running themes, including deadly piranhas, clueless cowboys and surreal scientists.
Gary Larson Wasn't Happy with Every Far Side Comic
Thankfully, Deadlines Ensured Fans Still Got Their Far Side Fix
Larson has a sense of humor about his own work and methods, but there are still strips he wishes were different. One of the most interesting (for those interested in Larson's technique) shows a chef throwing balls to drop a lobster into a boiling pot, similar to a fairground dunk tank. The original version showed the chef in the act of throwing the ball, but Larson sensed it would be funnier if the scene was set before the action.
In this case, he made the change prior to publication, offering a major insight into how Larson made comic moments funnier by withholding the actual moment of the punchline and leaving readers to imagine it. In a similar strip, a dog throws a threatening letter through the window of a cat's house, with Larson regretting showing the dog running away in the distance, since it was an unnecessary detail.
In other cases, Larson has apologized for getting his facts wrong. One comic mocking the critically-panned movie Ishtar shows it as the only possible rental in Hell's video store, but when Larson later watched the film on a plane journey, he decided its reputation was unearned, saying, "Sure, maybe it's not the greatest film ever made, but my cartoon was way off the mark." Larson also acknowledged fans who complained about errors in depicting nature, such as a polar bear hanging around with penguins or a male mosquito depicted as biting humans (only the females of the species do so.)
However, Larson's most hated strip of all time has no factual mistakes - he just hates it. The gag (included above) shows one clown threatening another with a custard pie, while the second warns that he has, "Friends in pie places." In The Complete Far Side, Larson comments, "Cartoonist's note: Above is my own nominee for the worst cartoon I ever drew. (I still cringe.)" Apparently, this particular pun doesn't muster on reflection (thankfully, it didn't put Larson off his obsession with clowns.)
After a strip featuring crocodiles eating poodles, one reader wrote in to tell Larson that "You have offended millions of pet owners with this garbage."
Far Side's 10 Final Comics Were the Perfect Ending to Gary Larson's Genius Series
Gary Larson's iconic The Far Side ran from 1980 to 1994, with these final 10 comics acting as the beloved strip's victory lap.
Some Far Side Strips That Larson Loved Still Enraged Fans
Larson Learned He Couldn't Predict How Readers Would React
Of course, there were also plenty of Far Side comics that Larson loved but fans reacted strongly to. Most often, it was comics including violence towards animals that resulted in hate mail, with the 'Bobbing for Poodles' comic inspiring one reader to comment that:
You have offended millions of pet owners with this garbage. If you can not do better than this, we suggest you seek another occupation.
Other comics like two dogs playing 'tethercat' and a witch who has eaten the children she was meant to be babysitting caused upset, though Larson states in The Prehistory of The Far Side that he still enjoys the latter and thinks it works. Likewise, a comic starring an elephant whose foot has been removed by poachers caused complaints that Larson was making light of trophy hunting, which surprised the creator. Larson notes that while he rarely ever approached politics in his work, one of the abiding themes of his comics is his of conservationist efforts, with the elephant gag mocking the ghoulish practice of turning their severed feet into furniture, not ing it.
10 Funniest Far Side Comics That Just Turned 40 (In August 2024)
Here are the ten funniest Far Side comics from August 1984 that just turned 40, including one single- gag that's among his best wordless strips.
Perhaps Larson's most famous controversial comic mocked conservationist Jane Goodall, implying a romantic liaison with one of the apes she spent decades studying in the wild. Larson cut the comic from collections after a letter from the Jane Goodall Institute stating that:
The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying the news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid.
Thankfully, it later turned out that Larson hadn't offended Goodall at all. When the National Geographic Society asked for permission to republish the comic, who knew Goodall finally brought it to her personal attention, and she instantly saw the funny side. Not only did Goodall take the comic in good humor, but she thanked Larson for providing her, "Real fame at last," subsequently writing the foreword for The Far Side Gallery 5. For his part, Larson ed Goodall's work, even selling merchandise to raise funds for her conservationist charities.
While rare Far Side strips might have resulted in hate mail to Larson and there are multiple comics he personally regrets, it's precisely because Larson took risks and had such a substantial perfectionist streak that Far Side's best comics are still beloved by readers today.
- Writer
- Gary Larson
- Colorist
- Gary Larson
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
