Summary
- Gary Larson's The Far Side comics are marked by some characteristic obsessions.
- Larson often uses cavemen and cows in his work, believing they blur the line between humor and tragedy. Aliens, evil ducks, and sad-sack scientists also appear often.
- Larson has a command of language and a love of storytelling, however he's not afraid to go for outright slapstick humor.
Gary Larson's comics parodying iconic movies to strips detailing the unseen lives of insects and fish, there's a Larson comic for every subject and occasion. However, there's a difference between the average Far Side entry and those which perfectly capture the soul of the franchise.
Here, then, are 20 comics which perfectly capture Gary Larson's favorite settings, recurring characters, and inimitable sense of humor. From cows to cavemen, science to slapstick, these are the comics that any Far Side fan would immediately identify as the result of Larson's trademark humor - as well as some of his best of all time. Stick around to the end of the article for our reader poll on which of these comics is really the funniest.
20 "Car!"
It Isn't The Far Side Without Larson's Cows
While Gary Larson long avoided specific recurring characters, he does have archetypal subjects who come back again and again in different circumstances, and different contexts - none more recognizable to Far Side fans than the humble cow. This comic combines Larson's bovine muse with his favorite concept - animals secretly acting like humans.
There's even a hint of The Far Side's barely perceptible air of menace - after all, why are the cows having secret meetings they don't want humans to see? Larson explained his obsession with cows to The New York Times, saying he uses the animals so often because:
I've always thought the word cow was funny, and cows are sort of tragic figures. Cows blur the line between tragedy and humor.
19 Who Is The Real Sucker Here?
Nature Always Wins In The Far Side
"Another sucker just bought twenty acres of swampland," the realtor says, meaning readers know he's pulled this scam before. However, the reader can see the buyer driving away – and it is a frog.
This deftly manages to be one of Gary Larson's most absurd, while at the same time being one of its most socially relevant. The humor centers on a shady realtor who thinks he got the better of a client – but the joke is, in fact, at his expense.
"Another sucker just bought twenty acres of swampland," the realtor says, meaning readers know he's pulled this scam before. However, the reader can see the buyer driving away – and it is a frog. Ridiculous as is, this cartoon also reflects Larson's underlying perspective on the unfortunate ills of commerce.
18 Roy Dooms the Earth
First Is Classic Far Side Fodder
As with all the recurring elements in the Far Side, his extraterrestrials exemplified Larson's unique perspective on humanity.
While they can't compare to Larson's cows, aliens often appear in The Far Side, usually as agents of planetary destruction. The Far Side is special because its best jokes leave space for the reader to complete the joke - many other newspaper comics wouldn't be able to help explaining why Roy felt the need to grab an alien's head, but Larson completes the joke in the reader's head rather than on the page.
As with all the recurring elements in the Far Side, his extraterrestrials exemplified Larson's unique perspective on humanity, which treated humanity as utterly alien and bizarre as creatures from another world.
17 Witch Babysitter
Larson Stands by This Controversial Comic
Despite all the controversy, in The Pre-History of The Far Side, Gary Larson names this strip "one of [his] personal favorites." As the creator explained, it's so patently ludicrous he fails to see how someone could take genuine offense.
While The Far Side is seen as family fare, it has a morbid streak a mile wide, and plays with the idea of harm coming to children and/or animals surprisingly often. These are the strips that generated most controversy, with Larson itting that he can understand the hate resulting from some of his darkest work.
Reflecting on this Far Side , Larson explained the detail that makes him love this strip's humor even today - "they're especially upset that the witch ate both their kids - as if to suggest one would have been pretty bad, but both is really unacceptable."
16 Pinocchio Gets His Wish
Far Side Has a Major Grudge Against the Little Wooden Boy
Pinocchio may seem like an unusual target for Gary Larson to fixate on, but the little wooden boy gets brutalized more often than any other figure in The Far Side history. The idea of a puppet suddenly turning into flesh and blood is tailor-made for Gary Larson's humor - it's a set-up that introduces a change in the situation's 'rules' that everyone instantly recognizes, allowing Larson the space to build on that juxtaposition rather than needing to create it.
Scratched by cats, savaged by beavers, and attacked by woodpeckers, it's Pinocchio's safari that nails Larson's repeated gag the best. However, of the many times Gary Larson took on Disney, drowning Jiminy Cricket is undoubtedly the darkest.
New Far Side Comic Finally Breaks One of the Franchise's Oldest Rules
The Far Side's Gary Larson just released a new Christmas comic strip - however, its subject matter would have been banned when the franchise started.
15 Cro-Magnon vs Neanderthal
Far Side's Cavepeople Are as Ubiquitous as Its Cows
Larson often credits his readers with some knowledge of the natural world, and this Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon rivalry is an example of his respect for his fans' intelligence. Larson's minimalist faces are worth a thousand words - from the Cro-Magnon's smarmy smile to Theena's glee to Thak's intense concentration - while a cave painting in the place of wall art is a painfully smart detail that doesn't feel the need to draw attention.
Next to cows, cavepeople are The Far Side's biggest recurring stars, and this strip makes it clear why. By using humans at their most primitive, Gary Larson was able to highlight how far civilization has come – and how silly it has gotten.
14 The Future Comes Too Quickly Sometimes
Some Things Never Change In The Far Side
In another Far Side with a prehistoric premise, Gary Larson depicted the timeless art of prognostication – in which an unwitting Neanderthal gets an all-too-accurate glimpse at the future. There is also a subtle undercurrent of terror to this , as the character getting his fortune told would have zero context for what a museum is.
"I see your little petrified skill...labeled and resting on a shelf somewhere," the fortune-teller says. The humor comes from the familiar use of the crystal ball, this far back in time, her matter-of-fact delivery, and most of all, the look on her companion's face, as he fails to comprehend what any of it means.
13 A Big Swing, A Bigger Miss
Something That Can't Be Said Of Gary Larson's Humor
As this comic made clear for readers at the time, there was nothing too simple for Gary Larson to make into an ordeal.
In one of Gary Larson's earliest Far Side installments, its absurdist streak was firmly established, as he depicted a man failing wildly at a "Cymbal Audition." While it takes more precision to play the cymbals than some might realize, few novices would even fail to connect as spectacularly as this man does.
Hilariously, his hat flies off his head, and the lines drawn around the symbols evokes a "whoosing" of air, as he's summarily dismissed with: "Next!" As this comic made clear for readers at the time, there was nothing too simple for Gary Larson to make into an ordeal.
12 His Collie, Shep
Larson Pushes the Boundaries of What a Single Image Can Do
Again, Larson tells a story that begins on the page and ends in the reader's head, yet the defining detail here is setting the story within the boundaries of Farmer MacDougal's binoculars. A less talented cartoonist could tell the same joke with a similar image of Shep chatting with the wolves.
However, by witnessing this moment through the eyes of an unseen character, suddenly the 'story' takes on a whole new layer of characterization, and the actual image becomes an integral moment in MacDougal's realization. As a cartoonist, Gary Larson excelled at maximizing the potential of the limited space he worked within day-to-day.
Typically using only a single , The Far Side is a masterclass in using different elements to expand the information on offer - Larson loads the foreground and background with extra context wherever possible, or in this case makes even the perspective part of the joke.
11 Thagomizer
Larson's Made-Up Term Is Now Scientific Reality
Because of the insight and appreciation for nature that infuses his work, Gary Larson is beloved by scientists the world over - to the point he's had multiple species of insect named in his honor. For all the appreciation Far Side's Gary Larson got from the science community, he paid his science-loving readers back for their by accidentally gifting them a new term, with the spikes on a stegosaurus' tail now officially known as the 'Thagomizer' because of this comic.
A large fandom among scientists plus the lack of an existing term for the feature led to the term being adopted, although of course the conceptual joke at the heart of the comic is what really makes it something fans would want to reference.
