15 Funniest Far Side Comics About Sharks

The Far Side creator Gary Larson loved to draw sharks, as they made perennial appearances in the strip over the course of its iconic run. More than some of their animal cohorts, sharks often got the best of Far Side’s humans, while at other times, they proved to be a sidesplitting mirror for human society, as only Larson’s idiosyncratic humor could make them.

Sharks in The Far Side were frequently among the strip’s most amusing focal characters, given writer/artist Gary Larson’s penchant for taking the most violent killers in the animal kingdom, and turning them into lighthearted, resonant characters. As with all the animals he regularly depicted, Larson’s sharks were at their best when they were used as proxies for the inherent silly behaviors of humankind. As often as sharks appeared in The Far Side, it is worth taking a closer look at how their different incarnations compare and contrast with one another, in order to develop a greater appreciation for the legendary strip.

15
Still Not Safe To Go Back In The Water

First Published: January 25, 1980

Throughout The Far Side, Gary Larson frequently loved to pay homage to – and parody – beloved movies with equal aplomb. Here, he produces a nearly faithful recreation of the poster for 1975’s Jaws, which would have remained even more firmly in the popular consciousness of 1980 than it does to this day. Larson’s twist on the image substitutes the swimming woman from the poster with two fishers in a boat. The kicker is the caption, which has one of them nervously call out: “There it goes again…that eerie music.”

14
Never Let A Potential Suitor Smell Blood In The Water

First Published: July 1, 1980

The sharks in this early Far Side panel are an example of Gary Larson’s time-tested artistic method of reflecting human behavior in animal characters. In this case, one shark says to another: “Say, honey…didn’t I meet you last night at the feeding frenzy?” The shark speaking is coded as a sleazy male, with a sneering look on its face, as Larson takes a shot at the predatory dating behavior of many men, especially in the late 1970s, early 1980s. Thankfully, based on its expression, the female shark seems to be wise to this kind of behavior.

13
Turnabout Is Fair Play For These Far Side Sharks

First Published: May 6, 1981

Unlike other Far Side animal species, sharks were often truly the apex predators of their appearances, much more frequently menacing humans who had entered their territory than the other way around. This panel is an exception, as a pair of sharks are forced to endure the other side of the circling equation. Backs up against each other, they agree to “stay calm and don’t make any erratic movements,” as a dangerous group of spear-wielding divers surround them, their intentions clearly predatory. Here, Gary Larson amusingly turns the usual shark-diver dynamic on its head, to outrageous results.

12
Sharks Have The Far Side’s Best Smiles

First Published: March 8, 1982

Sometimes, Far Side panels can be deceptively simple, obscuring a deeply-layered joke, or a complex deconstruction of the human condition. Others are gloriously, unabashedly simple, as with this panel, which features a smiling shark clutching its cheeks and declaring: “FEEDING FRENZY!” There’s little more to it than that – but there doesn’t need to be. At times, Gary Larson’s goal with Far Side strips was nothing more than eliciting a single chuckle from the newspaper reader who lingered long enough on the funny pages to check out what Larson had done that day.

11
A Beautiful Day At Buffet Beach

First Published: September 21, 1982

Many Far Side panels excelled at communicating a punchline to the reader effectively without any words at all. This is a perfect exhibition of that patented Gary Larson skill, and it comes in perhaps one of the funniest Far Side panels featuring sharks. At the upper right of the frame, a crowd of beachgoers wades into the water. On the left, a pair of hungry sharks swim eagerly toward them – as two more sharks, bloated from having eaten their fill, swim away. This strip is equal parts dark and silly in all the right ways, as Larson turns a ten-out-of-ten beach day into a shark buffet.

10
The One That Got Away Will Always Haunt This Far Side Shark

First Published: November 26, 1982

Gary Larson playfully flips the script in this Far Side installment, as one shark bemoans the loss of “the one that got away” to another. This is, of course, a regular topic of conversation for people who fish, most of whom have a story about the catch of a lifetime that managed to escape their hook. Here, an exhausted-looking human, clutching an inflatable tube, clings to the beach for dear life, having just escaped the fins of a giant shark. “He was magnificent! Just magnificent!” the shark wails, tortured by the missed opportunity, before capping it off with, “I can’t talk about it right now.“

9
Gary Larson’s Bubbles To The Surface In The Small Details

First Published: March 30, 1983

In this simple, yet effective Far Side panel, Gary Larson depicts a human diver, evidently having a great time, as they swim rapidly out of frame – unknowingly being followed with a giant shark right at their heels. What makes this panel particularly funny are the faces of the smaller remora fish swimming alongside the shark; both of their eyes are wide with anticipation about what is going to happen, while one’s jaw fully hangs open, possibly shocked at the human’s potentially fatal lack of awareness of their surroundings.

8
Far Side’s Sharks Have Some Familiar Problems

First Published: May 24, 1983

“Well shoot,” one shark says to another in this panel, as they circle an unwitting beachgoer, enjoying a float on an inflatable raft. “I can never tell if these things are done or not,” the shark continues, turning every home cook’s consternation about cooking chicken into a dark commentary on the randomness of shark attacks. The terrifying thing about sharks is that they can be in the water with swimmers and not attack – in this Far Side, Gary Larson attributes their actions not to randomness, but instead, hilariously, to waiting in order to make sure the humans are thoroughly toasted first.

7
Pride Goes Before The Fall

First Published: October 22, 1984

This Far Side panel features the quiet aftermath of an evidently brutal shark attack – though according to the shark, the situation simply got out of hand. “I was just going to circle them a couple times and leave,” the shark explains to another, “but then they started yelling ‘shark,’ and suddenly I felt very proud.” Gary Larson’s humor excelled when taking animals and putting their behaviors into a human context, with this strip being a great example. The shark being motivated by predatory pride makes this one of the most wildly funny Far Side shark panels.

6
These Sharks Need To Get Their Noses Checked

First Published: July 17, 1985

Sharks are known for their incredible sense of smell – only in the Far Side could two of them be led astray by a stream of ketchup floating in the ocean, mistaking it for blood. This, of course, is what makes this panel outstandingly funny. “We followed a ketchup trail for three miles?” one of the sharks asks in disbelief, as they arrive at what they had expected to be a fresh carcass, instead finding a floating bottle of the tomato-based condiment. As with many of his shark illustrations, Gary Larson perfectly twists the menacing visage of a shark into a more nuanced expression, in this case radiating dismay.

5
These Far Side Sharks Appreciate The Finer Things In Life – And Death

First Published: August 7, 1985

Another contender for funniest Far Side shark strip, this is one of Gary Larson’s most fully anthropomorphized versions of the sea’s most dangerous creatures. It also contains one of his most celebrated puns. The male shark, clad in a tuxedo, fixes its tie and says: “Well, if you’re almost ready, I’m dressed to kill.” The shark’s date, likewise decked out in finery, smiles with a row of dangerous teeth, indicating she agrees. As with many timeless Far Side panels, Gary Larson takes a stock phrase, “dressed to kill,” and finds the most literal possible circumstance it could apply to.

4
It’s The Little Things, Even For The Sea’s Greatest Predators

First Published: January 29, 1986

This Far Side panel finds two sharks in a moment of contemplation, reflecting on the finer aspects of life. Playing off how human beings talk about their first cup of coffee for the day, the sharks discuss waking up in the morning and having “that ooooold smell [hit their] nose….blood in the water.” What makes this panel so amusing are the looks of pure delight on both sharks’ faces, each of them smiling a toothy grin, as they improbably float on their backs and kick back with their flippers behind their heads.

3
This Shark Just Wants Some Alone Time

First Published: February 22, 1986

Some Far Side strips are more inexplicable than others. This is one of Gary Larson’s more inscrutable panels, featuring a shark looking in the mirror and seemingly expressing dismay at the collection of remoras on its belly. Remoras are the sucker fish that attach themselves to sharks, as part of a symbiotic relationship. It is not immediately evident upon studying this panel what the “heartbreak” in question is – but this is precisely what makes it funny. This panel not only requires, it demands speculation on the part of the reader, actively encouraging them to construct the most absurd explanation imaginable.

2
Far Side’s Sharks Have Some Familiar Ideas Of Fun

First Published: April 11, 1986

The practice of inviting people over and making them look at one’s vacation photos on a projector may be outdated now, but the trope lingers as one of the most painful social interactions of decades past. Gary Larson hilariously lampoons this social faux pas in this Far Side panel, as a patriarchal-coded shark runs the projector, showing a picture of a shark smiling and waving, as the legs of beachgoers dangle overhead. “Helen, is this Hawaii, or Florida?” the shark-husband asks, as his wife and several guests crowd on the couch and bask in the glow of the vacation images.

1
More Like A Leftovers Fight, But Okay

First Published: June 1, 1986

Reminiscent of the earlier “FEEDING FRENZY” panel, this Far Side strip returns to a notion Gary Larson was clearly charmed with – sharks acting like rowdy school kids in a teen comedy. Here, however, his depiction of a “shark food fight” has a bit more of The Far Side’s characteristic edginess to it, as the “food” the sharks toss at each other is, in fact, scuba gear. The lack of body parts, or blood in the water, makes this panel less gruesome than it could’ve been, instead striking the balance between goofy and grim that Far Side was best known for.