Gary Larson’s The Far Side has more than earned its place as the ultimate newspaper gag strip. From comics parodying iconic movies to strips detailing the unseen life 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 15 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.
15 “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 – 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.
14 Roy Dooms the Earth
First Contact Is Classic Far Side Fodder
While they can’t compare to Larson’s cows, aliens often appear in The Far Side, often as agents of planetary destruction. This strip makes that destruction more earned than most, as Roy – in an example of Larson’s oft-imitated instinct for when naming a character somehow makes the joke funnier – offends some unfortunately hand-like extraterrestrials. 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.
13 Witch Babysitter
Larson Stands by This Controversial Comic
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 at the time, with Larson admitting that he can understand the hate resulting from some of his darkest work. However, in The Pre-History of The Far Side he names this strip “one of my personal favorites,” explaining that it’s so patently ludicrous he fails to see how someone could take genuine offense. Larson also notes the detail that makes him love this strip’s humor – “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.”
12 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 Larson’s detail-oriented 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 gag the best.
The Far Side is masterful at telling an entire story in a single panel, and readers get a whole tale from this one image and caption – why Pinocchi put himself in danger before this captured moment, and what’s about to happen to him afterwards. The comic also adds a cherry on top with one of Larson’s more verbose captions, showing The Far Side‘s often underappreciated love of language – “suddenly and unexpectedly granted” is the perfect Larsonian flourish. However, of the many times Gary Larson took on Disney, drowning Jiminy Cricket is undoubtedly the darkest.
11 Thak Worked Frantically
Far Side’s Cavepeople Are
A keen student of biology, Larson’s comics are often characterized by a subtle understanding of the natural world that makes it clear there’s a genuine intellect at work behind the laughs – and crucially, one that expects a similar intelligence in the reader. Larson assumes the reader understands why a Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon rivalry might exist, and hilariously turns human progress into a domestic tragedy. 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.
10 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, however 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, but 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. Typically using only a single panel, 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.
9 Thagomizer
Larson’s Made-Up Term Is Now Scientific Reality
Because of the insight and appreciation for nature that infuses his work, Larson is beloved by scientists the world over – to the point he’s had multiple species of insect named in his honor. Larson paid his science-loving readers back for their support 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 lot of scientists reading Larson’s comic, plus the lack of an existing term for the feature, led to his idea 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.
Getting archeologists to embrace such a silly term shows Larson’s skill with language, however getting any scientist to embrace a comic where humans and dinosaurs coexist is enough to qualify him as a genius.
8 “Does Someone Have a Hammer?”
Larson’s Slapstick Shouldn’t Be Ignored
Easily the least famous comic on this list, this scene from an unfortunate dinner showcases an aspect of Larson’s humor that can’t be ignored – pure slapstick. While Larson is the master of the surreal situation and amusing animal gag, The Far Side takes full advantage of the fact that it doesn’t have to obey the laws of physics or biology. Larson often indulges in Tom and Jerry-style slapstick that warps the human (or animal) body past all limits. However, the woman with her head trapped in her glass is the best of the bunch – both because of how outright funny the visual is, and the calm, collected, almost certainly unearned confidence of the helpful diner who has apparently seen this situation several times before.
7 “You’ve Met Someone Else?”
Far Side Made the Desert Island Comic Famous
Gary Larson’s Far Side didn’t invent the cartoon desert island, but the set-up – a tiny circle of land with a single palm tree and a couple of hapless characters – has become synonymous with his comics. All Larson’s Far Side comics take place in a microcosmic universe; a single moment in a single location that tells the whole story. The desert island boils that truth down to its essence, trapping the characters in the one place where they’ll ever really ‘exist.’
While it’s too hard to choose Larson’s best desert island comic, ‘You’ve Met Someone Else?’ is up there – not just because the aggrieved man has somehow failed to notice his partner straying, but because of the genius detail that he never actually bothered to learn the name of the one other man on the island.
6 The Cartoon Symbol for Glass
The Far Side Has No Respect for the Fourth Wall
The Far Side plays with its own form and ‘rules’ constantly, always using a single panel to explore the unseen past or future of a situation. However, Larson also takes this further with multiple comics that break the fourth wall, making characters aware they’re in a comic or basing jokes on the true nature of their world. In the first strip, above, Larson even makes himself the villain of the piece, as two cartoon explorers find themselves thwarted by “the international cartoon symbol for glass.” While a boss reading his employee’s thought balloon may be funnier, Larson’s fondness for jungle explorers wandering into trouble makes this initial strip the most faithful to his recurring themes.
5 Professor Schnabel’s Cleaning Lady
This Famous Far Side Comic Deserves the Hype
One of The Far Side‘s most famous comics, the misadventures of Professor Schnabel’s cleaning lady utilizes several Larsonisms – from the name of the unseen professor to the inclusion of dinosaurs as humans’ natural predators, to the presence of his trademark beehive-haired woman. The comic also showcases Larson’s perfect sense of framing – a nonplussed T-Rex, angry diplodocus and disinterested pteradon make it clear that the human star is totally surrounded, while the pose instantly makes it possible to visualize the safe environment where the ‘new dryer’ was placed. The comic also brings in The Far Side‘s dark side, making it clear that this comic can only end in a grisly death.
4 “So, Professor Jenkins!”
Gary Larson Imagined Some Truly Evil Ducks
A return to the Far Side desert island may seem like cheating, but the focus of this entry is actually Larson’s preoccupation with evil ducks. While the comic is no stranger to intimidating animals, none are as inherently menacing as everyday ducks, who are depicted as street toughs, stalkers, and murderers. Ducks star in some of the hands-down best Far Side comics – and anatidaephobia is a legitimate classic of the genre – however the combination of a mean-spirited mallard, a down-on-his-luck scientist, and two characters marooned on a desert island means poor Professor Jenkins is the obvious choice here.
3 Missile
Larson’s Best Comics Barely Need Words
Another of Larson’s most famous comics, this strip has adorned countless workplaces, and yet again leaves the actual punch line – the moment where things go boom – to play out in the reader’s head. Larson has plenty of comics which show scientists playing pranks on each other, but this one reigns supreme because of its mastery of physical comedy, as well as the pairing of twin ‘bangs’ which are likely to play out at very different scales. If there’s a criticism to be made of this near-perfect single-panel comic, it’s that readers could probably have been trusted to get the gag without the giant word ‘MISSILE’ printed across the weapon in question.
2 “Anyone See What Happened?”
If Larson’s Ducks Are Evil, His Chickens Are Perpetual Victims
Chickens tend to do badly in The Far Side, but only as a reflection of their often disappointing lot in real life. Inherently undignified, Larson likes to put the humble chickens in loser situations, though like any of his animals, there are strips where they win out over humanity. One rare ‘draw’ sees a sheriff step into the middle of a cowboy vs chicken shootout, asking if anyone saw what happened. The gag shows Larson’s deep understanding of his own skill at telling a story – he couldn’t have made it any clearer what just happened, which makes the sheriff’s confusion even funnier than the surreal ‘fight.’
1 Penguin
Larson’s Purest Comic Doesn’t Need Words
Perhaps the perfect Far Side comic, this strip is an obvious, immediate gag that only gets more satisfying with time. Drawing on a classic pratfall laugh, the comic also has fun with the visual idea of a penguin somehow missing a banana skin laid out on a vast expanse of snow. Larson frames the moment perfectly – with distance making it more feel more ludicrous – and chooses to ‘set’ the comic right after the fall, allowing the reader to yet again complete the joke in their head. The strip even gets the most out of Larson’s minimal art style – the sense of a furrowed brow allows the reader to project irritation and confusion onto the poor bird, without enough relatability to veer into sympathy.
Fascinated with animals and characterized by a surreal whimsy and a dark preoccupation with unseen consequences, The Far Side‘s best comics remain as funny today as when they were created – precisely because they so perfectly communicate Gary Larson’s unique sense of humor.
