15 Funniest Far Side Comics That Prove It’s Obsessed with Monsters

Gary Larson’s The Far Side is known for its hilarious but often dark sense of humor, and nothing embodies this quite as much as its many, many comics about ghosts, ghouls, and monsters. In many ways, The Far Side itself was inspired by a monster story – Morrell Gipson’s surreal kids’ book Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat, in which a giant bear crushes various victims underneath its bulk. It’s not exactly King Kong, but this early influence does have the same flavor as Larson’s monstrous creations.

Indeed, Larson’s The Far Side runs the full gamut of monsterdom, from building-sized kaiju to nightmare apparitions to the classic stars of Hammer Horror films. Here, we’ve collected the 15 funniest, while also sharing a little something for every ‘type’ of monster The Far Side features. Stick around for our end-of-article poll, and vote on which of these monster-focused comics is the funniest of all.

15

Monster vs Dog

Larson’s Dogs Are Too Practical to Risk Their Necks

When it comes to its weirder characters like aliens and monsters, The Far Side has always avoided settling on any single style. This allows for plenty of different sight gags – like an alien being attracted to a similar-shaped moon lander – but also gives Larson the opportunity to render some genuinely gnarly monstrosities. In this comic, one of The Far Side‘s sensibly self-interested dogs resolves that despite the presence of a nocturnal intruder, it’s probably best to keep quiet on this occasion. Originally in black and white, the comic has been officially colored in several different ways, but the version above – which focuses on the darkness of the scene – is definitely best at selling the scene.

14

The Monster Snorkel

This Far Side Comic Is Based on Larson’s Own Childhood

Larson has stated that very few Far Side comics are based on his own experiences, but the ‘Monster Snorkel’ strip takes its influence from his own childhood fears. In The Prehistory of the Far Side, Larson remembers being chilled to the bone by his brother’s description of a nightmare including a wolf with “pure, white eyes… walking on its hind legs.” Not only does the wolf appear in this strip, but Larson also notes that the idea of struggling to breathe while hiding under the blankets came from his own reaction, saying:

I was so scared of this and other monsters that I nearly suffocated trying to stay completely under the blankets. Any exposed skin meant certain death. The monster snorkel would have been a wonderful thing in my little world.

13

Monster Party

Larson’s Greatest Trick Is Warping Domesticity

The Far Side loves putting a dark twist on normal, everyday activities, with Larson making a running gag out of showing aliens, monsters, and dinosaurs sitting down to breakfast. In this case, a low-key suburban party kicks up a notch when the host throws on an LP of The Best of Little Kids Screaming. While The Far Side is known for its sketchy, minimalist style, it’s worth noting the detail of a loving photo hanging on the wall depicting a terrifying monster – a not-uncommon background gag that, along with the lackluster fairy lights, helps to sell the mundane setting.

Later a fundamental plot point in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., Larson got there first in imagining a monster society where the screams of children have a major cultural component, and even created a strip based on the idea that scaring kids is a common monster profession.

12

Frankenstein’s Rainy Day

The Far Side LOVES Frankenstein’s Monster

Gary Larson doesn’t reference a lot of pop culture in The Far Side, tending to include only those references which are guaranteed to stand the test of time. Frankenstein is one of those references, and The Far Side has a bunch of references to the doctor, his helper Igor, and the monster itself – often framed as a bickering family unit. Here, fans see a very different origin for Boris Karloff’s shambling monstrosity, as Igor and Doctor Frankenstein are encouraged to play god because it’s too rainy for them to play outside.

11

“That Guy’s a Mad Scientist”

The Far Side Makes Several References to Classic Horror Movie The Fly

In another warped take on the domestic, George and his beehive-haired wife find themselves living across from a forbidding castle (complete with white picket fence.) A fun take on the horror classic The Fly, Larson undercuts the story’s body-horror transformation as George makes the best of his situation, quietly enjoying the newspaper. Larson’s Fly-monster design is perfect, as the compound eyes sit above a pair of glasses that underscore just how mundane this transformation turned out to be. In a fun (albeit accidental) twist, another Far Side comic seemingly depicts the scientist himself, likewise living relatively contentedly with the fallout of his work.

10

“Those Blasted Crickets”

Larson Has an Eye for the Genuinely Creepy

There’s a thin line between comedy and horror, as both often rely on establishing – and then transgressing – firm rules about the world the characters inhabit. Here, The Far Side establishes a conceit that in other hands would make a genuinely scary horror story – two campers find themselves irritated by the constant chirping of the surrounding crickets, not realizing that when the noise suddenly stops, it’s because a terrifying being is looming over them. Published in 1980 – The Far Side‘s very first year – many of Larson’s artistic instincts are on show (for example, using a tree stump to create a foreground/background contrast), even if the people in the strip don’t yet appear in his signature style.

9

Car Key Gnomes

Sometimes, The Far Side Plays the Classics

While The Far Side is incredibly unique in its approach and style, sometimes it behaves like any other newspaper comic, here providing a chuckle-worthy explanation for the everyday occurrence of losing your car keys. What sets Larson’s version of this type of gag apart is his ability to create an entire narrative in a single image – not only is a gnome stealing the key, but his confederate is suggesting exactly where to hide them.

8

Far Side vs Mothra

Larson’s Love of Insects Gets a Kaiju Makeover

Larson’s obsession with nature is well-known by The Far Side fans – indeed, he originally wanted to call the comic strip Nature’s Way. The Far Side depicts the lives of bugs and creepy-crawlies so often that Larson even has a species of louse named in his honor: strigiphilus garylarsoni. It’s therefore not surprising that, on seeing Godzilla‘s gigantic moth kaiju Mothra, Larson’s mind would immediately flash to moths’ tendency to fly directly for the nearest light source. Hilariously, Larson acknowledges Mothra’s intelligence at the same time, turning this not just into a trap, but a ruse in which the army are forced to continue the pretense of a giant cookout until the last minute, complete with marshmallow roasting.

7

“What’s In My Front Yard?”

This Far Side Comics Is One of the Purest Expressions of Larson’s Humor

Some of the best Far Side strips find a way to add weird details to the mundane, but here Larson flips the script. Confronted by the alarming sight of a gigantic eyeball at her window, one of the strip’s recurring beehive-haired women can’t help but focus on the practical, figuring out a clever way to check what exactly is menacing her. One of Larson’s signature linguistic flourishes is using his characters’ names to ground weird situations, and ‘Gladys Murphy’ is the perfect down-to-earth character to be stalked by a giant monster in the world of Far Side. For those wondering in vain what’s actually outside the window, our money is on The Far Side‘s weirdest recurring character, the inexplicably threatening giant squid.

6

“Go Get ‘Em, Brother”

Creature from the Black Lagoon’s Gill-Man Is a Far Side Staple

Another horror movie creature that gets a lot of love in The Far Side, The Creature from the Black Lagoon‘s Gill-Man finds a supporter in this strip, as a nearby frog encourages his reign of terror. It’s the details that make this strip, as the Gill-Man totally fails to acknowledge his pint-sized cheerleader, and the frog itself is drawn with a genuinely malicious expression. The Far Side has its share of menacing animals (especially its evil ducks), but somehow this frog ends up feeling even more manevolent than the Gill-Man himself.

5

“How Could You Have Seen a Monster?”

Far Side Knows the Real Monster Is Gaslighting

In another Monsters, Inc.-style gag, a monster smartly sidesteps the threat of discovery by wearing a makeshift ‘disguise.’ Larson’s humor often derives from the moments before and after the strip itself, and here the joke is how little this premise makes sense outside this single moment – couldn’t Billy have described the monster’s scales, claws and horns; why is the monster even worried about being identified; and how did it predict Billy’s mother’s very specific cynicism before it arrived?

4

“We Don’t Know What That Thing Is”

Far Side’s Creepiest Monster Is Genuinely Spine-Tingling

The entire gag of this strip hinges on depicting a genuinely creepy monster, and Larson absolutely nails it with a praying mantis-esque creature squatting in the corner of the room. Again, The Far Side drops the weirdest possible thing into a domestic setting, however the humor comes from Mr. Lewis naively moving to prod such an obviously threatening creature. Once more, Larson’s monster humor strays close to actual horror, and there’s a definite Lynchian vibe about normal suburbanites living with a monstrosity that appeared in their house one day without rhyme or reason.

3

Silver Bullets

Larson’s Best Strips Are Short Stories in All But Name

The Far Side is at its best when it manages to tell a full story in a single image, and here it does exactly that – depending on how harshly the reader is judging thought bubbles as separate panels. The gag of a werewolf selling fake silver bullets is genius, but Larson takes the gag beyond the conceptual level by tying the ‘before and after’ together with the visual gag of a garish tie. Larson also embraces the horror by explicitly acknowledging that Edgar doesn’t survive his encounter with the Wolfman.

2

“Like the Peppered Moth”

Larson’s Best Strips Combine a Love of Language and Laugh-Out-Loud Visual Humor

Some Far Side comics don’t actually need their captions, as any quick-witted reader could work out the gag from the image alone. Arguably, that’s the case here, as Lola’s terrible taste in fashion and furnishings becomes a type of genius camouflage. However, Larson’s love of language shines through, with the animal comparisons and the phrasing of Harold’s fate adding to the end product, and making this one of Larson’s best strips. Particularly amusing is the fact that Harold doesn’t just not match the decor, but literally couldn’t be clashing harder with it if he tried.

1

King Kong’s Handkerchief

The Far Side’s Single Best Kaiju Gag

Clueless detectives are a classic comedy cliché, but here that’s taken to a new level as an investigator fails to identify which kaiju just laid waste to the city, despite having stumbled across a monogrammed handkerchief. Interestingly, Larson reveals in The Prehistory of The Far Side that this comic was originally from the opposite perspective, with two gigantic monsters walking away from a destroyed city, just as one realizes it has dropped this incriminating evidence.

Bonus: Monster in the Basement

While not technically starring an actual monster, this dark tale of fatherly discipline is too good not to include here. The diabolical contraption is a harsh parenting technique (especially in a world that actually does have monsters), and yet again speaks to Larson’s own childhood, when his brother would terrify him with promises of approaching monsters.

The Far Side may be seen as family fare, but it has a definite dark side that comes to the fore whenever monsters are involved, whether they be Frankenstein’s monster, King Kong, or nameless horrors who even dogs know better than to bark at.