Gary Larson’s The Far Side is one of the most iconic comic strips of all time, beloved by fans decades after it was originally published. Launched in 1980, The Far Side is famous for its love of nature, surreal sense of humor, and morbid obsession with human mortality. Those themes – as well as Larson’s love of cavemen, chickens and talking dogs – can be found in these hilarious comics that just turned 40 years old.

Published in May 1984, each of these strips just hit the big 4-0. This list collects the ten best strips from the month, putting them in the context of Larson’s past and future strips, as well as The Far Side creator’s biggest obsessions and best jokes across the franchise’s history. With Larson producing 7 strips a week at the time, there’s plenty to choose from in picking the best of the best. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite comic in our end-of-article poll, and have your say on which strip deserves the number 1 spot.

10

The Outdoors – Published May 3, 1984

Gary Larson’s Conservationist Streak Inspired Multiple Comics

Gary Larson rarely gets political in the pages of The Far Side, and it’s even uncommon for his strips to have any kind of ‘message.’ However, one idea that Larson returns to again and again is the need for conservation, and the senseless ways in which humans thoughtlessly harm the world they live in. In an interview with 20/20 in 1986, Larson was asked if he had more respect for animals than for humans, jokingly replying that would be an accurate assumption, and commenting, “I’ve never met an Irish Setter I didn’t like.” Throughout his professional life, Larson has put his money where his mouth is, fundraising for various conversationist charities over his career.

That perspective comes through in this stirp, which sees two loggers taking a break, as one expresses his love of working in the great outdoors – blithely unaware that he spends all day destroying the natural world that apparently calls to him so much. Plenty of Larson’s comics see animals getting some kind of twisted vengeance on humans who trespass in their domains – whether it’s sharks tricking beach-goers into the water or bears puppeteering the skulls of unlucky campiers – hower this strip is a little more bleak and, in 2024, as pointed as ever.

9

Lemmings – Published May 11, 1984

The Far Side Pokes Fun at a Common Misconception

In this comic, Larson depicts a group of lemmings running off a cliff. However, rather than falling to its doom, one of the rodents is enjoying the opportunity to make a splash. The Far Side has a bunch of lemming comics with the same basic theme, tapping into one of the most widely believed ‘nature facts’ that’s not even close to true.

For fans of The Far Side, it’s perhaps odd that Larson doesn’t have even more comics about lemmings. Larson loves the natural world and slightly morbid jokes, while his strips tend to thrive when they can play off a pre-existing understanding or narrative, subverting it in unique ways. Given lemmings offer all three packaged into one furry creature, they might have been a more appropriate mascot for the series than Larson’s beloved cows.

The misconception that lemmings will stampede off cliffs to their doom is generally attributed to Disney’s documentary White Wilderness, which showed the rodents doing exactly that. However, it was later discovered that the scenes had been faked, with the film crew not just forcing the lemmings off the cliff, but even bringing the animals with them, since they weren’t native to the Alberta locale chosen for filming. It’s a grim backstory that nature-lover Larson surely knew and couldn’t help mocking time and time again.

8

Kangaroos vs Wallabies – Published May 15, 1984

Gary Larson Imagines a Bizarre Link Between Kangaroos & Crime

Thankfully, this goofy comic doesn’t have any hidden darkness, but it does once again celebrate Larson’s love of nature. The gag hinges on the similarity between kangaroos and wallabies – similar-looking marsupials that differ mostly in size. Larson finds a practical context for that misunderstanding, turning the situation into a police line-up where a ruffled witness struggles to identify the right marsupial. It’s a perfect example of what makes Larson such a great joke writer, instinctively sensing the point of connection between two very disparate ideas. This is a quality that Stephen King praised in his foreword to The Far Side Gallery 2, writing, “he sees what I could see if I could have his eyes.”

Less explicable are Larson’s other comics where kangaroos are linked to criminal behavior. In those cases, fans are forced to assume that Gary Larson simply has some kind of grudge against marsupials.

7

Talking Dog – Published May 14, 1984

Gary Larson Loves a Talking Dog

While Larson is capable of laugh-out-loud gags, he also often creates comics that get funnier and funnier the more you think about them. In this case, a talking dog appears on TV, where the producers have set up cue cards to dictate its response to their questions. The notion of a TV show stumbling across a real talking dog but still feeling the need to fake such a minor aspect of their coverage is perfectly surreal. Of course, Buffy is far from the only talking dog in The Far Side‘s long history.

6

Scribbled – Published May 4, 1984

Larson’s Stick Figure Comics Are Some of His Best

While Gary Larson’s art style is minimalistic, longtime Far Side fans know it’s also instantly recognizable. Even Larson made a joke out of his tendency to draw the same basic figures again and again, with one strip revealing The Far Side‘s cast – a troupe of fictional actors who ‘play’ Larson’s characters, explaining why (for example) all his scientists tend to look the same.

Larson’s stick figure comics are therefore a refreshing change, taking a totally different approach to depicting the average person. Of course, Larson being Larson, The Far Side‘s stick figures only appear when he has a joke that depends on their simplified appearance – the earliest of which is from when Larson was only seven years old.

A lot of The Far Side‘s best gags break the fourth wall in this way, often messing with the ‘rules’ of comic art to tell a unique joke. In this case, a comic character finds themselves suffering from a unique malady brought about by their artist scrawling them in a hurry.

5

Early Vegetarians – Published May 8, 1984

It Wouldn’t Be The Far Side Without Cavemen

Next to cows, The Far Side‘s most famous recurring characters are its cavepeople, with Larson often using the characters to present the discovery of some modern concept, usually simplified down to a ludicrous extent – for example cavemen inventing checkers on a board with only two squares. In this case, however, Larson goes for pure surrealism, as early vegetarians triumphantly carry a mammoth-sized carrot back from the ‘hunt.’ While Larson’s art style may be minimalistic, he never misses the chance to improve on a gag, giving each of the ‘hunters’ a shovel in place of a spear.

4

Your Cat’s Gonna Be Fine – Published May 24, 2024

Far Side Loves the Classic Dog vs Cat Cartoon Cliché

Dog vs cat is a classic cliché of comic humor, and Larson’s never been above depicting this elemental struggle. As stated earlier, one of Larson’s greatest strengths as a joke-teller is tapping into existing narratives with clear rules, then subverting them. The animosity between dogs and cats is the perfect example – Larson uses a premise that all fans immediately understand but then adds a surreal twist. As usual, the dog wants to get at the cat, but in the world of The Far Side, it does so using a complex human disguise to fool the emergency services.

Larson’s appreciation of nature means that his depictions of animal rivalries are often a little more ‘red in tooth and claw’ than other comics, and his most controversial strips have been accused of finding humor in animal cruelty. Perhaps the most controversial of all is Larson’s infamous ‘Tethercat’ comic, for which the strip above could actually be read as a prequel.

3

Humpty Dumpty – Published May 31, 1984

If Humpty Dumpty Didn’t Exist, Gary Larson Would Have Had to Create Him

Nursery rhymes are another example of a narrative with established characters and rules that Larson can subvert. In this case, Humpty Dumpty survives his fall from the wall, only for the structure to begin a lethal descent while he celebrates. Larson has several comics exploring Dumpty’s fate, always pulling on a different thread of the popular rhyme – for example, if Humpty Dumpty is an egg, what’s growing inside? And how might the remains of a giant egg be put to good use once the King’s horsemen have failed to resurrect it?

2

Let Me Drive! – Published May 22, 2024

Far Side Characters Know They’re in REAL Trouble Once They Get a Name

While Larson uses surrealism, darkness and the subversion of popular narratives in his comics, sometimes a goofy visual is all it takes to earn a big laugh. In this strip, a couple get so lost while driving that they find themselves on the moon, looking up to discover the Earth itself has become a distant landmark. As ever, Larson’s gags get even funnier when you try to imagine the moments directly before or after they happened – while it’s fair that Elroy’s wife is demanding to drive given the mess he’s gotten them into, why didn’t she feel compelled to get involved a little earlier, for instance when the planet began to recede into the distance?

1

Chicken Soup – Published May 18, 1984

One of Far Side’s Most Popular Comics Just Turned 40

Our pick for the funniest Far Side comic published in May 1984 is this iconic strip where a sick chicken is given some nourishing chicken soup to drink, reassured with the dark promise that, “it’s nobody we know.” Chickens appear throughout The Far Side, with Larson finding humor in both their limited lifespans and the sheer weirdness of dropping them into unexpected situations. Larson’s gags don’t extend much sympathy to poultry, but they do acknowledge that – perhaps like humans – they don’t get much choice in the cards they’re dealt, so they may as well make the best of it.

Those were Screen Rant’s picks for the funniest Far Side comics published in May 1984 – be sure to vote below for which of Gary Larson’s comics you think have best stood up to the test of time over the last four decades.