Gary Larson’s The Far Side is known for combining animal insight with a uniquely surreal perspective, often courting darkness without losing its trademark ‘funny pages’ charm. However, that’s often because its more macabre and scatological comics were intercepted by editors, who Larson has often credited with saving his career by making sure his most controversial material never saw the light of day. However, there was one occasion where an editor turned down a Far Side comic, only to gladly accept it for publication after Larson made it even darker.
In The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson shares his most controversial comics, as well as those which were rejected from publication. The section on ‘Rejected Cartoons’ begins with a comic fans may know – a line of ants carrying a baby towards an ant hill, as their leader shouts that there’s no way the prospective meal is actually going to fit. Larson reveals that the comic originally depicted an old man instead of a baby, and was turned down with the two-word response “No thanks!” However, once Larson swapped the old man for a child – a move which seemingly makes the comic even more objectionable – the comic was accepted without comment.
Far Side’s Creator Still Doesn’t Understand One Editorial Decision
Figure this one out: When I originally drew and submitted this cartoon, the ants were carrying an older man. That’s it, everything else was identical. The cartoon came back to me, unused, with the words “no thanks” written across it from my editor. I waited a few weeks, and then resubmitted the cartoon – only this time with a baby substituted for the man. And then they accepted it! I’m still scratching my head about that one.
Larson reveals he’s still nonplused by the decision, which seemingly saw a far darker version of the joke accepted. However, even Larson’s decision to add the baby was a peculiar move. After all, when The Far Side attracted controversy, it was most often when there was any suggestion of cruelty to children or animals. Indeed, a comic in which a fairy tale witch eats the children she’s been asked to babysit resulted in hate mail for Larson.
Far Side’s Darkness Is Part of the Charm
The long tenure of The Far Side appearing in newspapers and collections across the world mean that it was subject to a shifting set of expectations. Larson notes in The Prehistory of The Far Side that his early comics were banned from including outhouses, while skulls had to be drawn in an exaggerated, comical manner to make it past the censor. Rejected cartoons include a dead man propped at a piano (who is “decomposing”), a surgeon throwing human offcuts to a dog, and a baby who flies off like a balloon when its umbilical cord is cut. In this context, it’s strange that the baby-devouring ants ever made it to the page, let alone that this version was found more acceptable than the bugs carrying an adult.
The Far Side is far from the darkest comic around, but Larson’s appreciation for nature “red in tooth and claw” does give it a certain edge that longtime fans can immediately identify. In the case of this Far Side comic however, the joke couldn’t see print until Gary Larson took his first version of the gag and found a way to make it even darker.
