The 10 Funniest Far Side Comics Starring Apes

The Far Side is fondly remembered for chronicling the absurdity of the human condition – something it usually did best by using animals, including all manner of primates, as its characters in place of their more evolutionarily-advanced counterparts, humanity. While the talking dogs of The Far Side may be more fondly remembered, apes were frequently just as prominent among the strip’s coterie of anthropomorphized animals.

The absurd world of writer/artist Gary Larson’s comic often involved gorillas, and other members of the great ape family, including several appearances by the greatest of them all: King Kong. Among The Far Side’s various animal characters, gorillas seemed to occupy a unique space in Larson’s mind. He often portrayed them as dangerous, though at times they could be as hapless, or as jovial, as any Far Side characters. As with any collection of his strip’s recurring elements, a study of how Gary Larson used primates of all sizes in his work offers an insight into his one-of-a-kind creative mind.

10
They Don’t Make “Wet Paint” Signs That Big

First Published: January 9, 1981

In this Far Side panel, the amusement comes from Gary Larson’s depiction of a giant ape as a nuisance, rather than a destructive force. Here, a painter on a scaffold, hanging from the side of a skyscraper, shakes his fist in consternation as two large ape hands grab the side of the building that he’s just finished touching up. Rather than concern for his safety, the man responds as any painter would if someone touched their recently painted surface – with frustration that it will likely now need another coat.

9
Acme Tires Make The Best Swings

First Published: April 4, 1981

As often as gorillas appeared in The Far Side, so did Acme products, such as in this installment – though in this case, the Acme company is worse off for the apparent loss of one of its planes. The pair of gorillas depicted, meanwhile, are happy to have built a tire swing using the tire from a downed Acme Airlines flight, firmly secured to a tree branch by a vine. In his Far Side strips, Gary Larson tended to side with nature over civilization, when presented with the choice between the two, and this is one perfect example.

8
Gary Larson Depicts The Aftermath Of A Gorilla Attack

First Published: April 7, 1981

A gorilla might not physically appear in this Far Side panel, but it is the crux of the joke, as the caption reveals that the man, Jim, convalescing in a full head-to-toe body cast, was savaged by a gorilla. Standing over him, his friend –injured himself, in what the reader can infer was an attempt save Jim, though not as severely, as he sports a sling and a bandaged head – explains what happened to a doctor. “So there he was – this big gorilla just lying there,“ the man reveals, “and Jim here says, ‘do you suppose it’s dead or just asleep?’“

7
The Far Side Catches Two Gorillas Having A Deep Moment

First Published: January 12, 1984

“You know, Sid, I really like bananas,” one gorilla says to another in this Far Side panel. “I know it’s not that profound or nothin‘,” noting that all gorillas do, before contemplatively adding, “but for me, I think it goes far beyond that.” What the gorilla could be getting at with this moment of reflection is left to the reader to speculate on. Despite the surface-level absurdity of putting these words in the mouth of a great ape, talking about bananas, a deeper reflection on this panel reveals it to be one of Gary Larson’s most startling portrayals of real vulnerability in a character.

6
The Far Side Reveals The True Tragedy Of King Kong’s Ending

First Published: November 6, 1984

The Far Side often didn’t need any words to make a dark joke, as was the case with this strip, in which Gary Larson depicted a dog, sadly orphaned when its owner is crushed by King Kong’s fall. Of course, Kong’s rampage through 1930s New York City wouldn’t have been without its casualties, but Larson’s depiction of the film’s aftermath here is surprisingly emotionally complex. Not only is King Kong dead, but a person just trying to walk their dog has also lost their life in the process, and now their poodle is stranded at the gruesome scene, unsure what to do.

5
Innovation Comes Through Trial & Error, Even In The Far Side

First Published: February 2, 1985

This entry is not just one of the funniest Far Side panels feature gorillas, but one of the strip’s most hilarious jokes overall. Gary Larson playfully depicts the moment two wolves got the idea to infiltrate a flock of sheep by posing as sheep, giving rise to the famous idiom. It does this by showing two wolves in gorilla suits, watching sheep flee from them in fear. Having beta tested the idea of wearing disguises to get closer to the sheep, they proceed to fine tune the idea, realizing what they truly need is “sheep’s clothing! Sheep’s clothing!”

4
Maybe Write The Insulting Parts In Code Next Time

First Published: May 30, 1985

In another Far Side highlight, Larson delivers one of his funniest panels, this one featuring a researcher taking an ill-advised snooze up against a tree, while a crowd of giant gorillas loom over her, reading the embarrassing notes she’s written about them in her observations. “I’ve named the male one with the big ears Bozo,” one of the great apes reads, “and he is surely the nerd of the social group.” Hilariously, the eyes of the gorilla next to him – surely Bozo, the “primate bimbo” – widen at the realization that he’s been so thoroughly burned.

3
Some Iconic Movie Love Stories Were Never Sustainable

First Published: April 25, 1986

With this strip, Gary Larson reminded newspaper readers of one of cinema’s earliest, most iconic doomed love story: King Kong’s unrequited desire for Fay Wray’s character in the 1933 film King Kong, which introduced the famous giant ape. Here, Larson offers a silly interpretation of what their long-term outlook as a couple might have been, as Kong tries to hide his infidelity – literally, clutching a poor woman in his hand behind his back, as his wife demands to see it, exclaiming: “and if you’ve got another woman in it, you’re dog meat!“

2
Next Ask Him To Name Every Other Gorilla

First Published: December 1, 1986

Gary Larson returned to the idea of a gorilla suit a year after his “wolves in gorilla’s clothing” panel from 1985. This time, the circumstances were very different, though of near equal hilarity. This Far Side installment depicts a suspected fake gorilla surrounded by a group of real gorillas, who are clearly wise to the disguise. What makes this panel so funny is the way the impostor is clutching a notepad, with a pencil behind his ear, and a camera around his neck, and most amusingly, wearing sunglasses.

1
Gary Larson’s Best Work Came From Deconstructing The Familiar

First Published: December 3, 1986

Evidently, gorillas were on Gary Larson’s mind as 1986 drew to a close, as two of his funniest Far Side panels featuring great apes were published within days of each other. The second of these was one of Larson’s familiar interrogations of language, as he questioned what exactly the specific weight of the gorilla in the joke about the five-hundred pound gorilla means to the punchline. The joke goes like this:

Q: Where does a five-hundred pound gorilla sit?

A: Anywhere it wants it.

Larson tests this witticism by portraying a four-hundred pound gorilla – still by all accounts a massive, intimidating animal – totally stymied at the front desk of a hotel, in one of his most amusing deconstructions of language.

As the gorilla in this panel is told in no uncertain terms by an unsympathetic conceirge: “If you weighed 500 pounds, we’d certainly accommodate you – but it’s simply a fact that a 400 pound gorilla does not anywhere he wants to.” The logic of this is delightfully absurd, in The Far Side’s patented style, as the strip’s creator revels in the inherent silliness of this familiar quip, twisting it into something new and even funnier, to the delight of readers.