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From silly, to strange, to borderline scary, The Far Sidewas all over the place, in the best possible way. Though the most memorable Far Side comics are usually the ones where Gary Larson left readers shocked, or stumped, there is a whole spectrum of humor that he employed during his career.
The comics collected here chart that spectrum, guiding readers from Gary Larson’s most harmless jokes to his edgiest humor, with confusing kind of Far Side comics covering the midpoint of the continuum.
The magic of The Far Side was its ability to be many different things, and that is what this list seeks to highlight.
The Far Side's Low Stakes Silly Comics Were Often Among Its Funniest
First Published: July 9, 1984
This cartoon represents The Far Side's humor at its most innocuous. Anyone can enjoy this joke, and even relate to it. Gary Larson crafts arguably the greatest "eye of the beholder" joke ever, by showing "how we see flowers" in parallel to "how they see themselves." The punchline is easy to connect with, and the imagery of the goofy-faced flowers is lighthearted and amusing.
Gary Larson’s ability to be silly often goes underappreciated in the discourse surrounding The Far Side, but it proved essential to the comic’s success during its 1980s and early ‘90s heyday. Moreover, in comparison to the more recognizable stranger, darker strands of Larson’s humor, this panel establishes that The Far Side could operate in wildly different modes.
This Far Side Comic Showcases Gary Larson's Ability To Introduce A Note Of Tension Into His Humor
First Published: August 21, 1984
This Far Side elephant comic is still pretty silly, but there is a slight edge to it, a note of interspecies tension as the differences between elephant and human cultural norms cause a minor stir at a dinner party. "Where I come from," the elephant says defensively, "it's considered a compliment to let fly with a good trumpeting after dinner."
The humans around the table, though, are evidently displeased with this behavior. It is a solid joke, which takes a scene of a human faux pas and launders it through Gary Larson’s signature use of animal characters. It’s still relatively harmless and easy for a wide audience to enjoy, but there is a taste of satire to it.
The Far Side Made Light Of Dark Subjects, And Was Damned Good At It
First Published: November 8, 1993
This Far Side comic is still fundamentally lighthearted, but it plays with darkness even while delivering an innocent enough joke about cold coffee. That is because the context of the joke is eternal suffering, thanks to Gary Larson's use of infernal iconography and hell as a setting, which in its own right tinges the comic with a hint of subversion.
Larson’s hellish Far Side cartoons are perhaps the most illustrative of his masterful ability to use clashing tones for comedic effect. The simple, silly nature of the “they thought of everything” punchline undermines the gravity readers might attach to the idea of hell, which is what makes the humor here so effective.
The Far Side's Humor Often Left Even Its More Astute Readers Scratching Their Heads
First Published: January 15, 1991
This Far Side comic is where things take a weirder, darker turn. It still has notes of silliness to it, but there is also the weight of the joke involving mortal peril for its characters. It also ranks as one of The Far Side's more confusing comics; at least, it is one of the few Gary Larson felt compelled to explain.
The joke is that the shellfish this stranded man thinks will be his salvation actually signals his and his wife's imminent demise, when the surf shifts from low tide to high tide. Still, this punchline requires either specific knowledge or some intuitive thinking, consequently leaving many Far Side fans unaware of just how grim the joke actually was.
The Far Side's Most Infamous Cartoon, "Cow Tools," Helped Solidify Its Reputation For Confusing Comedy
First Published: October 28, 1982
If there is one single panel that defines the Far Side, it is "Cow Tools." Over the years, it has retained the reputation of being Gary Larson's most confusing comic, and also the most recognizable. For better or worse, it is perhaps the defining piece of Larson's legacy as a cartoonist. It represents The Far Side at its most reader unfriendly, delivering a joke that Larson never realized would be so hard to get.
“Cow Tools” represents The Far Side at its most reader unfriendly, though unintentionally so. Gary Larson never realized the gag would be so hard to get. Plenty more Far Side comics would repeat this phenomenon over the years, with Larson making jokes that went over almost everyone’s heads, but none would reach this one’s particular, and peculiar, level of infamy.
Sometimes Weirdness Was An End Unto Itself For The Far Side
First Published: September 9, 1986
This Far Side cartoon represents the thin line between "confusing-strange" and "surreal-strange" that Gary Larson's comedic sensibility constantly tap danced along. Captioned "skin orchards," it depicts precisely that: disembodied skin hanging from trees in lieu of apples. Readers might understand the joke, in this case, but plenty of them will still be left confused, asking "why?"
In the same way "How Flowers See Themselves" was silly for the sake of silliness, this Far Side cartoon is weird for the sake of being weird. Many iconic Far Side cartoons fall into this category. Larson's humor was defined by weird imagery and weirder ideas, and he was comfortable making his readers slightly uncomfortable, as this cartoon highlights.
The Far Side's Dark Humor Was Often Used To Mask A Serious Point
First Published: April 7, 1984
This cartoon stands out as a perfect example of The Far Side's capacity for blending light and dark humor, while also adding a note of social critique. The panel features a deer hiding behind a tree, being pursued by a hunter. "He's trying to shoot me, all right," the panicked deer thinks, its mind racing to figure out why.
"Do I know this guy?" it hilariously asks itself, in one of Larson's many lampoons of hunting. The competing tones of the joke are tied together by the point Larson is making: that if the deer character were human, this would be a scene of terror, yet deer are expected to be chased by men with rifles.
This Far Side Cartoon Stands Out As Gary Larson's Harshest Social Critique
First Published: July 10, 1992
This captionless Far Side cartoon takes the strain of dark satire present in the previous panel and cranks it up several notches. Here, Gary Larson makes the provocative argument that smoking is tantamount to suicide, by featuring a Camel cigarette van in the same fram as "Al's Hanging Ropes" and "ACME Guns."
It is a punchline that will come off as shocking and abrasive to many, but its “saving grace,” so to speak, is that Larson is making a point, offering up a serious social critique. This was usually subtext in The Far Side, but here Larson makes it text, and the result is one of his darkest cartoons, but also among his most significant.
Gary Larson Got In Trouble For The Far Side's Dungeon Cartoons, But It Was A Calculated Comedic Risk
First Published: October 22, 1993
Again, Gary Larson's creative M.O. here involves conflicting tones, except the darkness of the cartoon is much darker than before. That is supposed to make the silly element of the punchline feel that much sillier, but the flip side is that it can be off-putting to a segment of The Far Side's audience.
In other words, Larson's decision to use the dungeon location was a creative gamble every time he did it. The results were some of The Far Side's most controversial entries. Here, the joke is that a masked dungeon-master is studying a manual on "Inner Torture" to compliment the pain he's inflicting on his captives' spirit, a bleak punchline that not everyone will connect with.
The Far Side Goes Frighteningly Dark In This Late-Career Gary Larson Cartoon
First Published: December 6, 1994
This Far Side comic, published in the final month of Gary Larson's career, is his humor at its most unrestrained. Many, many Far Side comics involved murder, or the threat of violent death, but this one centers on a character's struggle with homicidal ideation brought on by deeply nihilistic thinking.
Larson debatably takes it “too far” here, but for people whose bleak sense of humor matches his own, that is what makes this Far Side comic a success. In any case, it represents The Far Side at its most unrelentingly dark, making it the perfect anchor point for this end of the spectrum of Gary Larson’s humor.
