Summary

• Gary Larson's absurd, idiosyncratic humor propelled The Far Side to success as a nationally syndicated newspaper comic strip, and has resulted in an enduring appeal that continues to attract new fans to his work.
• In The Prehistory of The Far Side, the strip's creator offered an analysis of the subtleties in some of his jokes – including several cases where the humor was actually too subtle, risking the potential of Larson's most dreaded reaction from his audience: no reaction.
• Larson's goal was always to provoke a response from his readers, whether it was laughter, shock, or confusion – usually, the subtlety of his humor helped him in this last category, though The Far Side's occasional "failures" at times came as a result of being overly "obtuse" or "esoteric."

Gary Larson once offered the perfect four-word description for The Far Side, paralleling the most frequent comments – and complaints – about the humor of his comic. Larson's absurdist humor was a staple of newspaper comic pages nationwide through the 1980s, until the mid-90s; as the artist freely itted, even during the peak of the strip's run, he was often as perplexed by his own jokes as any reader.

In The Prehistory of the Far Side, Larson offered "close readings" of several of his s, scrutinizing them in-depth in order to explain to the reader how the most seemingly minor details could make or break a joke's impact on the audience.

As part of his analysis of a particularly subtle joke, the creator offered vital insight into why some of his punchlines could be easy to miss – and in the process, summed up The Far Side using several words frequently associated with his work.

Gary Larson Perfectly Summed Up The Far Side In Four Words

"Confusing, Obtuse, Esoteric, Strange"

If anything, this is an example of Larson being too subtle with his humor, though he had some other choice words for this cowboy comic. "It's confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange," he wrote, adding that: "in other words, it's a Far Side cartoon."

In a section of The Prehistory entitled "Subtle Things," Gary Larson discoursed on exactly that: the myriad subtleties that make Far Side comics worth returning to again and again. Like a great novel, film, or television series, The Far Side rewards repeat engagement, as readers will frequently pick up things about a strip the second or third time looking at it, that may very well have gone over their heads the first time. This is perfectly illustrated by the author's step-by-step walkthrough of one particularly obscure cowboy joke.

Cowboys appeared frequently in The Far Side, but like any of the comic's many recurring elements, Gary Larson's Old West jokes ranged from laugh-out-loud hilarious, to total head-scratchers. One example of the latter featured a cowboy being tossed head-first through a saloon window – though as Larson explained, despite this bit of physical comedy being centered in the frame, it is not the actual punchline of the . As he described it:

I was thinking about Western films and that common scene of some guy getting thrown out the swinging downs and into the street. In this case, every customer in the place is either running or being thrown out – implying there's a pretty tough and angry character somewhere inside. And how tough a guy is this mystery person? Well, that's his bear parked outside.

For less-than-attentive readers, this is a case of a Far Side joke that can easily be glossed over entirely, without fully ing why or how it is funny.

Gary Larson openly acknowledged in The Prehistory that this was an issue, with The Far Side's creator going as far as to even say this joke "simply didn't work." If anything, this is an example of Larson being too subtle with his humor, though he had some other choice words for this cowboy comic. "It's confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange," he wrote, adding that: "in other words, it's a Far Side cartoon." In other words, it perfectly encapsulates the inscrutable nature that came to define the strip.

Far Side's "Confusing, Obtuse, Esoteric, Strange" Style Led To Success

And Occasional Failure

The subtle humor of The Far Side was one of its great joys, and most engaging qualities – but in some instances, it was responsible for s not getting the reaction Larson wanted from his audience.

The Far Side's creator made no secret of the fact that his humor could be just as mystifying to him as to his readers. According to Gary Larson, most obvious, over-the-top puns, to its most arcane inside jokes, the goal of every Far Side was to elicit a reaction from the reader.

The weirdness, iconoclasm, and occasional edginess of The Far Side were pillars of what made it successful. Gary Larson's humor may have often been "confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange," but this was precisely what drew people to it. The strip's frequently-quixotic nature proved to be captivating to readers, resulting in the comic becoming a national phenomenon, with Larson's work making him financially successful, in addition to being critically lauded. At the same time, as he demonstrated in The Prehistory, The Far Side's creator could at times take the subtlety of his work too far.

In the course of its fifteen-year run in syndication, Gary Larson produced thousands of Far Side cartoons. Not every one of these qualified as a success, at least by their creators' artistic standard. The subtle humor of The Far Side was one of its great joys, and most engaging qualities – but in some instances, it was responsible for s not getting the reaction Larson wanted from his audience. Even these "failures," however, were indicative of a larger success; The Far Side was a product of creative experimentation, and while not every experiment yields positive results, any result is better than nothing.

Gary Larson's Goal: Provoke A Response From His Readers

A Non-Reaction Was The Greatest Failure

The occasional "failure" of The Far Side to provoke a reaction provide an especially interesting case study, as a sort of control group for examining in juxtaposition with the voluminous "successful" examples of the strip over the years.

Gary Larson once described The Far Side as being designed to test his readers' "reflexes" – meaning that he wanted his art to garner an immediate reaction from his audience, with laughter being just one of several possible satisfying reactions. Not every Far Side comic was intended to provoke a laugh-out-loud reaction. Some where meant to make the reader exclaim "Oh God!" Others were deliberately crafted to puzzle the reader, eliciting a question of "What-the?" Subtlety was often key to testing this last reflex; that said, too-subtle of a joke could doom the to a non-reaction.

To Larson, the worst thing a reader could do when encountering the daily Far Side in the newspaper was glance at it and then immediately move on. In his discussion of the various reactions he sought to elicit through his work, Larson called a piece of art that gets a non-reaction "simply a creative effort that tanked." If his art could grab the reader's attention by being "confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange," that was great; it was only on occasion – such as with the strip featuring a bear with a saddle waiting for its rider outside a saloon – that this backfired.

The occasional "failure" of The Far Side to provoke a reaction provide an especially interesting case study, as a sort of control group for examining in juxtaposition with the voluminous "successful" examples of the strip over the years. Artistic success can only be quantified – as though by scientists in a laboratory – to a certain extent, but in any case, it is an exciting endeavor to use the insights into the comic's creation offered by Gary Larson over the years to deconstruct and analyze The Far Side, in order to achieve a greater understanding of what makes it so enduringly funny.

Source: The Prehistory of the Far Side; The Complete Far Side: Volume One