One of the best things about Calvin grew up in the ‘80s/’90s, and that’s apparent in the Calvin and Hobbes comic, and the Peanuts comic is similarly indicative of its time.
The reason that comparison is important is that The Far Side is free of those restraints, allowing Far Side comic could be set in the Old West, and another could occur during Medieval Times. And it’s that last one that’s especially notable in this case, as The Far Side has no shortage of comic strips that went full-on Medieval, and fans of the comic absolutely must check them out. Here are the 10 best ones!
10 Egg-Toss Gladiators
A Medieval King Forces His Warriors to Do a Strange Activity Before Fighting to the Death
A medieval king looks down into a fighting pit at a number of gladiators about to battle each other to the death for his entertainment, and he's telling them exactly what's in store for them. As they assumed, they were going to have to fight each other to the death, and the king made that clear right from the start. However, the king then includes an activity that is decidedly shocking given the circumstances: egg-toss.
Egg-toss is a game widely associated with the Easter holiday, not medieval fighting pits. To play the game, teams of two throw an egg back and forth, and for every catch, they each take a step back away from each other. The last team to not have dropped their egg wins. It's a fun game for the whole family, making the fact that a medieval king is forcing his gladiators to play it before they kill each other absolutely hilarious.
9 Round Table Discussions
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table Have Hilarious Discussions in The Far Side
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are sitting at the fabled Round Table, discussing things of importance to the kingdom. These men represent the best of the best in of medieval leadership, making anything they have to discuss of the utmost importance. At least, that's what many might assume, which is why the actual conversation they're having is delightfully silly.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table aren't discussing the best ways to rule the kingdom, and they're not talking about any missions or quests. Instead, they're talking about the table itself, and that whoever among them is sticking gum underneath the Round Table needs to stop immediately. Not exactly the Round Table discussion many would assume, which is why this medieval Far Side comic is hilarious.
8 Dangers of Lances
A Far Side Knight Gets Struck By Lightning Because of His Lance
During Medieval Times, a knight would ride into battle on horseback with his lance in-hand, ready to use it to defeat whatever opponent came riding towards them on their horse. The lance was the ultimate offensive and defensive weapon for those on horseback, with little to no disadvantages of note. Unfortunately, that's not the case in The Far Side, as the comic reveals a hidden danger to knights who wield lances: getting struck by lightning.
This Far Side knight is holding his lance up in the air just like the other knights around him, but he's the unlucky one that got struck by lightning, as the electricity in the air was attracted to the metal of his lance. It's a pretty rare occurrence, to be sure, but an unseen danger all the same during Medieval Times.
7 Morbid Marshmallows
The Far Side Features a Messed Up Marshmallow Brand
Two knights are sitting by a campfire with their horses standing behind them, each night with a marshmallow on the end of their swords, roasting over the open flame. The visual of knights using their swords to roast marshmallows is hilarious enough, as that's the last thing those swords should be used for (and, if the swords have been used to kill people, there's no way they're good to eat off of). However, The Far Side takes this joke one step further with the name of the brand of marshmallows the knights are eating: Joan of Arc Marshmallows.
Joan of Arc was famously burned at the stake during the Hundred Years' War, which makes the name of this marshmallow brand morbidly hilarious, especially when the marshmallows are being roasted.
6 Water Balloon Warfare
These Far Side Knights are Defending Their Castle… with Water Balloons
An army of enemy soldiers is storming a medieval castle, and the knights standing guard are doing everything they can to defend their home. Unfortunately, they exist in The Far Side, so they're not doing a very good job. Indeed, the knights are using water balloons to try to keep the enemies at bay, but they quickly learn that it's having no effect. Sure, the enemy soldiers are getting wet, and that can't be ideal during a battle (especially if a water balloon hits them in the face), but it's certainly not a deadly-enough method of defense.
While the knights learn that they need to switch to boiling oil to defend their castle, the fact that they thought water balloons would work at all proves how comically terrible these knights are at their job.
5 Headless Knight
This Far Side Knight is Killed Before He Can Surrender
Two knights are engaged in a sword fight, and one of them has already cut off the other one's head. After decapitating his foe, the knight says to him, "Give up, Sir James... You've lost", which is absolutely hilarious, because at this point in the fight, Sir James has no choice but to 'give up'... he's dead. Usually, when someone tells their opponent to give up because they've already lost, their opponent is still alive, and they're giving them the chance to surrender. But, Sir James didn't get that luxury, as the first knight had already killed him.
This is a funny example of how brutal these sword fights could be during Medieval Times, with a level of humor that fans might expect to see in a Monty Python movie.
4 Dumb Knights
This Far Side King is Dealing with Some Incompetent Knights
A king is standing in his throne room, angered greatly by the incompetence of his knights, as they have brought him the bed of a man the king wanted the head of. The king ordered the execution of someone, and he expected his knights to deliver on that order. But, they obviously misheard the king, as they brought him the target's bed rather than his head. This is a classic case of misunderstanding, and the backdrop of Medieval Times only makes it that much funnier, especially since it's a fair assumption that these 'dumb knights' will likely be killed for their incompetence.
But whether the king actually takes his anger out on these incompetent knights, the scene depicting him dealing with them in this Far Side comic is funny enough to make this a hilariously notable moment in the comic strip's Medieval Times era.
3 Knight vs Dragon
This Far Side Knight is Already Dead, He Just Doesn’t Know It
Knights and dragons are basically mortal enemies in stories set during Medieval Times, even if knights never actually fought dragons in real life (at least, as far as people today know). But, medieval knights certainly fought dragons in The Far Side, including in this particular comic strip. Well, 'fight' might be a bit generous, as this knight was dead the moment he rode up to the dragon, he just didn't know it.
8 Times The Far Side Made Us Wish Dragons Were Real
Dragons were an early staple of "The Far Side"; this list celebrates Gary Larson's best dragon jokes, while investigating why they didn't appear more.
The knight rode his horse to the dragon's nose, thinking the nostril was a cave in which the dragon was living. The knight didn't know that the 'cave' he was screaming into was actually the dragon's nose, which (if established knowledge of dragon-lore serves) can shoot fire. That means this dragon won't even have to raise its head to kill the knight, making this particular medieval 'fight' pretty one-sided.
2 Pacifistic Knight
This Far Side Knight Wants to End a Battle Before Anyone Gets Hurt
This Far Side comic throws readers right into the heart of a medieval battle, with both sides hacking and slashing each other with swords and axes, all in the name of their respective kingdoms. But, before things got too intense, one knight looked around and realized that this battle might result in some pretty gnarly injuries. So, the knight raises his arms and stands above the other medieval warriors and shouts, "Hey! C'mon! Hold it! Hold it!... Or someone's gonna get hurt!".
Obviously, this knight is a pacifist who has never been in a battle before, because he's talking like a kid who's the responsible friend in a playful brawl on the playground, not a medieval knight willing to kill and die for his kingdom. In other words, it's utterly absurd in a way that only The Far Side can be.
1 Cardboard Armor
Medieval Scientists in The Far Side were a Knight’s Worst Enemy
This Far Side comic reveals that there were scientists during Medieval Times (white lab coats and all) who experimented with different types of armor worn by knights. While most people think of steel when considering a knight's armor, these scientists thought outside the box, and experimented with all sorts of things, including cardboard. One knight in this comic strip is wearing armor made of cardboard, and the scientists are about to see if it will hold up against a lance (spoiler: it won't).
Medieval scientists in The Far Side seemed to use knights as their own personal test subjects, and in this case, that would make them a knight's worst enemy. But, it also makes for a pretty funny cartoon, making this one of the funniest times The Far Side went full-on medieval.
