The Far Side was full of pop culture references, many of which go unrecognized today because new generations of readers lack the context to understand what Gary Larson was riffing on. While these comics will spark nostalgia for some, they are likely to produce confusion in an increasingly large number of Far Side readers, as fans continue to discover the comic, but not necessarily all its influences.

Certainly, many of The Far Side’s references, such as its poked fun at Superman, have stood the test of time, remaining as widely recognizable to contemporary audiences a quarter-century into the 21st century as they were thirty to forty years ago.

Just as many, though, continue to grow more obscure by the day; the Far Side comics collected here just scratch the surface of the deep-cut callbacks that modern readers as missing when they engage with Gary Larson’s work.

8 Laurel And Hardy Bring Armageddon In This Early Far Side Comic

First Published: March 18, 1980

Laurel and Hardy were an early 20th-century comedy duo, with their career originating in the silent film-era and extending into the 1950s. For a diehard few, their names remain a touchstone, synonymous with a certain brand of slapstick humor, one that Gary Larson at times emulated, or at least echoed, with The Far Side.

That said, it’s safe to say that the number of people who will recognize caricatures of the pair, whom this Far Side comic features fleeing from a nuclear explosion in the background, with the caption (“now you’ve done it!) implying that they set off the bomb, has significantly diminished since it was first published forty-five years ago, in 1980. The humor here relies on the screwball ixture of an atomic weapon and two goofball comedians, but if readers don’t recognize what Laurel and Hardy signify here, the joke doesn’t land the same.

7 The Far Side Reminds Readers That It's The Warmongers' Party And They'll Do What They Want

First Published: May 29, 1982

Variations on the phrase “suppose they gave a war and nobody came” can be traced back to the mid-1960s, as America’s military entanglement in Vietnam was reaching its peak, and became popular slogans during the anti-war protests that have become emblematic of the end of the decade. Here, Gary Larson envisions a group of high-ranking military officials gathered around a map of the world, riffing on this phrase, alluding to the possibility that they could start World War III.

“What if we gave a war and everybody came,” a wide-eyed general says, kicking back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. In this way, Larson skillfully inverts the meaning of the phrase, which is meant to evoke the idea that soldiers could refuse to fight in future wars. Yet if readers don’t recognize the original phrase, this joke is more likely to be lost on them.

6 A Candidate For The Far Side's Deepest Cut Cultural Reference

First Published: November 28, 1984

This cartoon ranks in contention for The Far Side’s most obscure reference; that is because the chance that younger readers, even those who are exceptionally well-versed in 20th-century culture, will get the joke is effectively nil. The features a cow standing contemplatively by her living room window, sipping a martini, and turning to it to her husband, a beer-swilling bull, that she is “not content.”

Here, Gary Larson’s use of anthropomorphized cow characters, but knowledge of the reference will certainly instill a deeper appreciation for the punchline in Far Side fans.

5 The Far Side's Love Letter To 20th-Century Science Icon Carl Sagan

First Published: May 23, 1985

Of all the entries on this list, Carl Sagan probably enjoys the most lasting reputation, but his name is still not as synonymous with the wonders of space exploration as it would have been in 1985, when Gary Larson published this Far Side joke about a young Sagan. “There must be hundreds of them!” the future astronomer says, pointing up at the stars, in a punchline that is actually touching for the way that it evokes the simplicity of childhood, with the adolescent Sagan only able to conceive of a small number of stars in comparison to the infinity he would come to later understand.

Gary Larson’s love of scientists is well-cataloged, but this cartoon stands out for the way it namechecks one of the all-time greats of Larson’s own era, someone he was presumably a major irer of. In other words, this is perhaps The Far Side’s humor at its most gentle, something that comes across even to contemporary readers, despite the fact that the full humor of the joke might be less overly recognizable.

4 The Effect Of This Far Side Reference To Classic TV Has Gotten Lost Over The Years

First Published: November 9, 1990

This cartoon is this list’s representative of an entire branch of The Far Side’s humor; its references to classic TV and movies. These jokes serve as Easter Eggs for viewers whose understanding of 20th century pop culture is flawlessly on point, but for many fans, especially younger ones, the humor of these jokes can be elusive.

Here, this Far Side joke uses quicksand to get to the punchline, but the punchline itself is a reference to a 1950s Western TV show, The Cisco Kid, and the sidekick’s over-the-top accent. It can definitely be argued that this joke doesn’t hold up, compared to most Far Side cartoons, because of its “low-hanging-fruit” gag, especially considering that modern readers have lost almost all connection to the joke, or context for why it might put a smile on their faces, the way it must have for Gary Larson when he came up with it.

3 This Far Side Spoof Of Another Legendary Comic Is Low-Key Hilarious, If You "Get" It

First Published: November 4, 1991

For many readers, when they first encounter this Far Side cartoon, their response will be "What the?", because the artistic rendering of the character in the foreground of the frame is so radically different from Gary Larson’s usual style. That is because the “Mark Trail” whose “poaching operation” is being taken down in this comic is another syndicated newspaper cartoon character, one whose proprietary style Larson does a remarkable job of capturing.

However, the artistic nuance of this cartoon won’t be fully appreciated by readers unfamiliar with Mark Trail, and the comedic irony, which features a famously pro-environment, pro-conservation character being revealed as a poacher, will be lost on modern audiences as well. Judged fully on its merits, in the context of its referential nature, this is actually a high-level Far Side joke, but it is unfortunately condemned to obscurity, at least until a future Mark Trail reboot makes the character culturally relevant again.

2 The Far Side Shouts Out The Legendary George Burns In This Classic Comic

First Published: December 31, 1991

Actor and comedian George Burns died less than five years after this futuristic Far Side cartoon was published, at the age of 100, to give readers some context for the longevity, as an individual, and as a performer, that Gary Larson was poking fun at here. In this captionless , Larson envisions Burns as still being alive, and still working, in the far-flung future; though this didn’t come to , it is a testament to how ubiquitous Burns would have been in of name recognition, in order to make this punchline work.

Unfortunately, in the nearly thirty years since Burns ed away, his instant recognizability has understandably decreased; film buffs will certainly recognize his name, and be able to conjure the image of his face from films such as the Oh, God movies, which ittedly came in the later stages of his career. In any case, the best case scenario is that this Far Side cartoon will send readers unfamiliar with Burns straight to Google, where they will hopefully develop an appreciation for his role in 20th century comedy.

1 This Far Side Reference Was Too Obscure Even For Gary Larson

First Published: August 10, 1992

"Dogs Playing Poker" is a significant piece of 20th-century visual iconography, but it is worth questioning to what extent it has extended into the new millennium. Here, Gary Larson jokingly reveals the early artistic struggles of the famous image, depicting him on the street, unsuccessfully selling a stack of portraits of various animals playing poker, with the caption explaining that his career hinged on “that fateful day when a friend say…’have you tried dogs playing poker?’

Curiously, this Far Side comic in itself contains the best evidence of its own obscurity; in what Larson called one of his biggest Far Side regrets, he identifies the painter by the name “Gus Nickerson,” when in actuality the real creator’s name was Cassius Marcus Coolidge. Larson later came to believe that this impacted the effect of the punchline, but the fact that he didn’t know the artist’s name at the time shows that it was relatively unknown even in the early 1990s. Decades later, for many Far Side readers, there will be no discernible difference between “Gus Nickerson” and the Cassius Marcus Coolidge, except perhaps that the latter is much cooler-sounding.