Gary Larson's thousands of The Far Side comics are a major comedic achievement, so if anyone should have the honor of rewriting "why did the chicken cross the road?", it makes sense it would be him. Larson's take on this iconic gag just turned 40, having originally been published in October of 1984. Thankfully for Far Side fans, it's not alone.

Here are the 10 funniest Far Side comics that just celebrated their fortieth birthday, including some of Larson's favorite recurring themes: inventive cavemen, scaredy-cat cowboys, and desert island mishaps.

10 Do Not Touch

Far Side's October 20, 1984 Comic

Dinosaurs are a huge deal across The Far Side's many comics, so it makes sense Larson would also have a minor obsession with fossils. The above is probably his most iconic fossil gag, taking place just after a museum visitor made a major mistake.

One of the other draws of fossil jokes is that they allow Larson to indulge his biggest obsession: silly scientists. Far Side's fossil gags include bizarre theories about their origins, childish behavior from the people meant to be studying them, and one dark comic where the dinosaurs return for revenge.

9 Handkerchief

Far Side's October 17, 1984 Comic

This comic is an amazing look into Larson's creative process. In The Prehistory of The Far Side, he includes a draft sketch of this gag, which shows two Godzilla-sized monsters walking away from a ruined city. One is patting its 'pockets' and exclaims, "My monogrammed handkerchief! I've left it behind... they'll know it was me!" Larson rethought where to set the joke, revisiting the scene of the crime and thus finding a way funnier way to use the monogram idea, making the perpetrator King Kong rather than a nameless monster.

Larson loves the iconic monsters Godzilla and King Kong, with the pair appearing in multiple Far Side comics. However, for our money, the handkerchief gag is still the best of the bunch.

8 Ain't a Rattler

Far Side's October 3, 1984 Comic

Far Side often visits the Wild West, puncturing the rough-and-tough reputation of cowboys. In this case, the telltale sound of a rattlesnake turns out to be something far more innocent, raising the question of how an entire person snuck into the cowboy's sleeping bag without him noticing.

7 Next Time It Won't Be Just Your Living Room

Far Side's October 1, 1984 Comic

Far Side loves to turn mobsters from violent threats to goofy figures of fun, often by flipping their violence into something way funnier. In this case, the threat to 'rearrange' someone's face becomes an aggressive form of feng shui.

Far Side's mobsters are rarely a true threat, though there are some occasions where they're genuinely nasty, such as threatening a clown and sentencing a victim to die 'by mime.'

6 I Think I See a Ship!

Far Side's October 4, 1984 Comic

The Far Side is iconic for its desert island comics, showing the unique social difficulties that only arise when two people are stranded together. This comic showcases Larson's skill for setting his comics just before the truly funny thing happens, allowing readers to imagine their own ideal version of the punchline. In this case, one stranded person has painted a boat on the glasses of the other, creating the 'illusion' that they're about to be saved (at least, playing by the Looney Tunes-style rules of The Far Side's world.)

5 The Limit on Those Things

Far Side's October 16, 1984 Comic

In The Complete Far Side, Larson its he knew he couldn't make every comic laugh-out-loud funny, but he could always make his readers exclaim "What the--?" That's clearly the case in this hunting comic, where a hunter brings back his catch of gnomes, only to be told that he's exceeded the hunting limit on the mythical creatures.

4 Animal Nerds

Far Side's October 18, 1984 Comic

In a family-friendly comic, a lot of insults are off the table. That explains why Larson loved to call his characters 'nerds,' whether they're wild animals, cowboys or even aliens. Gary Larson's nerd comics introduce basic social faux pas into unexpected contexts - in his case, a nerdy wolf ruining their pack's hunt by loudly bursting onto the scene.

Larson's other 'nerd' comics equip kangaroos with pocket protectors, sharks with AV equipment, and a Wild West hero with toilet paper stuck to his shoe.

3 Early Experiments

Far Side's October 23, 1984 Comic

Larson loves the theme of cavemen groping their way towards modern inventions, making major mistakes along the way. Perhaps none of these mistakes are worse than trying to invent the concept of a rideable wheel with the rider on the outside. As with the desert island gag, Larson focuses on the moment before disaster, somehow making that funnier than the punchline anyone else would write.

2 BEAR!

Far Side's October 2, 1984 Comic

This smart comic switches up the iconic Jaws moment where beachgoers flee the ocean after the titular shark attacks, this time with the underwater menace flipping the script to persuade its dinner to serve themselves up.

Sharks appear across The Far Side's 14-year run, with Larson delighting in giving the vicious predators mundane, workaday scenes where they discuss chowing down on human beings.

1 Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Far Side's October 5, 1984 Comic

Leave it to Gary Larson to rewrite the world's most famous joke, 'why did the chicken cross the road?' Not satisfied with the original anti-humor answer of 'to get to the other side' (funny because it presents the obvious answer, ignoring who is crossing the road altogether), Larson suggests that the chicken is actually a gadabout cheater. Not only that, but the original punchline becomes their feeble excuse to their outraged partner. This isn't the only Far Side strip to play around with this iconic joke, but for our money it is the best.

Those were the 10 funniest Far Side comics originally published in October of 1984, which just celebrated their fortieth year of being as hilarious as the day they were created.