Gary Larson once itted one Far Side comic he created parodying the film Ishtar was the only comic strip he ever needed to apologize for. The strip took place in "Hell's Video Store," where the only video available for rent was the polarizing 1987 film. The legendary comic creator would later reveal to have never seen Ishtar when making the joke, and upon seeing it, realized he had made a big mistake in his takedown of it.
The Far Side is a classic one- surrealist comic from Gary Larson that makes observations on humanity, often with animals and nature. The comic strip, which ran for more than 15 years in syndication in the newspaper, ended in 1995 but returned in 2020 on Larson's website. Far Side is no stranger to controversy, as Larson has revealed he thought his comic strip could potentially end his career. However, Larson has gone on the record for saying that one strip taking shots at the 1987 film Ishtar was one he regretted.
In The Complete Far Side. Vol. 3, Gary Larson opened up about one of his biggest career regrets. In the comic strip "Hell's Video Store," Larson showcased a rental store in Hell that only had copies of a single movie. Larson was poking fun at the 1987 adventure-comedy film Ishtar, starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, which was a polarizing box office bomb at the time but would later gain cult status. With Ishtar being the only movie available to rent in Hell, the strip suggested how bad it truly was. However, Larson later itted that this Far Side comic was a mistake, as he never actually saw Ishtar before making the strip.
The Ishtar Strip Is The Only Far Side Comic Larson Felt He Needed To Apologize For
Ultimately, Larson later realized his error in calling-out Ishtar in Far Side after actually seeing the movie while on an airplane, as he wrote that he was "stunned" to be entertained by the film. While sharing that Ishtar wasn't the greatest film he'd ever seen, he wrote his piece "was way off the mark." Larson said that while there are many comics he probably should have apologized for throughout his storied original run on Far Side, the Ishtar strip was the "only one" he felt compelled to do so.
The Far Side strip poking fun at Ishtar has a special place in the comic's history, as it's the only one Larson actually apologized for in his career. In the end, he put his ego aside and itted he unfairly judged the movie and criticized it without ever seeing it. The Far Side creator sharing his mistake shows that even the most talented and self-aware cartoonists can accidentally cross a line without initially realizing it. Thankfully, after seeing the movie for himself, Gary Larson understood an apology was warranted for the Far Side comic.
