Summary

• Discover key aspects of Gary Larson's humor through a study of the iterative "kill marking" jokes in The Far Side.
• Larson's humor mutates over time, offering variations on punchlines and themes, essential to understanding his career.
• Dive into Larson's unique sense of humor with "kill marking" jokes, each iteration presenting a fresh, absurd take on the original gag.

While The Far Side didn't have recurring characters or ongoing storylines in the traditional sense, Gary Larson's infamous comic was highly iterative in its own way – perhaps best illustrated by one dark visual gag that repeated in several different forms over the course of The Far Side's time in publication.

The Far Side's "kill marking" jokes were a series of s produced in the early years of the cartoon; by studying them in sequence, readers can observe some key aspects of Gary Larson's approach to humor.

As Far Side readers will recognize, Larson's jokes had a way of reappearing in different contexts, with different strains of the author's humor mutating over the years, leading to variations on the same punchlines, as much as on the same themes. It can be argued that understanding the repetitions in The Far Side is essential to understanding Gary Larson's career as a whole.

The Far Side's First "Kill Marking" Joke Came At Snoopy's Expense

First Published: July 18, 1980

Gary Larson extrapolated the "kill marking" punchline of this strip from a convergence of his knowledge of real-world history and his idiosyncratic perspective on Peanuts' classic Red Baron reference.

History-savvy readers will know that aerial combat first became a thing in the early 20th century, during World War I. At this time, the tradition arose of pilots keeping track of their kill count by painting a silhouette of an enemy plane on the side of their fighter, which Gary Larson artfully lampooned repeatedly in The Far Side.

The Far Side contained more than one nemesis being the real-life "Red Baron," a German fighter ace – a rivalry which Larson considers the bleak, if realistic, endpoint of in this .

Here, Larson depicts a grim-faced Baron, walking away from his plane with a paintbrush in hand, having just added a silhouette of Snoopy atop his doghouse alongside the outlines of four other warplanes he's downed. As iconoclastic as the joke might seem at first, it derives naturally from a "realistic" outcome of Snoopy's pretend scenario; in other words, it takes the lighthearted humor of Snoopy imagining himself as an equal to the Red Baron in combat and inverts it by making him no more than the Baron's latest victim.

The key thing to note, though, is the fact that Gary Larson extrapolated the "kill marking" punchline of this strip from a convergence of his knowledge of real-world history and his idiosyncratic perspective on Peanuts' classic Red Baron reference. Moving forward, Larson would find different contexts in which to use this joke again, making it equal parts more absurd and grim with each ing iteration of the joke. Each version, in turn, offers another opportunity to explore Gary Larson's singular sense of humor.

Gary Larson's Second "Kill Marking" Joke Came Soon After The First

First Published: January 9, 1982

It is worth considering why this joke stuck with Gary Larson; ultimately, it comes down to the clear visual signifier of the "kill markings."

Approximately six months after The Far Side's Red Baron "kill marking" joke, Gary Larson returned to the idea, transposing it from the skies over Europe during World War I to ambush a fourth ill-fated hunter, who ambles unsuspectingly along a trail through the jungle in the background of the frame.

It is worth considering why this joke stuck with Gary Larson; ultimately, it comes down to the clear visual signifier of the "kill markings." Readers who understand the reference immediately connect with the punchline, even with no other context. Notably, all four of The Far Side's "kill marking" s are among the comic's many examples of s that were published without captions, instead relying entirely on the image to communicate the joke. While captionless Far Side cartoons at times could leave readers confused, the "kill marking" jokes actually landed with increasing effectiveness over time.

The Third "Kill Marking" Far Side Joke Takes It To Another Level Of Absurdity

First Published: June 29, 1983

While both the Snoopy/Red Baron original and the jungle "kill marking" comic contained a hint of the gravity and mortal peril inherent in the punchline's real-life origin, this takes it into fully absurdist territory.

Published a year-and-a-half after the last iteration of the joke, the third "kill marking" Far Side cartoon is certainly the strangest – making the visual shorthand of the joke all the more vital. In this comic, a man sits in a tank with four castle silhouettes on the side, using binoculars to observe the next sandcastle he is going to run over, currently being constructed by a child. It is a peak example of the kind of patented strangeness that made The Far Side stand out.

That is, it feels like a joke that only Gary Larson could arrive at. In any case, this take on the "kill marking" joke, unlike its appearance in several prior Far Sides, is a laugh-out-loud funny extension of the premise. While both the Snoopy/Red Baron original and the jungle "kill marking" comic contained a hint of the gravity and mortal peril inherent in the punchline's real-life origin, this takes it into fully absurdist territory. That is for the better, however, as it allows the gag to once again feel fresh, and perhaps even whimsical.

The Fourth Far Side "Kill Marking" Joke Is The Crest Of The Recurring Gag's Wave

First Published: April 10, 1985

In this case, the "kill markings" are deployed as one dimension of a multi-layered joke – as Gary Larson uses them to immediately grab the reader's attention, while his illustration of the captain rewards those who spend an extra few beats scrutinizing the .

This "kill marking" Far Side appeared nearly two years after the previous one; it features a massive cruise ship with the silhouettes of five sail boats painted on the side. Interestingly, while that punchline is immediately evident to the reader, the funniest part of this comic is a bit more obscure – as a closer look at the illustration revealed the absolutely delighted, deranged look on the ship captain's face. This has the effect of making it emphatically clear that he takes great pleasure in hunting smaller boats for sport.

Just as the previous use of the "kill marking" joke displayed an increased level of absurdity, this one features a progression of its own. In this case, the "kill markings" are deployed as one dimension of a multi-layered joke – as Gary Larson uses them to immediately grab the reader's attention, while his illustration of the captain rewards those who spend an extra few beats scrutinizing the , soaking in every painstakingly deliberated-upon detail. Once more, Larson skillfully delivers a familiar punchline that is repetitive, without being redundant.

The Far Side Was A Tapestry Weaved From The Many Threads Of Gary Larson's Humor

Tracking Recurring Jokes Rewards Readers

The progression of the "kill markings" Far Side cartoons – like Gary Larson's drawings of the Trojan Horse, or his depictions of Tarzan – offer a particular angle at which to approach the artist's work.

Surprisingly, Gary Larson did not return to the "kill marking" joke again after 1985; perhaps because even he felt its repeated use had limits, or simply because other, stronger ideas preempted its usage. Whatever the answer might be, the small set of "kill marking" Far Side s is a virtue in the sense that it offers a concise limited set of a Gary Larson joke for readers to closely study. Considering that those that dominated Gary Larson's creative attention.

Any daily newspaper comic strip is a unique insight into the mind of its creator, and this was particularly true for Gary Larson and The Far Side. The progression of the "kill markings" Far Side cartoons – like Gary Larson's drawings of the Trojan Horse, or his depictions of Tarzan – offer a particular angle at which to approach the artist's work. It offers a look at how Larson continually paired a spirit of innovation and experimentation with the highly recursive introspection that drove the creation of The Far Side.