Though Gary Larson's newspaper cartoon actually had a very simple formula: "drawing + words." Except sometimes, the artist/author omitted the "words" half of the equation, and it is worth taking a look at the reasons Larson opted to do this, and why it was usually the right decision – resulting in some of The Far Side's most beloved s.
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and Gary Larson routinely put that maxim to the test, especially when he had his s speak for themselves.
At times, Larson wanted readers to have to figure out what exactly was going on in a Far Side for themselves, and the best way to do so was to give them no other choice, by providing no caption for context. Just as often, Larson's comics went captionless simply because the illustration said everything that needed to be said.
The Far Side's Best Captionless Comics Speak Volumes – Here's What Makes Them So Great
The Number #1 Reason Gary Larson Left Out Some Far Side Captions
One way to look at Far Side cartoons is to consider both the image and the caption as "channels" through which Gary Larson's humor is conveyed. While Larson achieved a pristine balance between the two, this didn’t necessarily have to be the case for a cartoon to be “successful,” as long as one or the other channel was effective in its own right. In some cases, a pitch-perfect caption could make an average image spectacular; conversely, Larson's art often elevated an amusing caption to laugh-out-loud hilarity.
Larson's best captionless Far Side comics encapsulate the storytelling adage "show, don't tell."
That said, while a caption always served to strengthen its associated image, there were many cases where the image needed no caption to convey its punchline. These “monochannel” Far Side comics are some of Gary Larson’s most highly regarded because they are often among his easiest jokes to “get.” In these s, Larson trusted the illustration to communicate its point to the reader clearly enough that a caption would have been superfluous, and perhaps even counterproductive. In short, some Far Side were actually funnier without words.
The Far Side's "Out of Order" Comic (Both Versions) Is the Perfect Illustration Of Gary Larson's Chaotic Creative Mind
Gary Larson's "Out of Order" comic, published in 1988, perfectly illustrated of how the business of creating The Far Side wore him down over time.
In essence, Larson's best captionless Far Side comics encapsulate the storytelling adage "show, don't tell." The glory of comics is how the medium combines the visual and written "channels" of artistic communication, but part of The Far Side's success came from its creator's ability to recognize when the visual was more than enough. Embodying a joke in an image was always a major creative accomplishment for Gary Larson, and he was rewarded for this by having many of his captionless cartoons preserved in posterity among his most beloved by fans.
Gary Larson Used The Lack Of Captions To Make Readers Pay Closer Attention
The #2 Reason The Far Side Sometimes Went Wordless
Omitting the caption from a Far Side cartoon was always a critical creative decision for Gary Larson – and while often it was the product of an image simply not needing further elaboration, there are some Far Side installments that exhibit a different rationale. That is, there are those comics that, by design, invite readers to take a second look, to commit to deeper scrutiny, in order to "get" what Larson was going for. This is especially fascinating considering that the two reasons are, in a way, almost diametrically opposed.
Gary Larson Called This Far Side Comic "Almost Universally Misunderstood," But Why Is It So Confusing?
Many Far Side cartoons get more attention for being confusing, but Gary Larson called one surprising 1987 "almost universally misunderstood."
While many captionless Far Side s are among Larson's most obvious jokes, some are deliberately obtuse, or at least require closer inspection in order for the reader to "get" the humor. While this has led to confusion for many readers over the years, it is also a vital part of the overall mystique of The Far Side; as mentioned, Larson's humor doesn't have a reputation for being easy to understand, even though it routinely was, but rather for being – as he put it himself – "confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange."
A Far Side with a confusing caption is more immediately off-putting than a confusing image...both require a greater degree of interpretation from the reader, but with a captionless cartoon this feels like an invitation, whereas with a captioned Far Side comic, it is more akin to a demand.
Certainly, this applies to just as many Far Side comics that utilize captions, but even then, it is worth considering the reader's reaction as much as the author's intent. For many people, for whatever reason, a Far Side with a confusing caption is more immediately off-putting than a confusing image. Perhaps this is because both require a greater degree of interpretation from the reader, but with a captionless cartoon this feels like an invitation, whereas with a captioned Far Side comic, it is more akin to a demand.
The Influence Of Gary Larson's Wordless Far Side Comics Cannot Be Understated
Why They Remain Fan Favorites To This Day
So, the explanation for why so many captionless cartoons rank among the most iconic Far Side entries is twofold: there are the ones that require no work on the reader's part of "get," and those that require a pleasant amount of work. It is not unfair to say that in some cases, Gary Larson asked too much of his readers – and these amount to The Far Side's most infamous and inscrutable installments. While these are also essential to Larson's legacy, self-evident Far Side jokes remain the most fondly recalled, and most widely shared among contemporary fans.
The Far Side is often considered a forerunner of modern meme humor, in both form and function; certainly its formula of "image + words" is a more prevalent comedic style than ever before, but this can also be said in of the prioritization of the image over the words, in of both importance and impact. The "subversive" quality of Gary Larson's humor, which also worked to set the precedent for meme humor, was embodied in both its illustrations and its language, but often the image was given a level of primacy over its caption.
Gary Larson Is Rightfully Lauded As Both Artist & Author – But His Drawings Cemented His Legacy
The Far Side's Images Are What Imprint On Fans
Without question, every individual Far Side fan can quickly identify their favorite Gary Larson joke – but collectively, it can be argued that the cultural legacy of the comic is predominantly defined by its visual style. Larson's brilliance as a humorist and author should not, under any circumstances, be diminished, but it is accurate to say that he is first and foremost thought of as an artist, and that his influence is a product of his illustrations, and his captionless Far Side cartoons are the best example of that.
10 Hilarious Far Side Comics That Make the Ordinary Outrageous
Gary Larson's comedic style hinged on his unparalleled ability to take things that were familiar to readers and turn them upside down & inside out.
There are countless memorable Far Side captions, of course, but even in just a numerical sense, there are more unforgettable Far Side images, and while both were integral to the success of the strip, only one was essential. The "how" and "why" of captions being excluded was a day-to-day creative decision for Gary Larson, but in retrospect, it almost always feels like the right decision, as the best Far Side comics without captions are hard to imagine any other way.
